Little Stranger (The Web of Silence Duet, #1)

by Leigh Rivers

No. You were mine when we were kids, and you’re mine now. You’ll always be mine.

Don’t silence me like that, he signs furiously. Don’t ever fucking silence me, Olivia. My brow furrows in confusion. “I… I didn’t.” He points to the torch. I can’t fucking talk to you if you can’t see me.

He’s kissed me twice, and I felt like I was making out with a lampshade.

Because I can’t talk? Because I can’t tell you how fucking breathtaking you are every second of every day? Because I can’t breathe without being near you? Someone like me… I’m different—I can’t be normal for you. I can’t defend you without using my fists or my bat, and I can’t touch you at the same time as telling you that you’re everything to me. I can’t whisper sweet nothings into your mouth and I can’t fucking marry you because not only am I your brother, but I’m defective.

“I have a brother,” she says, her eyes watering. “If you hurt me, he’ll find you.” “Yeah?” The thrill going through me right now is fucking ecstatic. She just threatened me with myself—she thinks I’ll save her.