Only Love (The Atonement Series) by Elle Chardou Read Free Book Online

found out you two were related, I was kind of relieved if you can believe it. You don’t know what went down between us and she’s hurting. I just want to make sure no one does that to her again. Do you get my point of view and where I am coming from?”
    Drew sat next to him and nodded his head. “What the hell happened between you two anyway? One minute, you two are inseparable and the next, she decides she can’t stand the sight of you and high tails it outta Seattle. I just didn’t expect it, not from Deirdre.”
    Colin would have given anything to break the sacred vow he had with his brother at that moment just to tell Drew everything but he couldn’t. He believed a huge reason why Deirdre left was because she refused to tell her sister the truth and she couldn’t stand the duplicity. Anyone who’d ever proclaimed it was easy to keep a secret obviously had never had to keep one to themselves because every moment of every day was torture for him.
    He did a good job pretending because that’s what he did. However, he could admit he wasn’t as psychologically strong or cold as Liam and what came so natural for his brother didn’t come naturally to him. He felt like an imposter because he simply didn’t possess that “killer instinct”.
    Colin then found himself doing the old merry-go-round when his brother had told him he’d confessed to assuage his conscience. It had nothing to do with revealing the truth or being completely honest with Deirdre but it did have a lot to do with having another person to “share the burden” of the secret.
    However, he knew that was only one mitigating factor that had sent his ex-fiancée running away from him. It didn’t help for her—or himself for the matter—to find out the child she carried had belonged to his brother.
    While it pained Deirdre, it delighted Colin she’d lost the baby. There was no way he wanted to raise another man’s baby, regardless whether it was his brother’s or not. It wasn’t part of him to be that giving but at that point, he’d been willing to say anything on the phone just to get her back to Seattle. As far as he was concerned, she wasn’t too far along that an abortion couldn’t be moved off the table. Now that was no longer a concern and all he had to worry about was getting his woman back.
    Aubrey cleared her throat. “So, do you really plan to stay here until you’ve convinced Deirdre she belongs to you? Perhaps you two really do need the distance. She’s an adult—believe me when I say that she is more than capable of taking care of herself.”
    “What’s this really about?” Colin’s crystal blue eyes grew hard as diamonds and his expression completely reflected his mood. “Is this about the bar?”
    “You know what we are talking about doesn’t have a damn thing to do with the bar, Colin. Aubrey and I are heading back in a couple of days. Remember, Deirdre was—no, she is —my first love and I would never allow anyone to hurt her. I agree, I wouldn’t have chosen Drake for her but it’s not my choice. Besides, they aren’t dating, they’re merely friends. Would you be this jealous if she became close to a male friend at work?”
    “This is different.” Colin buried his face in his hands to hide the tears which threatened to fall if he didn’t choose his next words very carefully. “I wish to God I could tell you both what was going between us and why everything is so fucked up but I can’t. All I can really say is that Deirdre has every reason to hate me but I still love her so much and I can’t give up on us. I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet. I’ll stay and make sure she’s okay. If she really is happy with this Drake guy then I will leave her to make a life with him.”
    He wouldn’t dare look up but he could see Drew and Aubrey looking at one another from the corner of his eye.
    “If you feel that strongly about my cousin then why don’t you stay? I’m making dinner—her favorite which