ROARK
S
neaking
a peek into Julianne’s bedroom, I couldn’t help but smile at the intense concentration masking her expression. Lifting my hand to knock on the door frame, my knuckles vibrated slightly, and the hairs on my arm stood up. In the fraction of a second it took for the sound to reach her, my chest tightened, and a lump lodged in my throat.
“Come in…” Without looking up from her laptop, Julianne spoke up, and I crossed the threshold and halfway to her bed before she glanced at me. “You didn’t come home last night, Roark.”
There was no accusation in Julianne’s tone, but guilt still filled my lungs as I sat on the edge of her bed.
“I know. The funeral took a lot more from me than I expected. Have you talked to Dad yet?” My self-disgust was potent to the point of physical pain,
