Snippet Saturday

Today’s topic is breaking up. I thought I’d give a peek at one of the more tense moments of NO TURNING BACK. Declan and Leah have a tough relationship thianks to their families’ joint history. Things are starting to go well – like, literally they are headed for bed – and Declan discovers the information Leah’s been compiling for years and just how deep her hatred for his family once went. Take a look…

Fueled by an anger he hadn’t known in years, he grabbed files, snapping them in the air and throwing them one at a time at her feet. Papers whooshed out of the sides and floated to the floor. She never moved. Didn’t try to catch anything or keep him out of the boxes.

“You’ve been collecting this for how long?” If she lied one more time he didn’t know what he’d do. He’d never hurt a woman, but he had no idea one would ever have the power to destroy him.

“It’s not—”



“Not what, Leah? It’s fucking crazy, is what it is. It’s scary. You know that, right?” She opened her mouth but he jumped right back in as the words tore out of him. “Were you going to sleep with me then add your rating to one of these files? Is that it?”

“Of course not.”

“Maybe post it up there on the board with whatever else you’ve gathered about my past?”

“Declan, I . . .” She wiped her hand over her face. “I don’t know how to make you understand.”

She jumped and looked back up when he slapped his hand against the whiteboard and watched it rock. It took all he had not to tear the thing apart, rip the wood with his bare hands and throw it all on the floor.

Tension and a dark roaring anger rumbled through the room. “This is unbelievable.”

She leaned against the door frame, her body curled in and tucked. “I wanted to tell you.”

Her whispered words crashed against him and he fought them off. Even now after seeing this, the urge to hold her and shake her until she agreed to stop this nonsense floored him. All his energy centered on standing there, holding his ground, and refusing to buy into the lost-kitten look she had going on. But, damn, he was tempted and that stupid show of weakness made him furious.

“When did you plan to come clean, Leah? You had every chance. We’ve seen each other almost every day since I got to town.”

“I couldn’t figure out how or when.”

“How about after I told you about my mom or opened up about being Charlie’s kid? Or when I kissed you? Or when I nearly ripped your clothes off and took you in the work shed?” So many things he’d never shared, all those emotions floating to the surface. He’d handed the information right to the very person determined to gather it and then fire it as a weapon. He’d made it all so easy.

She blew out a long breath. “Everything started racing and I lost control. This began long before I met you. It has nothing—”

He pointed at her, willing her to stop talking. “Do not say it has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with me and you know it.”

She held his gaze with tortured eyes for a second then looked away.

“You want to be angry about the past, fine.” He refastened his belt and blinked away the memory of her hands trying to strip it off. “Wallow in your hate for all I care. But this? Don’t try to pretend this is about anything but destroying my family.”

“I’m trying to balance everything and make everybody happy.”

“Happy? Do I look happy to you?”

She dropped her hands to her sides and came to him. Her fingers wrapped around his forearms and her eyes pleaded as she talked. “Please, listen to me.”

The only way to do this, to keep his shield up and strong, was to walk away. “We’re done with that. You had every chance and—”

“Declan.”

He peeled her fingers off his arms and set her back a straight-armed distance away. “I’m not going to let you go after my brothers. You want a fight, you got it.”

“I want you.”

“Too late.” And he walked out the door before his steps could hesitate or his body to could call out to her. Those days were over.

NO TURNING BACK

Copyright 2013, HelenKay Dimon

All Rights Reserved, Penguin Berkley

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