Read Online Perfectly Broken by Emily Jane Trent - Free Book Online Page B

something
different.”
    Tomas placed the order and then leaned back to
look at her.
    “You drink wine?” she said.
    “I can. Whiskey is my first choice. But I’m with
you. I thought sharing a bottle would be nice.”
    Susanna nodded. “It will be.”
    Tomas ran his hand through his hair. “I can’t
believe you are really here.”
    She sighed. “I can’t either.” It was to be
expected that he would want an explanation, so she waited for the
question burning on his lips.
    He just sat across the table, his pale green
eyes piercing holes into her.
    The wine was served, and they each took a sip.
Tomas told the server they were going to drink for a bit, and he
would flag him when they needed to order.
    “Very well, sir.”
    Alone in the corner of the room, the atmosphere
was tense. Being with him again felt good, and that was scary. But
Susanna decided the best approach was honesty.
    “Go ahead,” she said. “Ask me.”
    Tomas held his wine glass in midair. “Why were
you at the funeral? How are you related?”
    Of course he would ask that . Susanna took
another sip of wine before speaking. “I was just…hanging out
there.”
    He raised his brows. “At a funeral parlor?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    Susanna shrugged as if it were nothing, but knew
he would find it strange. “I like to.”
    “Don’t they kick you out?”
    She shook her head. “Not so far. I go to
different ones. Not the same one all the time.”
    His eyes widened. “You hang around funeral
parlors?”
    Susanna nodded. “Sometimes.”
    “Isn’t it depressing?”
    She looked at the color of the wine in her
glass, thoughtful for a moment. “Not really. I find it comforting.
I like to mourn. It makes me feel close to those who have
died.”
    Tomas was quiet.
    She fingered the stem of her glass. “And I’m
attracted to Gothic stuff, like the architecture of the church.
It’s morbid, but kind of cool.”
    He furrowed his brow. “How did all this
start?”
    “You’re sure you want to know?” It was only fair
to give him a chance to back out. Susanna would understand.
    Tomas held her gaze. “I want to know.”
    “It’s a long story, but I’ll give you the
highlights.” As simply as she could, Susanna described her
situation. She didn’t discuss it with anyone. Except Rowan.
Otherwise, she was a private person. But there was something about
Tomas that made her want to tell him.
    He leaned forward on his elbows and waited for
her to go on.
    “I’m an orphan, or I was. My birth mother gave
me up. I never knew her. I went through a whole foster-care thing,
which was a nightmare. I’ll skip over that part. Eventually, I got
adopted by some wonderful people. Irena and Joshua Peters were
amazing. They were kind to me, even though I was pretty messed up
by the time they got me.”
    A tear rolled down her cheek, and she bit back
her grief. Tomas touched the back of her hand with his fingertips.
“Go on.”
    “The thing is, I’m all alone now. The Peters
died in a car accident about a year and a half ago. Fortunately, I
was already of age so I didn’t have to go back into the foster
system.”
    “How old are you?”
    “I turned twenty-one last October.”
    Tomas stroked her arm with his fingertips. “But
why the attachment to funerals?”
    She bit her lip. “I know it doesn’t make sense,
but it makes me feel close to them. And to my birth mother.”
    He tilted his head. “I thought you didn’t know
her.”
    Susanna looked into his eyes, assessing if she
should trust him. “No, I didn’t. But it bothered me, you know, the
fact that she would give me up. So Irena helped me find her.” Tears
welled up.
    Tomas squeezed her hand.
    Susanna wiped away a tear with her finger.
“Only, by the time we found her, Eva Finn was already dead.”
    “What did she die of?”
    “Drug overdose.” Susanna dried her tears with
her napkin. “I’m sorry. It’s hard to talk about.”
    His pale green eyes looked soft. “That’s such a
sad