HIS DOE, HIS DAMNATION (An Erotic Billionaire Romance) novel Chapter 124

Meadow’s POV:

My heart stopped beating.

I must not have heard that correctly. There was no way… no fucking way what Nolan just said was the truth.

Forcing my legs to move forward and into the light, my brows drew together.

“Alaric, what… what is he saying?”

I wanted him to deny it. To at least tell me that Nolan didn’t know what he was saying. But the expression on Alaric’s face told me that I wasn’t going to get anything of that sort from him. Or anything at all, to be honest.

My gaze dropped to his bleeding lip. If this were any other situation, I would rush over to him so I could look at the wound. But this wasn’t any other situation.

I just overheard my brother–in–law say that my father was responsible for their father’s death.

But that wasn’t possible.

It couldn’t be possible. Alaric said his father died twenty years ago. My father went to prison thirteen years ago.

Yes, he was imprisoned on the grounds of manslaughter and embezzlement, but he didn’t…

No.

No, he didn’t. Not Alaric’s father.

My gaze shifted to Nolan, who was glaring at me like I had committed the worst sin on this earth.

“What are you saying, Nolan?” I asked him, since Alaric refused to say anything to me. My voice came out shaky, and when I clenched my fists, I could feel them shaking too.

Nolan scoffed, his nostrils flaring. “As if you don’t fucking know.”

I jerked back like he had slapped me, because honestly, that was how his words had made me feel.

“Know what?” I breathed, looking from Nolan to Alaric and back to Nolan. “Nolan, what the hell are you talking about? My father was jailed when I was ten years old. How does it make any…” I trailed off, confused.

For a moment, Nolan just watched me with a narrowed gaze, and then his eyes widened slowly, like he was just realizing something. “Heilige Scheiße….” ‘Holy fucking shit.‘ “You have no damn idea, do you?”

“About what?” I gritted out impatiently, although the tone of my voice had nothing to do with the way I was feeling inside–like my heart was being yanked out of my chest.

Nolan opened his mouth to speak again but Alaric’s voice cut in. “Nolan,” he warned, voice deep and low.

My already wide, blurry eyes shot to his, and although Alaric’s jaw ticked, his eyes held something a little heavier. More painful. More heart–shattering.

Guilt.

But it was gone before I could even blink.

Keeping my eyes on Alaric’s, I lifted my chin and parted my lips. “Nolan, tell me.”

“Meadow, we can talk about this at the penthou-”

“Fine,” Nolan cut in coldly. “You want to know what I’m talking about? I’ll tell you. And then I’m going to leave you both here to deal with your bullshit because whatever this is? Whatever the hell’s about to happen here?” He gestured between Alaric and I. “I want no fucking part of it.”

“Nolan,” Alaric growled, starting to lunge for him. If Nolan had seen him coming, it would have been easier for him to dodge. But Alaric was too fast, and it happened all of a sudden.

He reared his arm back and punched his brother so hard I heard his jaw bone crack. “Alaric!” I screamed just as Nolan grunted in pain.

“Fuck!” he cursed, doubling over.

“To put it plainly,” Nolan continued. “Yes, Meadow. Your father did kill ours. Last night, I was feeling a bit … nostalgic, you know? Our father died twenty years ago and I felt like checking in on the man who was convicted for killing him.” He chuckled again.

“I never much cared before, but sometimes, all alcohol does is make you fucking care. For some reason, I wanted to do a check on the bastard, you know? See if he had any family. I wanted to see if they were doing better than we were. Or worse.” He scoffed. “I can’t believe I was only one internet search away from knowing your fucking roots, Meadow Russell.”

His jaw clenched and he sneered at me. I shook my head, feeling the heart that had already been yanked out being wrung so painfully. “Nolan, I didn’t know. I–I swear, I didn’t know my father was responsible for

“Well,” He shrugged. “Now you know. And I bet now you also know that my brother is the most strategic

person I have ever known, and you, my dear sister–in–law, have been fooled into thinking all he wants is to feel you.”

I turned to face Alaric, my heart pounding hard against my ribcage. Alaric ran a hand through his hair–it was the first time I was ever seeing him completely stunned and speechless, without any idea, any excuse to give. Anything at all to say.

The first tear slipped from my eye, and even though my gaze was on Alaric’s, I could see Nolan retreat to his car, but not before muttering a “Good luck, bro.”

For a long moment after his car sped off, Alaric and I just stared at each other. My throat was thick. Too thick.

He stepped toward me slowly, and with every step he took forward, I took one back. My breathing was shallow, my body shaking. And it wasn’t long before my back was pressed against the car.

“Meadow…”

“Stay back,” I breathed when he was a few feet away. “Stay away from me, Alaric.”

“Meadow, please, just hear me out.”

“I will,” I bit out, heaving a breath. “I will hear you out, Alaric. I’ll do anything you want, listen to what you

want to tell me, but I want to do that from a distance.” My bottom lip quivered. “I don’t want you coming close to me. I don’t want you… I don’t want you touching me.”