Something to Live for (Moonlight Dating Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

even against her
better judgment, she mustered the courage to open up to him. She couldn’t
explain why she felt that he would understand – she knew only that she did.
    “One has
to be insane to live in Malta and not believe it, or at least be touched by it
in some way.”
    His reply
gave her the impetus to go on. She told him of the trip to Buskett Gardens with her parents, of her exploration, and then, of the psychic experience
she had that left her completely sightless at first. It was the first time she
bared herself this way, and it came easily – like pouring tea.
    Life is
not merely stranger than fiction; it’s even more outlandish.
    “When was
this?” he asked gently. His arms bundled her in a blanket of security.
    “I was
fourteen. But there’s more…”
    A strong
hand explored the length of her hair. “I’m listening.”
    “It all
happened fifteen years ago today. Well, I mean yesterday. And…” she swallowed
hard, “and it was right after I’d spotted a body in the woods. A young man, with a gun. He was covered in blood and he was
dead and oh, it was so horrible!” The memories stung her.
    His
comforting caresses suddenly stopped and he stiffened beside her.
    “What’s
wrong?” she dared to ask. Her heart sank.
    A
momentary pause, then: “That dead man you saw, I knew him,” he said in a punishing
voice. “That man was my brother.”
    Chapter Three
    Alex braced
himself. Melita shot up and turned to face him, an
incredulous look on her face. She dragged the sheet along and clasped it to her
breasts, as if it were her most prized possession… a flimsy barrier between
them.
    “What?”
Her high-pitched tone seared his brain, forced him to evade her questioning
gaze.
    For the
first time in fifteen years, Alex relived the worst days of his life, all
because of the woman he’d just made love to. A stranger, who
wasn’t such a stranger after all. The first emotion sparked by her words
was anger – resentment that she had to bring up something he’d buried deep
inside him, and liked to keep that way. Why did she have to unearth it?
    He fisted
his hands into the counterpane. “How many people you think shot their brains
out in that place? It was my brother. His name was Tony.”
    The number
one cardinal rule was that he never spoke about Tony. He’d never broken that
vow. His voice cracked over the two syllables, God help him and curse her.
    “But how
could it be? I don’t remember…” her voice trailed away. Although he wasn’t
looking at her, he could hear the cogs of her mind turn with her thoughts. “I
was going to say that I don’t remember his name, but my parents had kept me
away from the news or anything related to the incident. And, of course, I
couldn’t read about it. Later on, I just wanted to put it behind me.”
    “Look at
me.” When she wouldn’t, he gripped her by the shoulders and forced her to meet
his eyes. “So you never bothered to find out about Tony,” he bit out, but the
anguish in her expression floored him. He instantly regretted the violence in
his voice. He let her go.
    “No! I
just,” she faltered, “I just couldn’t handle it.”
    For an
insane moment, he wanted to be somewhere else. Somewhere
deserted and obscure and empty. Somewhere safe.
    Certainly not here, facing the ghosts of his dreaded past. Certainly not explaining himself to
someone he’d never met before.
    But a
small voice in his head told him, if he kept avoiding the issue, would he ever move
on? He knew the answer to that question, which left him with – could he pluck
the nerve to turn a new leaf?
    She inched
away, hurt. The awkwardness opened up a giant crevice between them. And there
they stood, she on one side and he on the other, with a long rickety bridge of
despair in between.
    Her face
was flushed and tears flowed from her eyes. Humiliation pricked him. How had it
been for a young girl to witness such a thing? What had she been through?
    A right
bastard he was. “I’m