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.I found my way around the back of the house, wincing as the security lights came on.I was heading for Jack’s quarters.I knew he’d be asleep by now, and it was the last place Lauren would look for me.My hand was shaking as it reached out to the French doors to Jack’s living room.My breath was shaky and fast.To my relief the door opened, and quietly, I slipped inside.I didn’t even make it to the sofa; I just leaned against the wall and slid down to collapse on the floor.23JackI don’t sleep well.I haven’t since the accident.I was lying in bed using my usual trick of trying to go around a race circuit in my memory.Sometimes it helped; sometimes it didn’t, but at least it kept my mind off feeling sorry for myself.That’s what I was doing when I heard the noise.I blinked into the darkness and strained my ears, trying to listen, but I couldn’t hear anything else.It was normally so quiet around here.The house is set well back from the bustle of Monte Carlo, and as we live on the end of the cliff road, no one travels up this far unless they are coming to visit us.There had been talk just recently of a spate of burglaries targeting Monaco’s so-called billionaire row.Alexander had been concerned enough to increase security.I hadn’t paid much attention.I’d been preoccupied with my little pity party just lately.I sighed.It was no good.I’d have to go and investigate.I grabbed my sweatpants, quickly pulling them on and then reached for one of the crutches that was propped up beside my bedside cabinet.I winced as the muscles in my right leg tightened painfully.I moved as quietly as possible through my bedroom, around my bed and out into the living area.And that’s when I saw her…My first thought was that this had to be a dream.Maybe I was really asleep, and my subconscious had conjured her image to torment me.But the cold handle of the crutch and the pain in my legs told me it must be real.If it was a dream, I’d be back to my old healthy self.I wouldn’t be stuck in this broken shell of a body.“Kristina?” I said.If she wasn’t a dream, what the hell was she doing sitting on the floor in the living room at this time of night?Her head snapped up.Her eyes were wide and wild, and I knew something was wrong – something serious.As I moved closer, I could see she’d been crying.Tears had streaked her face and smudged her makeup, and the sight of her sitting there made me feel so helpless.I felt something twist inside my chest.I held out my hand to help her to her feet, but she shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest.“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you up.I just didn’t want to go back to my room.”“Something’s wrong,” I said, winning the award for stating the obvious.“Tell me.”She shook her head as if telling me what was wrong was the worst idea she’d ever heard.“I can’t,” she said,“Nothing can be that bad.”She stared up at me with a look in her eyes that made me want to pull her close and never let her go.“I can’t tell you,” she said.“You’ll think I’m awful.”I shook my head.“Impossible.Nothing could be that bad.”I reached down for her, which wasn’t easy with one hand still holding my crutch.But this time she didn’t resist and allowed me to pull her to her feet and lead her to the sofa.When I sat beside her, she grabbed a cushion and clutched it to her stomach.She looked terrified.Was I really that scary? I knew I’d given her a tough time when she first started, but I thought we’d got past that.I thought by now she would know she could trust me.I wanted to reassure her, but I didn’t.Sometimes words weren’t enough.So I gave her time.Time to wrestle with whatever demons were haunting her.I couldn’t force her to trust me, and I figured if I waited and didn’t hassle her, there was a better chance she would open up to me.When she started talking, it was almost as if she couldn’t stop.“You think that you’re broken, Jack, but you’re not.”“I’m the one who’s broken.” She put a hand to her chest like her heart was breaking, and it nearly killed me.I let go of the crutch and eased myself closer to her on the sofa.I put both my hands on either side of her face and gently turned her head so she was looking at me.“You’re not broken.”She shook her head.“You don’t know…You don’t know what I did or what I was like before… in the past.”I stared at her, waiting for her to continue.I wanted her to open up and tell me.I wanted to know this dark secret she’d been hiding from me.I was holding my breath.“I was an addict,” she said her voice was calm and even, but she screwed up her face like the words tasted bitter on her tongue.“For years, I took drugs, pretty much anything I could get my hands on.I’d like to say I went off the rails when my mother died, at least that would be a reason, but truthfully it was even before that.I was hooked [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]