Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire

wasn’t the words, so much as how he said it. She remembered that voice from Moscow, when she loved him. When she’d do anything for him. When he made her feel as if she were the only woman in his world. Special beyond all imagining. Knowing she would be better off keeping her mouth shut, she nevertheless raised her chin, taking comfort from the touch of wind. “I know that I do. What about you?
    Do you have a code, Sasha?”
    “Absolutely I live by one, Abbey.” His gaze slid over her. “You know that I do. You know I will never turn away from a path when I know it is right.”
    “And it was right to sacrifice me for your career?” Why couldn’t she stop? She could hear herself screaming to stop but she wanted to hurt him and she wasn’t doing anything but hurting herself.
    “No. Never for my career. For the lives of the other children the monster would have murdered. I would not trade lives for my own happiness, or for yours.” He spoke quietly but his eyes were turbulent and a deep, dark blue. “I can’t change who I am, Abbey. I can’t undo the things I’ve done in my life. I can only tell you I love you and I want you in my life.”
    She looked away from him, looked away from the conviction in him, the lack of remorse. Abigail swallowed several times before she was certain she had complete command of her voice. “That’s the last point before we’re at Noyo Harbor. If we don’t find what you’re looking for, we’ll have to try another day, leaving from the harbor and going farther south along the coastline.”
    “Do you really think I made the wrong decision?”
    She stopped paddling and made a show of adjusting her seat. When she looked at him she deliberately met his gaze. “I want to know if you knew about my talent before we actually met.” She waited in agony for what seemed a lifetime. In reality it was only a heartbeat of silence.
    “Yes, I did.”
    The pain came out of nowhere, taking her by surprise. She could hear herself screaming with it, deep inside where no one else could hear. She told herself she had been expecting that answer, but it didn’t lessen the stabbing, relentless ache. She had given him everything she was, everything she’d ever wanted to be. She had given so much of what she was, she had nothing left when he’d thrown her so carelessly away.
    Abigail made every effort to keep him from knowing he’d gotten to her once again. She even told herself Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    not to ask any other questions. She didn’t want to know the extent of his betrayal, but she’d always been stubborn and filled with pride. “And my taking your picture was just an added bonus? A way to meet me so you could use me?”
    “Yes.” Abigail turned away from him, slipping through the water with sure strong strokes to enter the bay. The screaming inside her rose until it was bile in her throat, until her ears roared and her temples throbbed. Pain ran so deep there were no words in her to tell him… or anyone else. She didn’t want to feel. Not ever again.
    She kept her face averted as she scanned the coastline looking for the arches and darker areas that would indicate openings in the rock. Tears blurred her vision, but she shook her head to rid herself of them. He didn’t need to know she’d never loved anyone before him. Or after him. Or even that he still had the ability to hurt her.
    Abigail spotted several caves near the point. “Jackpot.” She forced the word past the painful constriction in her throat.
    “Stay behind me, Abbey.”
    “And your reasoning would be what? To protect me?” She quirked an eyebrow, but kept her face averted. “I think it’s a little too late for that, Sasha.”
    “I’m not arguing about this. I’m taking the lead and you hang back.” There was steel in his voice and a whip of anger.
    Aleksandr was a man very much in control. For him to betray anger meant she was definitely hitting sore spots. She dropped back, allowing him the lead. If someone was lying in wait, Aleksandr had to be thinking about danger, not about being angry with her. Or maybe it was at himself. She gave him room to maneuver and followed him toward the first cave.
    The cave was large enough to paddle into and Aleksandr did so with little hesitation, studying the high walls and roomy area. A boat could definitely slide inside and not be seen. With the chamber being so wide, it echoed and boomed as the waves