Wounded Courage (Lucky Thirteen) Read Free

Giroux?”
    I hesitated. Until I’d seen Devyn at the house, my relationship with Alex had always been something good. I’d loved him, adored him. And he’d lied to me. I still didn’t understand why he didn’t tell me Devyn was there, or why she had been brought there. I sure as hell wasn’t going to talk to his sister about it. She was a crazy bitch.
    “Addison.”
    I glanced up at Chris, meeting his eyes. So cold. It was like I didn’t know him at all. “What?”
    “How do you know Alex Giroux?”
    Alex and my first date had been drinks at this fancy place in Paris. I couldn’t even remember the name of it anymore. I’d been on vacation from school and the girls and I had decided to take a trip to Paris. I’d met him by chance.
     “I had a… relationship with him.” The blush crept up over my cheeks as I felt Murphy’s eyes on me. I didn’t dare look at him. That was the guy I’d always wanted growing up.
    “What is the nature of your relationship with Alex Giroux?” Murphy asked.
    I refused to look at Murphy. It was embarrassing, though I supposed it shouldn’t have been. I wasn’t a nun. I had a right to seek out a relationship with other guys. He’d certainly never been interested.
    “He was my boyfriend,” I said quietly. Admitting it out loud hurt. Alex had been a wonderful new addition to my life… right up until I found out everything. Who Alex was, what he wanted from me. Alex’d been stressed, scared, and with good reason. One didn’t just go against the Giroux family, even when one was a member of it.
    “For how long?” Murphy again. My face burned and it shouldn’t have. I was a damn adult. I lifted my eyes in a defiant glare and met his straight on.
    “About a year. I moved in last December.”
    “Why?” Chris asked. They were starting to gang up on me, that same thing they’d done when we were kids. I doubted they even realized they were doing it. Some things never changed.
    “He told me that I was in danger and wanted to protect me.”
    “From who?”
    “From his family.” Silence followed that statement. Chris wrote on his notepad, line after line. He didn’t look at me. Minutes passed and he kept writing. Finally, I just couldn’t take it. “Chris? Please talk to me. I need you to talk to me.”
    Chris stopped writing and lifted his eyes to mine. “Addison, I don’t know what to say to you right now. You’re the last person I expected to see. So… all I can do is ask these questions and hope I find answers.” Just the sound of dejection in his voice forced fresh tears to the surface. But I glanced up, and Murphy was watching me. I didn’t want to cry in front of him. Not again.
    “What were you doing at Giroux’s house?”
    “I live—lived—there.” I sighed and added, “I told you. It’s complicated.”
    “I’m listening,” he said. “Because I’m really interested to know why my sister was in an arms dealer’s home, playing house with him.” His barely leashed anger made me shiver. We were twins, but we were rare in that our birthdays actually fell on different days. He’d been born fifteen minutes before me, and maybe because of that, Chris had always assumed the older brother role with me. I was the screw up of the family, the one that needed babysitting and looking after.
    “I… “ I stopped and shook my head.
    “Why were they holding you?” Holding me? Really, I hadn’t been in any danger until Marie and Rene showed up. Rene had never liked me. He’d been waiting for the perfect moment to come after me. And Marie, well, she’d hated everything since her husband was killed.
    “I told you. I wasn’t a prisoner there.”
    “Tell me again.” Chris demanded.
    “I lived there!” I screamed at him, the frustration boiling over. The words poured from my mouth. Silence followed that declaration, even though I’d already told them once. “I lived there with my boyfriend. That’s what people do when they like each other. Not that