Twisted Affair Vol. 5 Read Online Free Page A

make the pain less.
    My sister was still alive.
    I took a shuddering breath as a sob ripped out of me. It was true, all true. My little Kat, my baby sister, my twin...she was dead. I was aware I was crying out for her, English and Czech mixing. My eyes were shut, my entire body shaking with the force of my sobs. The pain was too much. I was being torn apart and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. I knew that something had happened to me and that, eventually, I'd need to process that, but at the moment, the only thing I could feel was the agony of loss.
    I had no sense of time passing or anything other than what I was feeling. Little by little, however, my tears slowed and my breathing calmed. Only as that happened did I become aware that I wasn't alone. I remembered that Blayne had picked me up, but I hadn't paid attention to what had come next. If I'd have thought about it, I supposed I would've thought he put me on the couch or bed and left me there to mourn. What I wouldn't have guessed was what he'd actually done.
    I was sitting on his lap, his arms wrapped around me and my face pressed against his chest. The scent of him was familiar even if this intimacy was not. It should have freaked me out, being held like this, but I let myself be comforted by it. If anyone could understand even a fraction of what I was feeling, it was Blayne. He'd loved Katka.
    A hand squeezed my heart. He'd loved a lie. A wave of guilt joined with my sorrow.
    I tilted my head up, intent on apologizing for everything I'd done. My eyes met his and I saw a glimpse of my own pain reflected back at me. Pain, and something else. Before I could try to figure it out, his mouth came down on mine.

Chapter 5
    Blayne
    I hadn't realized I'd been holding on to a faint sliver of hope until the moment Livie had exposed the tattoo on her hip. The instant I'd seen those letters, my heart had broken all over again. Then I'd heard her speak and knew she still wasn't seeing it. My eyes were burning as I reached down and traced the tattoo with my fingers. I could still remember how it felt beneath my tongue.
    I watched as the truth broke across her face and caught her just before she hit the floor. Her cries were like salt in my wounds as I picked her up and carried her over to the sofa. I could hear Katka's name with a mix of languages, but I didn't need to speak Czech to know that it was all the same thing.
    As I held her on my lap, I couldn't help but feel guilty. She'd been fine before I'd come into her life. If I'd never walked into Frankie's, never met her, none of this would've happened. She would've kept on with her life, believing her sister was still alive. And would that have really been such a bad thing? She wasn't hurting anyone by keeping Katka alive.
    I couldn't deny though that the thought of never having met them – her , I corrected myself – was almost as painful as what I was going through now. Would I really trade what I'd had to avoid my pain? No, I thought. It was worth it. I looked down at the woman in my arms. For her though...would I give up those precious memories if it meant stopping her hurt? As she raised her head and her eyes met mine, I knew the answer to that question.
    Yes.
    I lowered my head before I knew what I was doing. All I knew was that I wanted to take away her pain, and since I couldn't go back in time to fix it, I did the only thing I could.
    I kissed her.
    Her mouth was salty with her tears, her lips trembling beneath mine. My instinct had been to comfort, but when she opened her mouth, her tongue teasing out against my lips, my arms tightened around her. I expected her to pull away, to push me away. Maybe even slap me again.
    Instead, her arms went around my neck, her fingers twisting in my hair. I knew I should stop it, that she was vulnerable right now. We both were. And my body knew hers.
    As she started to pull me down onto her, I broke the kiss. I'd done so much wrong. I had to do right here.
    “We–” I