All Chapters of Scarred Roses, Burning Vengeance: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

ELEANOR SINCLAIR There are times that Damian's face appears in my mind unbidden.Those are the times when I'm standing there at Vincent's gala once again, picturing him sitting alone at the table while downing drink after drink, a shadow of the love of my past. I-if I may forgive myself for even caring, but there was a time I used to-sometimes wonder if he knows what Vincent is doing, if he's a participant or if he's another pawn. Martin had said he now runs a legal business, after all. Maybe he listened in my absence. I shake my head, attempting to focus, but the guilt in his eyes at the gala haunts me. It sometimes annoys me that I think about him so much, that I even wonder why I'm bothered, why I still find myself drawn to him when Vincent is the one I'm after.I then return to the files, determined to remain on track. The records show payments from Vincent's primary company to Thornesby Enterprises, described as 'consulting fees'. It makes me snicke-consulting, my foor. It is m

ELEANOR SINCLAIR I hold my breath as I read the name again and again.Helen-Nora Sinclair. It was even made to sound like mine. Eleanor Sinclair. I take another good, critical look at her face and feel as though I'm staring into a mirror or through a fantasy portal and finding a version of myself I never knew existed, that I could never have imagined. The documents in my hand feel as though they are on fire, each page a shard of glass that cuts a little deeper into the life I thought I had, revealing it to be something else. How could I have lived for twenty-seven years and not known that I had a twin sister. How could my parents have kept this away from me, without even a word? I feel betrayed, and hurt that they cannot answer my questions. I have a lot to ask them.The thoughts are odd, even unimaginable, but the evidence is undeniable. Her face... my face... our face... stares back at me from the grainy photographs, the emails with her picture attached, and the bank statements.

ELEANOR SINCLAIR Her face does not change in the least.I would even think she has no reaction if I did not see her clench her fists at her sides. "You don't know anything," she says, her voice low, almost a growl. "You must think in your fickle mind that you've got it all figured out, don't you? You thought you had the perfect little life, destroyed by the big bad wolf. But you don't know half of the whole story.""Then tell me,"I snap, advancing on her while trying hard to hold my tears in, to stop her from seeing them. "Tell me why my sister... my twin... who shared the same womb with me helped that monster destroy my life. Tell me why I didn't even know you existed until today."For the first time, something flickers in her eyes-guilt, maybe, or regret. Except that it is gone as quickly as it shows, only to be replaced by that hard, guarded look of hers once again. "You want the truth?" she says, crossing her arms. "Fine. But you're not going to like it."We both pause, her eye

VINCENT MOREAU The air in my office is thick and oppressive.They make me feel as though the walls will crush me as I sit at my desk, the highly polished mahogany gleaming in contrast to the storm raging in my head. The city stirs outside the window and I go to take a good look at it to ease myself of the suffocating environment and to reflect on how I have made myself an integral part of this place in the five years I have been here.For some reason, Damian Blackwood comes to mind, and I think of when I used to want him, to desire him and snatch him from his wife. The memory makes me cringe now, indeed. I have not lost my love for men. I have lost my love for Damian Blackwood.He is a wreck and everybody knows it. Even he knows it himself. I still think of how so solid a man could have lost his footing because of one woman leaving his life. I like to believe that there is something else, something that he had managed to keep to himself because I cannot for the life of me believe t

VINCENT MOREAU I draw Helen-Nora away from her partner.He rises to follow, but I flash him a gun I have tucked, and he remains silent. I then lead her to the dark recess of the bar where the shadows dangle in tatters like cobwebs. The air is heavy with stale beer and regret, and the background rumble of conversation obscures our voices. Her eyes flash nervously, but she follows at my heels like a faithful lamb, her steps unsure, her posture bracing as if to shield herself from a blow. I don't care. I need to know, and I need to know now."Vincent," she spits, yanking her arm free from me when we stop. "What do you want?"I close in on her, making her feel the firmness of my body. "Don't play games with me, Helen-Nora. You know why I'm here. You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't even be anywhere near here."Her lips twist in a smile, and it trembles, as though she's trying to convince herself that she's in control. "It's a free country, isn't it? I do what I please."I laugh, a hard,