Exposed - Part Two (The Exposed Series, #2) Read Online Free Page B

flashing to her parents.
    "Her mom is amazing." A wide smile takes over his face. "She's great."
    I take comfort in the words. "What about her dad?"
    "He died a few years ago." His gaze falls past me into the air behind me. "He had a weak heart. It didn't last long after we lost Coral."
    We . The word is bittersweet. He lost Coral too. Even if they weren't as close as I thought they were. He cared deeply for her. Obviously many people did.
    "Did she have siblings?"
    "Two." He shifts slightly so there's more distance between us. "A brother and a sister."
    "I have a brother too," I offer. "He's a jerk."
    He smiles. "Coral's is too."
    "What about her sister?" I've always secretly longed for a sister. Alexa is like a sister to me but it's still not quite the same as growing up beside another girl.
    "Christina." He sucks in a heavy, throaty breath. "She's a year younger than Coral was."
    "What's she like?"
    "She's spoiled," he says tightly. "Pretentious and expectant."
    "I take it you don't get along," I joke.
    "We do." He closes his eyes as he pulls the knot of his tie looser. "She's just difficult sometimes. Often, very difficult."
    "Do you still see them all regularly?" I ask already knowing the answer to the question.  His friendship with Jax, Coral's cousin, is evidence enough of his bond to her family.
    "Fairly regularly." He offers nothing beyond that.
    "I'd like to meet them." I shove my hair back behind my ear. "I think I should meet them."
    I feel his body tense next to mine. "No. That won't work." His tone is dismissive and terse.
    "Why not?" I raise my voice slightly. "You wanted to meet me. They probably do too."
    "Coral's death was devastating to all of them." He pulls his fist across his thigh. "You'd just be opening up old wounds."
    The comment hurts. I have a part of someone they love inside of me. How could they not want to meet me as much as I wanted to meet them?
    "You haven't told them about me, have you?" I shoot back. "Is Jax her only relative who knows about me?"
    "That's how it has to be." He's unyielding. This is obviously not a subject that's up for discussion.
    "Don't you think they should decide?" His unwavering stance is annoying. I want to meet them. I want them to see what I'm doing with her heart. I want them to know the life I'm building.
    "I don't discuss her with them anymore." I can see the vein in his neck throbbing.
    "What? Why not?"
    "I killed her, Sadie." He says through clenched teeth. "I killed Coral."

Chapter 7
    I t's as though the words float through the air. I can't grasp them. I can't get my hands around them or my brain to absorb them. My mother said Coral died in a car accident. He didn't kill her. He couldn't have killed her.
    His head is resting in his hands. I can see his measured, heavy breaths. I don't know what to say. I can't speak.
    "I was driving." The emotion in his voice is thick and transparent.  "I was driving the car."
    "It was an accident." I reach to touch his back and he flinches. "My mother said it was an accident."
    He nods his head slowly. "There was a truck. It came out of nowhere. I didn't stop in time."
    "You didn't kill her," I whisper softly as I rest my head against his. "It was an accident."
    His eyes dart up and meet mine. His gaze is heavy, dark and intense. I see a flash of something obscure. "It was my fault. I was careless."
    "Accidents happen, Hunter." I run my hand down his back. I want to comfort him. Despite the past few days I want to cradle him in my arms and help take his pain away.
    "I only had my driver's license a few weeks." He takes in a heavy breath to quiet the tremor in his voice. "She wasn't wearing a seat belt. She was sitting next me."
    I move my hand to his shoulder, pulling him in closer to me. "You couldn’t have known."
    "I was looking at her. She was laughing. I didn't see the truck." His face is wet with tears. "It was over in an instant."
    I reach for his hand and grab hold of it. I want to shield him from this pain. I can