Tears streamed down my face. There was nothing he could ever do to make this right again. He’d destroyed everything.
I continued to hit him, and he didn’t even raise his hands to protect himself from my blows. He just sat there with his head hanging, his eyes shut, and I was sure I saw a tear slip from his eye and drip off the end of his nose.
“I’m sorry, Ivy. He came here to kill me. He gave me no choice.”
I couldn’t believe that. There was always a choice, wasn’t there?
“You killed my brother! You killed him! Youmurderedhim.”
“No, Ivy. No.”
I battered him with my fists. “Tell me it wasn’t you, then. Tell me!”
I was screaming at him now. I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and see Bruno’s body again.
I wanted to collapse into Jayden’s chest and sob against him, to feel his arms around me, holding me tight and offering me comfort, but how could I do that when he was the one who’d caused such pain?
Chapter Nineteen
Jayden
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IDIDN’T TRY TO DEFENDmyself against Ivy’s beating fists.
I felt numb inside, distanced from myself, as though none of this was really happening. I was vaguely aware that Fredrick was also here, watching on with stunned horror.
“I didn’t have any choice,” I said again, as though repeating myself would make her believe me.
I glanced down to the broken bottle in my hand and the dead man at my feet, his throat opened in a ragged wound.
The bottle fell from my fingers and smashed on the floor. The neck would be covered in my fingerprints, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Maybe I should go down for this. If it would make Ivy look at me again, I’d spend the rest of my life behind bars.
“You’ve ruined us, Jay. You’ve destroyed everything.”
She dropped to her knees beside her brother and let out another wail of anguish that went right to my core.