Knowing what he'd gone through and seeing all his wounds when the doctor had stripped him down after arriving at the clubhouse, she was sure she'd lose him after finally getting him back to his club.
She'd never seen someone so tortured and hoped never to again.
"I come here because..." He brought her hands up and kissed them.
Something about the way he held on to her scared her. She wanted to ask him what was wrong. He'd already told her this was his special place.
"Sweetheart?"
"I'm right here."
He raised his gaze. "My sister is here."
"Your...?" She stopped herself from asking more when she remembered he'd told her that his sister had died.
"Her name was Penny. She, uh, was my twin sister." He blew out his breath. "We got separated and put into different foster homes when we were seventeen years old. It was the only time I'd been away from her."
"Oh, babe." She held his hands up to her mouth and pressed her lips against his knuckles.
"I promised I'd find her once I turned eighteen years old." His voice thickened. "I was the only person she had. I swore I'd always take care of her."
Her heart pounded, trying to piece the story together before he could say what had happened. She couldn't imagine losing a sibling, much less a twin.
Her people believed twins were opposing forms of good and evil, often partnered to perform a quest and balanced each other out, never to be separated. To lose one, there would be much suffering, and the balance would lean one way.
"When I finally found her, she was running with the wrong crowd. At first, she wanted nothing to do with me, preferring to stay with them." He grunted.
Seeing him having a hard time talking about Penny, she kissed him. "You don't have to talk about this."
He cleared his throat. "I took the time to find a way to make money. I rented an apartment. I had everything set up for Penny to come and live with me, and the next time I contacted her, I found out there was a guy in her life. He was selling her on the streets. It took some time to convince her to come with me."
She gasped.
"She was scared and thought he'd kill her if she tried to leave. She wanted a few days to figure out a way to leave him safely." He leaned back and tilted his head toward the sky.
The cords on his neck bulged. She used that second to close her eyes. He needed her to listen, and she would. But it wasn't an easy thing to hear knowing the outcome already.
"I gave her three days. When I went back, prepared to get her away from him, I found her beaten unconscious." He exhaled harshly. "I lost it. They kicked the shit out of me, and in my rage, I killed all three men. But I was too fucking late. By the time I crawled over to her, she was gone."
She let go of his hands and cupped his face, bringing him closer. Saying sorry wasn't enough. The pain he held inside of him was something she couldn't take away. He'd lost his twin. The only family member he'd known.
Her heart broke for him.
He was young at the time. An eighteen-year-old boy, a year and a half younger than her now, and he'd had to live with her death his whole life.
"I couldn't tell the authorities, because I'd left three dead bodies in that building. I don't even remember how I got my sister out of there. But I brought her here. She's buried about a hundred paces up the canyon. There's no headstone, nothing to show that she rests there."
"She's on her journey, babe. She's free." She held him close, kissing the wetness from his scarred cheeks.
"I failed her."
"No, you tried." She held him in front of her. "It was unfair and ugly, and your sister knew you tried. She always knew you loved her more than anyone."
He sniffed, inhaling a trembling breath. "I've done some bad shit through my life, sweetheart. Mainly to numb the shit in my head."
Her problems with Askook had added to his guilt. Her story, while not the same as his sister's past, were similar. She'd brought out everything he wanted to forget.
She swallowed, knowing that if it took a lifetime, she was going to love him until he accepted her love. Believed in it. Took comfort from her.
He'd done things most people would never do, and by the law, he was guilty. But nobody could tell her that he was wrong in his choices. He'd done what he had to do to try and save his sister. He had also killed to save her. What he faced and the crimes he committed between then and now, well, nobody had to tell her that there was a reason.
She believed in him.
She loved him.
His gaze intensified. "I can't lose you, too."
"You never will."
EpiloguePaco
Josie's rounded ass peeked out from below her long t-shirt. Paco splayed his hand over her lower back, pushing up the material.
She jolted and looked over her shoulder, dropping the hand towel on the floor of the kitchen.
He ground his growing erection between her legs.
Her chocolate eyes sparkled. "I thought you were still in the shower."
"I was thinking about you." He ran his hands over her curved hips. "Then, I find you like this. Mm..."
He grabbed her hips, spun her around and plopped her ass on the peninsula in the kitchen, and pushed her legs apart, inching his way closer between her thighs.
She looped her arms around his neck. "I thought you wanted a bowl of ice cream."
"Changed my mind." He took the hem of her shirt and pushed it up, exposing the bareness of her pussy. "I've got a craving for something else."
Her full lips parted. At the glimpse of her tongue, he reached behind her and pushed
