Winter (Four Seasons #1) (41 page)

“
Of course I
want it, Luke. I love you,” I whisper.

His brows draw
together. “But you just said, yourself…‘
We
obviously can’t…’
”

“
No, that’s
not what I meant. I was going to say we obviously can’t carry on
with all the secrets, Luke. I need to trust you and you need to
trust me. Because this isn’t something either of us can run from
anymore. Our pasts keep trying to bury us. Brandon was right; we
need to help dig each other out. Which means—”

“
Which means I
need to tell you everything that happened to me. Starting from the
beginning, right?”

I nod my head,
suddenly tired. “Can you do that?”

Steel resolve
solidifies in Luke’s eyes. “I can. I will.” He’s telling the truth.
He really will tell me. Finally, all of the secrets, all the pain
acting as a buffer between us, pushing us apart, it’s all going to
be over. Luke inhales, preparing himself. “Firstly, I’ve signed the
contract. I’m going on tour with DMF. I’m no longer a cop,
Beautiful. There’s only one person I want to protect now, and
that’s you. Secondly, you father’s been cleared of all the charges
against him. You should know, he didn’t kill any of those men, nor
any of the girls. I knew it all along.”

A surge of
emotion so powerful floods through me, bringing tears to my eyes.
To call it relief just isn’t doing the sensation justice. Luke
reaches out for my hand. “Avery, your dad did do something though.”
He looks away, his eyes shining brightly as he stares at the floor.
“He did kill one person.”

And like a
candle flame being snuffed out, suddenly the relief is gone.
Vanished in a heartbeat. It isn’t over. After everything, after all
the pain and hurt, something still remains. Adrenalin lights my
nerve endings on fire as I wait to hear what Luke will say next. A
single tear forms on the tip of one of his eyelashes.

“
He killed my
father for me, Ave. He protected me. He saved me.
And I'm ready now. I'm ready to tell you
why.
”

Summer, the
next book in the Four Seasons series will be released in October
2014! Make sure you add it to your TBR to catch more of Avery and
Luke!!

In the
meantime, if you enjoyed Winter, don’t forget to leave a
review!

Thanks so
much!

Nikita