Theirs To Take(72)

They nodded. “We followed the trial.” They’d followed more than that. They’d been keeping tabs on her. “You look as though you’ve healed,” Syn said, noting how quiet his brother was, not missing the fact that Eva cast quick, uncertain glances in his direction.#p#分页标题#e#

“The bullet had just missed my heart,” she said, unbuttoning the top of her blouse, turning around and sliding it down over her shoulder. “I never in my life thought I’d have a bullet wound for a scar.”

“How is your father?”

She smiled. “He’s doing really well. He and one of the nurses even hit it off, so he’s got a girlfriend for the first time since my mom passed away.”

“That’s good to hear. Evangeline,” Gabriel said. “Does anyone else know about this location?”

Syn watched, waiting.

She shook her head. “No. I wouldn’t tell anyone, Gabriel. I just… I needed to see you. Both of you.” She reached out and took each of their hands in hers. “I owe you both an apology. I doubted you. After all you did for me, I doubted you and even after that, you risked your lives for me.” Tears reddened her eyes again. It always softened her face somehow when she cried, her vulnerability making him want to protect her even more. “I wanted to say thank you for everything. You saved my life, more than once.”

Syn squeezed her hand, looking at her. “Is that why you came?” he asked, trying not to seem disappointed.

She drew in a deep, shaky breath and the little pulse at her neck beat fast.

“Evangeline?” Gabriel asked when she hesitated.

She looked from one man to the other and shook her head. “This last year, it’s been really hard. I feel stronger, surer of myself. I’m no longer my father’s daughter — or Arthur’s fiancée. I’m me. I’ve thought about you both. A lot. I thought my feelings would fade, thought things would go back to normal. But they didn’t — and things can never go back to the way they were.”

She stopped there, looking expectantly, hopefully, at the two of them.

Syn studied her, and, after a moment, Gabriel stood, running a hand through his hair. Syn kept her hand in his. He knew what it took for her to say those words. She was opening herself up to them. He glanced at Gabriel. His brother’s gaze was intense as usual, his jaw tight. Syn decided then that he’d kick his brother’s ass if he said anything to hurt her.

“We took Laney off the respirators last month,” Gabriel said. “She passed away quietly two days later.”

Syn knew what he was thinking but he kept silent and watched Eva as she listened.

“In a way, her death closed a chapter for me, for both of us.”

Syn nodded when Gabriel looked at him for confirmation.

“But those memories, the knowledge of what we’ve done to avenge what happened to her, they’ll always be a part of us, Evangeline. No matter how much time passes, the things we’ve done won’t fade away and we’ll never truly be free of them. You’re young. You have your whole life ahead of you.”

She glanced at Syn then, understanding what Gabriel was saying, and pulled her hand out of Syn’s. He wasn’t sure he agreed with Gabriel. He knew Gabriel had her safety in mind first and foremost, but there was so much more at stake now. For all of them.

“What are you saying, Gabriel?” she asked.

“You’re free. You don’t have to have the weight of our past drag down your future. What happened to you, well, it happened and that’s already far more than you should have to carry with you. You don’t need us, or our past, complicating your life.”

Syn watched her expression go from hurt to angry in moments.

“Everyone always thinks they know what’s best for me. Well, they don’t. You don’t.” She spun, striding away, then turned back again, angrier. “You want to know what’s complicated? Trying to pretend that you’re fine when you’re not, not even close. When you can’t even breathe when you think about those days together with just the three of us. Those nights. When you’re trying desperately to pretend you’re okay but you come up against dead-end after dead-end. When the men you love disappear off the face of the earth. When they leave you alone to make sense of what the hell is going on inside your messed up head.” She dropped her head, tears flowing anew. “Your messed up heart.”#p#分页标题#e#

Gabriel went to her then, but she pushed him away.

“Let me go! You don’t care. Neither of you do.”