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gentle touch.
    But he knew better.
    Kindness today… a kick in the teeth tomorrow.
    Don't you ever forget that again .
    No one would protect him. Everyone had shown him that when the fires came blazing down around him.
    He'd been left alone, bereft of friendship, family, and kindness.
    And he was too scarred by it to simply move past it and trust again. The wounds were too deep and
    damaging.
    Reminding himself of Heather, he moved away from Leta to look out the window. Damn the snow. It
    was still coming down, even faster than before. "You should try the phone again."
    "I just did. It's still not getting a signal."
    He'd once considered that a drawback. How many times had he wanted to talk to his brother when the
    signals went down? He was so far away from everything that the phone company had refused to run a
    line to his cabin. So he'd relied on his cell phone, which was haphazard in this area at best.
    Now he wished he lived in the middle of city so he could toss her out on the very ass that was making
    him crazy with lust. God, how long had it been since he last smelled a woman this close to him? Heard
    the sound of a feminine voice inside his house, saying his name?
    It was heaven.
    And the lowest level of hell.
    "Look, I admit you seem like a decent person. For all I know you stop and move turtles out of the road
    whenever you see one to keep someone from running it over. But this turtle is tired of having his guts
    spattered on the pavement while other people drive right over him. I just want to scrape myself up and
    hide in the woods, okay?"
    She nodded. "I'll leave you alone." Clearing her throat, she stepped back from him, and it took all his
    strength not to pull her closer.
    "Just remember, sometimes people will put you ahead of themselves. It does happen."
    He snorted. "Yeah, the whole world is just rainbows and puppies. Boy Scouts really do help old ladies
    cross the street without mugging them and no one ever ignores a trauma victim's screams."
    "Aidan—"
    "Don't. It's impossible to believe in the world you describe when your own family sold you out for nothing
    more than cruelty and money."
    He saw the acknowledgment in her gaze before she withdrew from the room.
    Yeah, he knew he was a bastard. Just like he knew there were decent people out there. They just didn't
    exist in his world. When he'd been poor no one had ever helped him. People had gone on with their lives
    as if he were invisible and that had been fine with him. He didn't mind invisibility.
    Actually, that wasn't true. He'd wished repeatedly in his life that he really had been as invisible as other
    people had made him feel.
    Closing his eyes, he could still see Heather's beautiful face. Hear her laughter. When it had all begun, he'd
    thought losing her would be unbearable. That it would destroy him.
    By the end of it, he hadn't missed her at all. Not even a little, which made him realize why they'd been
    able to turn on him without remorse. There was no such thing as real love. The heart was just another
    organ, pumping blood through his body. There was no magic to it. No spiritual bonding between friends
    and family.
    People were users, plain and simple. Hoping for anything better only led to bitter disappointment.
    No, this was his life. He'd be alone until the day he died. But deep inside him was still that stupid, insipid
    dream of one day having a family. Ever since his parents had been killed by a drunk driver, he'd missed
    that sense of bonding. Of family belonging. His parents had loved each other dearly and had had mutual
    respect—at least it had looked that way to his seven-year-old mind.
    Who knew what the truth really was. Maybe they'd hated each other as much as his brother hated him,
    and like Donnie they'd kept it a secret.
    As for Heather, that bitch was the one who should have an Oscar on her mantel instead of him. Her
    acting had been exceptional right up until the end.
    And right outside his door was the first woman to set