Nash Brothers Box Set - Carrie Aarons Page 0,228

tinfoil who can’t even break up with a woman like a proper human being. So, please, tell me how I don’t need to be strong.”

“My brother is in love with you.”

Keaton says this so off-the-cuff that I nearly choke on my own tongue.

“If you came here to lie, you might as well just walk out that door right now.” I point out of the kitchen.

“He is. I’ve never heard him talk about anyone, male or female, the way he talks about you. Seeing him with your boys … I can tell he really wants to become a major part of your family. He’s smitten, Penelope, and I think we both know he always has been. But my brother has a selfish streak … mainly because he’s been misunderstood a lot of his life. Forrest feels a certain way about his intelligence and believes it’s labeled him an outcast. It’s probably why he’s freaking out and retreating away from you.”

“Those are convenient excuses,” I grumble, but my pathetic, hopeful heart latches onto them.

“Penny, I wouldn’t say this to you if I didn’t truly mean it. Because I know how hard it was on you losing Travis. He was my friend, too, and a hell of a man. It’s not fair that the universe took him from you, but I think when it comes to Forrest, you might just be getting a second chance at love. Give him some time, let him sort his jumbled, confused emotions out.”

“He cheated on me.” My words are blunt.

“Forrest wouldn’t do that. I know for a fact he didn’t.”

With my arms crossed over my chest, I glare at him. “And I’m just supposed to take your word for it?”

He shrugs. “It’s my greatest currency, always has been. You know I’d never lie to you, much less to anyone. I’m telling you. He didn’t cheat. Forrest is, however, being a pansy. Which is why I’m telling you to give him just a little more time.”

Something inside me gives way, the thousands of shameful, sorrowful pinpricks gathering in my heart.

My eyes well with emotion, and I try to blink it away. “But what if I have no more time to give? Why does it have to be so hard for me?”

Keaton rubs my arm. “Because you’re a damn strong woman who doesn’t settle for the easy way out.”

I give him a watery smile. “You cursed a little. I feel special now.”

“Just a little more time, Penny. I promise, he’ll come around.” He hugs me, and I feel momentarily better.

But at the end of the day, it’s like I said. I’m not sure I have any more time to give.

36

Forrest

At two a.m., I finally get the breakthrough I’m looking for.

I’ve barely slept all week, pulling all-nighter after all-nighter to find the person responsible for threatening Penelope, and stealing from my family members. Ryan finally tricked me into drinking Benadryl two days ago, and I’d passed out for about five hours.

The sleep was fitful and filled with nightmares of the last time I saw Penelope. How white her face had gone when she saw another woman in my living room. The horrific realization of my assumed betrayal transforming her beautiful features.

How she’d accused me of being skittish, of reverting back to our secret hook up days. When all I’d been doing was casing the street to see if anyone was surveilling us.

I’d tossed and turned as I dreamed of her breaking down, crying tears that I put in her eyes. I woke from that hellish state in a full body sweat, gripping the sheets.

Since then, I’ve been a slave to this case. Eating and breathing it. I won’t let him slip through my fingers again, and to do that, I have to put Penelope on the back burner. This is all for her own good, even if she thinks I abandoned her. My gut roils with the doubt that I played this the wrong way, that I should have just told her what was going on from the moment I got that email. But now I’m in it, battered heart and all. When it’s all over, I’ll be able to explain to Penelope that I love her so much, I was willing to put her safety before my feelings.

The living room is a black hole, filled with darkness except for the lone computer terminal I’m occupying. My eyes are so infected with blue light that I’m practically seeing kaleidoscope colors by this point, but I won’t stop. 2:03 a.m. That’s