Forbidden Bond Read Online Free PDF Page B

see.” He shoved the crutch under his arm and hobbled off toward the kitchen. “Twelve years,” he said with his back to Eion, “and not one word from you. Suddenly you’re back here and couldn’t leave without seeing me?”
    Eion straightened his spine, taking whatever Kris had to dish out. He deserved it. Kris had been a good friend, and Eion had hurt him. At the time, there hadn’t been any other way. He’d needed to make a clean break. He had to make them hate him for leaving. That way, no one would come looking because they’d never want to see him again. No one, meaning Liv. Eion had to leave so she could have a shot at a normal life.
    Kris appeared back in the doorway of the kitchen, broom and dustpan hooked to his crutches as he shuffled into the room. Eion darted over and reached for the handle.
    “I got it,” Kris grunted.
    “Just let me take care of the broken glass.” Eion gently pulled the broom away from Kris and bent down before Kris had another chance to argue. He made quick work of retrieving what remained of the lamp and sat it back on the end table, then swept up the jagged pieces that were a lost cause, and disposed of them in the garbage. The can was still in the same place as it had been twelve years ago.
    Kris was still standing by the sofa when Eion returned to the living room, his lips in a thin line, knuckles white on the grips of his crutches. “You’ve seen me,” Kris bit out. “Now you can go back to wherever you came from.”
    Eion pulled in a calming breath. “I had my reasons for leaving, Kris.”
    “Oh, I’m sure you did.” Kris shook his head. He looked away, studying some distant place through the living room window.
    His gut clenched. “There were things I just couldn’t—”
    “Get out.” Kris’s dark gaze bore into his. “I don’t want your excuses. I didn’t even hear from you when Dad died.” He shrugged. “And at this point in my life…I don’t care anymore. Olivia and I have better things to do with our time.”
    “I can understand that. Completely.” Eion nodded. “But things are different now.” He glanced down at Kris’s leg. “Can I at least help in some way?”
    Kris’s expression darkened. “You can help by getting out. I don’t want Livvy running into you. After that day at the lake, it took weeks for me to convince her that she hadn’t done anything wrong when you never spoke to her again. Then you just vanished.” His face twitched. “You broke her heart, you bastard.” He leaned to the side on his good leg and lifted one of the crutches. “Leave. Now.”
    “Hey, Kris!” The front door slammed. “Whose truck is out front?”
    “Dammit, Olivia.” Kris pivoted the quarter turn it took to face her. “Today of all days has to be the one you come home for lunch.”
    “Wow. So happy to see you too.”
    Eion bit back a groan. Twice in twenty-four hours? This was seriously messed up. He rotated away from Liv, his back to her, his gaze trained on the remains of the busted lamp on the table. The thump of her boots on the hardwood told him she was on the move, coming closer.
    “Excuse me,” Liv began, the sound of her voice behind him. “What’s going on? Why is my brother so upset?”
    “Livvy,” Kris said. “I can handle this.”
    “No. I want to know what’s going on.”
    In his mind’s eye, he could see her behind him, hands on hips, green eyes blazing in indignation. The image had the corner of his mouth begging to curl into a smile. She’d always been so damn strong willed.
    Eion turned around.
    Liv’s shamrock green eyes burned with unspent anger. Her lips remained parted on her unfinished thought, the curve of the lower slightly fuller than the top. Luscious . A few unruly strands of her dark hair hung loose from her ponytail, curling around her heart shaped face. His fingertips itched to brush them back, feel the soft texture on his skin. Eion fisted his hands against the impulse.
    Stop it.
    This wasn’t a