Free Conviction: Devine by D H Sidebottom Page B

into my right hand. If he had said any kind words, they couldn’t have given me any more support than just taking my hand did.
    We sat in silence as we smoked our cigarettes, watching the night turn into day while a bond formed that neither of us ever expected.
    Eventually Kris flicked his smoke into the air and sighed. “He never professed to be a good man.”
    I nodded. “I know.”
    “But he is, Isla.”
    I snorted quietly. “I hope he rots in a jail cell. I understand your loyalty, Kris, honestly I do but that man has. . . .”
    “That man has broken his own fucking heart for you!”
    I snapped my face to his, my glare angry and full of a hatred I didn’t think I could contain. “What the fuck, Kris? You think I’m not hurting?” I thumped at my chest, tears finally brimming over and toppling down my face. “I don’t think I’ll ever fix what Jake has broken. How can someone profess his love then screw another woman, a woman who he swore meant nothing to him?”
    Kris watched me with no expression on his face, as per usual.
    “And . . . and . . .” I squeezed my eyes closed, hating the tightness in my chest as the nausea twisted my insides, my broken voice choking me. “God damn it, Kris! He murdered my family! Why? Why?”
    Kris’ arms wrapped around me and he pulled my face into his chest. My hands fisted his shirt as I desperately clawed at him, the pain tearing through me, taking the breath from my lungs as I wailed and grabbed at him for comfort.
    “Shush, chicken,” he soothed, his funny nickname only just filtering through my loud cries as he rocked me back and forth, one of his hands sliding up and down my back as he tried to quieten my distress.
    He held me for a long time, patient and calm as my hysterics eventually turned to sobs and then random sniffles.
    He tipped my head back, his thumb and finger directing my face to his. The look of torment on his face had me hypnotised. Kris had never shown any emotion and for him to look at me the way he was astounding. “I’m going to say two things.” He blinked at me, holding me captive in his gaze. I was struggling to breathe, something telling me I needed to listen to him to understand why my life was falling apart. “Jake deserves my loyalty and he will always have it.”
    I curled my lip and tried to look away before I said something I wouldn’t regret. Kris, once again, took my face and sternly pulled my gaze back to his, his eyes narrow and heated. “Listen to me, because you need to hear this.”
    “Really?” I bit out, angered by how Kris could go from being a friend to a foe so quickly.
    “Yeah, really!” he growled, his grip on my face tightening.
    Defeated, I glared at him. “Well, go on! Say what you have to. God forbid one of Jake’s minions would ever disagree with what he does!”
    “Oh, I disagree with him alright!” Kris hissed. “I disagreed with him when he chased after you!” My jaw dropped. “I disagreed with the way he involved himself in your poor, sad life!”
    I tried to pull back but he refused to allow it, his other hand curling around the back of my neck, his fingers digging in until they restricted any movement. The pain in my skull was excruciating and I was amazed how such a simple hold could be so painful.
    “One thing you don’t know about Jake is his loyalty to his friends and those he classes as family. He makes promises that he never breaks.” He leaned closer to me at the same time as he pulled my face closer to his. “You don’t find it strange that he asked me to send you to his office just as he was screwing Gen? Did you even fucking bother to ask him? Did you bother to make sure what you saw was actually what you thought you saw?”
    My Adam’s apple ached when my heart thumped madly and my throat started to close up. “What?”
    He sighed and relaxed his hold slightly. “Close your eyes,” he barked.
    “What?”
    He growled in annoyance. “Close—your–eyes.” His order was