Read Online Avowed (The Manipulation Trilogy Book 3) by Alicia Taylor, Natalie Townson - Free Book Online Page A

2014
    Damon
     
    “Damon, it’s okay. I’m here,” Ella soothes. I’m clinging to her with a death grip, making sure she’s really okay. Dreams have been haunting me for years, never giving me peace. The dreams have never been like this though. Not twisted. That dream was a mix of reality and my fears.
    “Ella,” I gasp. Sweat is coating my shaking body, the bed sheets damp and twisted around my body. Fuck. I hope I didn’t thrash about and hit Ella. Will I ever be free of Lydia Knight?
    I pull back to look into her eyes, taking a deep breath when I see she’s really is here, not dead. There is so much Ella doesn’t know. So much she can’t know because if she did, she wouldn’t love her sister so much. There would be no missing pieces of her heart for her sister.
    Telling Ella will break her.
    I’m not even sure she’ll believe me but I have to. I can only hope she lets me explain everything before she decides if she can stay with the monster in me.
    “Beauty,” I whisper. “I can’t lose you.”
    “You won’t.” I can see and hear the pain in her at seeing me such a mess. I feel like a fucking pussy needing reassurance from her, but I can’t lose her. She’s my fucking life.
    I breathe for her.
    I live for her.
    I need her.
    I pull her body against mine, settling her body flush with me – as flush as our growing daughter will allow. My heart calms at the feel of hers, our hearts beating in sync. Breathing her in, drawing from her strength, I know I have to start telling her my sins, but I need to start with the easier stuff.
    How did I ever live without her? She makes everything bad in my life better. She makes loving her easy. She takes the darkness away.
    “Ella I fucking love you.”
    “I love you too.” The sincerity in her voice soothes me. She really does love me. I just hope it’s enough love to forgive me.
    “Do you want to talk about your dream Damon?”
    “Not really,” I sigh. I really don’t want to tell her.
    “What was it about?”
    “Lydia.” That one name makes Ella go rigid in my embrace. My hands sweep down the length of her spine and back up in a calming gesture, trying to ease her stress. I know she thinks everything that needs to be said has already been put out there, but it hasn’t. I have a lot to say.
    “Will you tell me about her?” she asks quietly. “What really happened with Lydia, Damon?”
    Her question shocks me. I expected her to ask me questions days ago but she didn’t, and I just figured she didn’t give a shit. To tell her this I’m going to have to tell her more than I’m ready to, but I know I have to.
    “What do you want to know Ella? I don’t want to hurt and upset you.”
    “Everything. I want to know everything Damon. She loved you. Really loved you. She thought you loved her too but I want to truth. What really happened with my sister and you?”
    I shut my eyes and take a steadying breath, not knowing what to say or where to start. This is so much fucking harder than I ever thought it would be.
    “Damon, just tell me what happened to my sister. I need to know. I know she wasn’t well, I know it wasn’t what I thought happened, and it wasn’t what she wrote.” She pauses and takes a deep breath. “She came to work for you and instantly fell for you. How did that happen?”
    I sigh. I don’t even know the details of how everything happened. I can pinpoint bits but not much when it comes to Lydia.
    “I don’t know Ella,” I say honestly.
    “What? How can you not know?” she says with confusion. “She started working for you. You started taking her out on dates, and she fell for you. Hard. I just want to know everything you know Damon. Why you broke up with her, what happened after you broke up. I want to know it all Damon. Everything you know,” she pleads.
    I sit in stunned silence at her words as her eyes pierce into me, but I don’t look at her. What the fuck? None of that happened, apart from her working for me none of