Obsession

Ava had taken refuge behind a huge oak tree, silently watching people depart the cemetery.

“My deepest condolences, Miss Blue.”

She stiffened at the sound of his voice, and Kingston could think of little else but gathering this sad, lost girl into his arms. Would she resist an offer of comfort? Or melt into his embrace?

Ava dabbed her eyes with a bedraggled tissue. “I can’t seem to stop crying.”

Kingston’s fists clenched. The forlorn sorrow in her voice was so different from Carson’s annoyed tone.

“That’s to be expected,” he murmured. “You’ve lost people whom you loved very much. I know you’re heartbroken.”

Ava turned to him, eyes red-rimmed and puffy but still so damned beautiful it nearly took his breath away. “Did you cry when you lost your father and stepmother?”

The blunt question surprised Kingston, dredging up memories of Rebecca and how he both loved and hated her.

Rebecca tricked him into providing the instrument of her death. There could be no forgiveness for that betrayal,