Annie's Song Read Online Free

“Thank God our father isn’t alive to see it.”
    Narrowing his eyes against the light, Douglas met Alex’s accusing gaze. “Would you listen to yourself?
    Annie Trimble is a moron, for Christ’s sake. So I had a little fun. You can bet she doesn’t even remember it now. I don’t see what the big fuss is about.”
    Alex didn’t feel himself move. The next thing he knew, he had his brother by the throat and pinned against the wall. Though tall and well-developed, Douglas had never turned his hand to an honest day’s work. His frantic efforts to dislodge Alex’s grip were in vain. His face went from breathless red to purple before Alex realized what he was doing and relaxed his stranglehold.
    “God help me, I could throttle you. My own flesh and blood, and I could kill you without a second’s hesitation.”
    Douglas squirmed between Alex’s work-hardened body and the rough planks of the wall, his thighs hugging Alex’s knee where it was lodged threateningly against his groin.
    “You’re crazy!” Douglas croaked.
    Wanting to do far worse but holding himself in check, Alex settled for giving his brother a hard shove.
    Douglas’s shoulders hit the wood with a jarring impact. Whiskey breath gone sour from sleep blasted Alex in the face and drove home the point that this young man, whom he’d loved so dearly and singularly, had become a rowdy, conscienceless drunk. “Not crazy, Douglas. The way I see it, I’ve just regained my sanity. I’ve made excuses for you and bailed you out of trouble all your life. But not this time. If they hang you for this, I’ll be in the crowd to watch the trap fall.”
    “I just had a little fun, I tell you.”
    “At poor Annie’s expense.”
    Alex released his brother as though the touch of him was contaminating. Never had he come so close to killing a man. Though he had glimpsed Annie Trimble only a few times and always from a distance, he kept picturing her, small and fragilely built, a fey, harmless creature who frequented the surrounding forests, more shadow than substance, always skittering into the trees to hide when she encountered strangers. How must her parents be feeling tonight, knowing that she had been so cruelly attacked? And not by just anyone, but by Douglas Montgomery, whose brother’s wealth had always made him invulnerable to the law.
    Oh, yes. Alex had become adept at doling out bribes. Over the years, he had learned that nearly anyone could be bought if the offer was substantial enough, and he had gotten Douglas’s ass out of a sling more than once by crossing palms with money. But not this time. This time Douglas had gone beyond the boundaries of decency. His offense was one that not even Alex could excuse, the brutal rape of a girl who couldn’t even comprehend the meaning of the word.
    The rage within Alex was frightening in its intensity, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that if Douglas didn’t get the hell away from him, his life would be forfeit.
    “Get out,” he said softly. “Go to the house, get some money from the safe and what clothing you want.

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    Then get out. If I ever lay eyes on you again, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
    “Out?” Douglas echoed. “You’re kicking me out of the house? Don’t be absurd, Alex. I’m your brother.”
    His brother. Alex gazed at Douglas’s sharply chiseled features, so very like his own, at his tawny hair and burnished skin, at the broad set of his shoulders. How could two people be so much alike on the outside and so wholly different within?
    “I don’t have a brother,” Alex said succinctly. “As of now, my brother is dead to me. Get out of my sight before I make that sentiment a reality.”
    For the first time in Alex’s memory, Douglas’s cocky attitude deserted him. His face twisted with an emotion that could only be panic. “You don’t mean it.” He pushed from the wall and shrugged to