Owned (Office Intrigue Book 8) Nicole Edwards (classic english novels TXT) 📖

my parents didn’t realize Ransom and Braelyn Bishop were, in fact, their children, faking our deaths seemed moot.

I honestly hated that I had to do this to my sister again, had to end one life and force her to start another all over. She’d been through so much already.

A soft knock on my door had me shoving the iPad away before pushing to my feet. My ribs groaned rather than screamed in protest. The pain was lessening; that was all that mattered.

I opened the door to find Braelyn standing on the small porch, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, no makeup, paired with a white sundress making her look so very young. Then again, at twenty-four, she was young.

“Hey,” she greeted, her eyes warming instantly.

I stepped back, motioned her to come inside.

“How’re you feeling?” she asked as I closed the door behind her.

“Better.” It wasn’t a lie. I was better, I just wasn’t good. Yet. “You want coffee?”

“Desperately,” she answered with a small laugh.

While I poured her coffee and retrieved milk and sugar, she took a seat at the table. I thought nothing of it until I was carrying everything over and I noticed she was reading the article on the iPad, her mouth hanging open.

Son of a bitch.

Her eyes shot up, tears glistening.

“I’m so sorry,” I muttered, setting everything down and easing into the chair beside her. “I didn’t mean for you to find out like that.”

“You killed us off?”

“I had to, Brae.” I reached for her hand, squeezed. “There was no other choice.”

“You said we were going to discuss it. You didn’t—” Her eyes widened in horror. “What about Zeke? Does he know? Does he really think…?”

I nodded. “There was no other choice.”

She swallowed and a tear escaped, sliding down her flawless cheek. “He’s got to be devastated.”

More than anything in this world, I hated to see my sister cry. I’d spent the majority of my life ensuring nothing hurt her, so in moments like this, it was crushing to know I couldn’t protect her from all the bad things.

“We can’t tell him the truth,” I said before she could launch into a plea for me to let him know. The last thing Braelyn wanted was for anyone to suffer because of us.

“You have to.” Her eyes were wild. “That’s not fair. They shouldn’t mourn us.”

Leaning forward, ignoring my ribs’ vehement protest, I hugged her to me. “I’m so sorry, Brae.”

She sobbed silently, clutching me the way she always had, as though I was her lifeline, afraid to let go and disappear into the ether. I knew the feeling. She had always been the only good thing in my life.

A few minutes passed before she pulled herself together, releasing me and wiping her tear-streaked face.

“Are we staying here?”

“It’s the safest place for us. At least right now.”

She nodded and I could tell she wasn’t happy with the news.

“Why? Do you want to leave?”

She shrugged, her gaze shifting to her untouched coffee.

“Did something happen with Talon?”

Her eyes lifted to meet mine. What I saw there caused me to exhale slowly, heavily.

There was no reason to ask her for details, because my sister was one of those people whose emotions glittered in her eyes. As a big brother, I wanted to waltz right out of here, find Talon, and beat the man to a pulp for hurting her, although I had no clue what had happened. But as her confidant and her friend—of which I’d always been both—I knew my sister wouldn’t appreciate my interference. She needed a shoulder to cry on, not something else to deal with such as me and Talon going to blows.

“It’s serious?” I asked, because clearly it was.

“Of course not,” she said quickly, frowning down into the coffee cup.

Yep. That definitely meant it was. At least from her perspective. As for Talon … I couldn’t even pretend to know the man anymore. I’d learned more about him in the past forty-eight hours than in all the years I’d known him. And this place … it explained so much, but at the same time, it confused me all the more.

Squeezing her hand, I waited until she looked at me. “Be careful, Brae. Talon’s a good man, but … this is his world we’re in now. And it’s nothing like what either of us is used to. Those possessions he has … they’re what he ultimately wants.”

“I thought I was beginning to understand it,” she said softly. “I want to, at least. I mean, it’s not easy, but I was trying.”

“Was?”

She shook her head, lowering her eyes.

“We all have needs, Brae,” I told her as I had a million times. “And we’re all unique. What works for one may not work for another.”

“I don’t want to be owned,” she mumbled.

“And I don’t think Talon wants to own you.”

I didn’t know that for fact, but it was a feeling. A sense I’d gotten when I was around Talon and Braelyn that brief time on Saturday morning. I’d seen the way Talon looked at her, and there was definitely attraction there. He was certainly interested. But there was something more, something deeper. Respect? Adoration? He certainly didn’t look at his possessions that way.

“We had an argument,” she continued. “I think I got too nosy. He was defensive.”

“The only thing you can do is talk to him.”

“I know.” She nodded. “I’d planned on it this morning. But he’s busy.”

“He’ll make time for you, Brae. Find him. Talk it out. There’s a lot you have to learn about him.”

There was a glimmer of hope when she looked at me this time, and I could tell I’d taken the right tack. Braelyn wanted encouragement and understanding. They were the only things she’d ever wanted.

A knock sounded and I turned to look at the door as though that would tell me who was there.

“Excuse me a sec.”

As I got to my feet, she reached for the coffee, which gave me hope. Braelyn had never been the type to sulk or cry. She