Eric Stiles has everything to lose and no matter how hard he
fights he can feel his life slipping away.
Rebecca Gailen thinks that the love of her life is dead and only
the vigor of revenge keeps her fighting to survive.
When a secret reveals more than anyone expected, it changes Eric
and Rebecca’s lives forever. The devastating truth puts the couple at odds. Can
they overcome their clashing conclusions and learn to trust each other again?
Or will they let it rip them apart?
Excerpt
The stairs creaked with each step as he looked into
the dimness below. The wet, musty area was cold and damp. He swallowed hard.
Gray concrete, jagged walls and dust surrounded them and a chill raked up his
spine.
"We found it over there." The same
officer descended the stairs behind them. The beam of his flashlight landed to
the right of where they stood. Eric reached for a flashlight, and his eyes fell
on Charlie who scanned the room. An officer offered his and Eric stepped toward
the area. His hand brushed against the cold concrete, but his mind still
refused to accept it.
Not here…not like this…
Eric’s eyes fell on a spatter of blood and his
chest flooded with an unrecognized pain.
She was here
Unable to push the image away, all the air left
the room as his entire body clenched at the suffocation. He ascended the stairs
into the sunlight, fighting for control. He began to unhinge, mindlessly
entered one of the side rooms
They didn't find her which means she's still…
Keep it together Stiles…falling apart isn't
going to help anyone
The sewn seam around his emotions threatened to
tear, and he couldn't move. The paralyzing agony that spiked from the core of
his body was relentless. He fought back in vain. He knew it wouldn't stop until
she was in his arms, safe.
"Eric, what’s going on?"
Eric wiped unexpected wetness from his eyes. He
leaned against the wall to face his brother. Pure disbelief stared back at him.
"I've never seen you like this."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, you never…"
"Yeah well, things change." Eric moved
to exit the room.
He found the front door and pushed through it
hearing Charlie just behind him.
"Since when?"
"You still don't get it do you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Have you really convinced yourself that all
of this…what happened, was just some kind of joke?” He stopped to face him.
“That Rebecca and I didn’t mean anything we said when we told you that we never
wanted to hurt you?"
"I don't know what the hell you meant to do
and to be honest, I don’t really care."
"Charlie…whether or not you choose to believe
it, we did try to walk away.” Charlie’s eyes diverted in anger. "Jesus,
Charlie she went through hell, and all she could think about was how she
couldn't hurt you!"
"So once again this is my fault!"
"No…I am just…" Eric’s chest turned to
stone, unwilling to allow him to hide. "As your brother, your friend, I
tried to forget about…everything. But that night. That first night in Dallas,
everything changed. We did everything we could to ignore it, make disappear,
but it didn't. It only got stronger…can you try to understand that?"
"You really expect me to…"
"I expect you to believe that I tried! I
expect you to realize that this had nothing to do with you. To remember that
until that moment, I've never betrayed you."
"So because you’ve always tried to be the
good big brother you want me to be okay with this? To just accept what you did and
move on?"
"Yes."
'Why?"
"Because you’re my brother and I need you
to." Eric’s watering despite his continued battle against it.
"Charlie, I'm in love with her."
"I loved her too!"
"Okay Charlie,” Eric clenched his jaw. “Where
did you see things heading with her? Let's say we never met, what then?"
"I don't know. I never got the chance thanks
to you!"
"That’s the difference!" Eric’s fists
balled in frustration. "Six weeks ago, and the two months before that,
hell even in Dallas. I knew this was different. I knew she changed everything.
Even when she left without a word, and I didn’t even know her name, I couldn’t
get her out of my head! I look at her and see everything I never knew I wanted.
She's woken up this person inside me that I didn’t even know was there! The one
who wants a house and a family. The person who needs to see her every morning
and hold her every night, because when I don't something is missing, and the
world doesn't make sense. "
"Eric…"
"The difference is that the moment I met her,
she became my whole world," Eric explained as he struggled to keep his
furious heart under control. "I know that you loved her. That was one of
the reason's I stayed away as long as I did. It might not seem like much
but…she needed me, and I couldn’t turn my back anymore. Now she's gone and I
can't…If we don't…if I can't find her..."
"We're going to find her, Eric.” He saw the
first glimpse of understanding in his brother's eyes.
~
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