Defiant Heir (The Heirs #3) - Michelle Heard Page 0,35
scent, and it feels like I can breathe again. It has me admitting, “I missed you.”
Fallon doesn’t hug me as tightly, and when she pulls away a second time, I let her go.
“How’s your sight?” she asks, and I don’t miss the tension in her voice and how she turns her face away from me.
“Better. Every day I notice a change.”
“That’s good to hear.” She moves away from me. “I need to unpack. Catch you later.”
When the girls have gone to their rooms, Noah mutters, “That wasn’t half as bad as I thought it would be.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “The awkwardness is still there, but at least she didn’t slap the shit out of me.”
Noah whacks me lightly upside the head. “That’s on behalf of Fallon, who’s too much of a lady to hit you.” We finish our meals, then Noah says, “Time for eyedrops, then we need to hit the business plan hard.”
I get up from the stool and ask, “Where do you want to do this?”
“Sit on the couch. I’ll get everything. I’m tired of being holed up in your room.”
I walk over to the living room and sit down. Noah comes back with everything we’ll need, then says, “I’ve dimmed the lights. You can take off the sunglasses.”
Removing them, I set the glasses down on the couch and grin at Noah when I can make eye contact with him.
I hear footsteps coming down the hallway, and glancing in that direction, I see Fallon and Hana come into the open space.
“Hold up,” I whisper to Noah, and getting up, I walk toward the girls.
Fallon freezes, and when I get near her, she begins to turn around, but I quickly take hold of her arm, and it makes a surprised gasp burst from her.
I move in front of her and notice her hair is hanging over the right side of her face. I’ve been worried about her injuries and the surgery she has to go for. When I lift a hand to her face, she tries to pull back, but I tighten my grip on her arm.
“Let me see.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t want any of you to see.” Her voice trembles, and it makes worry explode inside my chest, and a bad feeling ripples over me.
I try to move her hair away, but Fallon rears back and turns her face to the side. “I said no, Kao.”
Determined to see how severe her injuries are, I take hold of her face, and then my fingers brush over swollen ridges.
She yanks away again, and it has me snapping, “Hold still, Fallon.”
“No!” She manages to pull free and darts back down the hallway. I go after her and grab her arm again before she can reach her room. As she swings toward me, her hair moves, and I can make out dark scarring on the whole right side of her face and neck. I can’t see the finer details or coloring, but the fact that I can see the cuts means they’re fucking bad.
Horror crashes over me as I realize Fallon got hurt a hell of a lot worse than she let on.
Chapter 13
FALLON
I thought things were bad, but they’re nothing compared to the anguish drowning me as Kao’s eyes focus on my face.
Maybe he can’t see well enough to make out the scars.
My hope is fleeting, and it dies a sudden and awful death as shock tightens his features.
“Christ, Fallon,” he gasps. “You said it was nothing to worry about.”
A searing pain rips what’s left of my world apart.
“Why didn’t you tell me the cuts were so bad?” he lashes out at me, his shocked expression quickly turning to horror.
This is the moment I feared most, and it’s turning out to be a nightmare. Out of everyone here, why did Kao have to see the scars?
I close my eyes so I won’t see his horrorstruck face anymore. Shame begins to burn in my chest, scorching the last of my femininity away.
Self-preservation takes over, and I rip my arm out of Kao’s hold. Trying to save whatever’s left of my self-esteem, I bite the words out, “Why would I? You decided I wasn’t good enough for you any longer the second you found out I got hurt. I didn’t think it would change anything between us.”
I know my words are cruel, but I can’t stop them from falling over my lips.
It’s also the truth.
Turning away from Kao, I walk into my room while trying to cover the scars again before anyone