“I’m sorry,” he said, and he meant it. God, how he’d meant it. “I should have forced her to tell your parents or you or the police or someone.”

“Or you should have, instead of relying on your sorry excuse of a family and saving your own damned skin.”

Every muscle in his body tensed. He stole another glance at her and saw her lips curl in disgust.

“You son of a bitch,” Brianna whispered, her eyes narrowed and filled with a newfound hate. “You son of a freakin’ bitch.”

CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 32

Brianna was stunned. Shocked. Everything Jase had told her rang true, but still, her heart tore as she thought of her twin and what Arianna had endured. Alone. Afraid to confide in anyone, even Brianna.

Fighting tears, she stared straight ahead through the windshield as the Louisiana countryside flew by in a blur.

Jase had lied to her. If not by commission, then omission until now and that thought soured her stomach. She didn’t dare glance his way as he drove a good ten miles above the speed limit, all the while remaining silent, letting her digest everything he’d finally told her. From the corner of her eye she witnessed his own anguish and anger. His jaw was set, his hands clenched over the steering wheel until his knuckles blanched, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

Was everything he’d confessed the truth?

She blinked.

Why would he lie?

He wouldn’t, she thought as she heard the sounds of sirens in the distance. His body language said as much.

So, she was forced to believe him and his tale, no, his confession, for that’s what it seemed like. So Jase had not only been secretly romantically involved with her sister, but he’d witnessed Arianna being attacked, saved her, killed a man, then held his silence as Arianna had requested.

Why? Oh, God, why?

Dying a little inside, Brianna imagined her sister, in pain and shame, dealing with fear and indecision and unable to reach out. Not even to her.

Brianna’s throat swelled and hot tears welled in her eyes. Why couldn’t Arianna trust the one person who had been with her since their conception, the person closest to her with her secret? Why carry the burden herself?

Arianna, oh, dear Lord, I am so, so sorry I wasn’t there for you; that you couldn’t trust me enough to confide in me.

Her stomach roiled and she began to shake.

“Pull over!” she cried as the truck sped across a bridge spanning a small stream. “Pull over, now!”