Read Unforgivable for Free Online Page B

couldn’t see how astounded he was to find her there. He’d been no less attracted to her than she was to him. He suspected that if they’d met when she was in her late teens, there would be a certain chemistry between them. She’d grown up to be a beautiful young woman, though that was hardly a surprise. With her glossy brown hair and wide-set brown eyes, she wasn’t a classic beauty, but she was enchanting all the same. She was still thin, and her arms were still long. Her birthmark was partially hidden by the man shirt she wore. Perfect in her own way.
    She was the reason he’d come back. Not for the attraction, he assured himself. God, how he’d wanted to just take her in his arms, though. He shook his head, sending a faint shower of sawdust spiraling to the ground. To touch her, to hold her…even the brief touches he’d been compelled to take had sent a rush through him. 
    He walked back to the doorway with the finished wood. The Boss was standing in the opening, as though contemplating whether he wanted to walk the distance to where Silas had been cutting. Silas set the wood against the doorway and sat down on the top step. The Boss wandered over and settled down with his head on Silas’s thigh. Poor old guy. He was probably too old to be hauling around with him, but Silas just didn’t have the heart to give him away or worse, send him to a shelter. He had to know that someone would give him his arthritis medication, had to know that someone would stand by him when the time came to say goodbye. 
    Silas massaged The Boss’s paws and then his back legs. “What’d you think of Katie, big guy? Pretty cute, huh?”
    The dog let out a sigh, agreement if Silas ever heard it. 
    Katie. Even though he hadn’t spoken with her in eighteen years, she’d been part of him for so long, he felt as though she somehow belonged to him. He had to remind himself that she didn’t. There was no way he and Katie could get involved. Her being married presented one problem. All those years ago in Atlanta, living on the streets at times, he’d found God. Or maybe God had found him. Either way, religion had given him the hope and belief to fight his way off the streets, and then to deal with the horrors he’d witnessed since then.
    He respected Katie’s vow of marriage, even though she wasn’t happy with Ben. Not really happy, anyway. From their encounter tonight, he knew that sweeping her off her feet wouldn’t be hard, but that’s not what he wanted. Putting her through that kind of turmoil would be too hard on both of them. His reasons for coming back were purely unselfish.
    The Boss snorted, as if to contradict him.
    “Totally unselfish, my friend.” He glanced at the place where he’d found Katie lurking. He couldn’t have her for himself, and that was something he’d accepted long ago. 
    Something else invaded his tumultuous feelings. He recognized it right away, the insidious way the evil quietly lurked at the edge of his consciousness. Stop , he ordered, knowing he could only allay it temporarily. It moved relentlessly forward, the anticipation of cruel pleasure, the thrill of the hunt, salivation at the prospect of fulfillment. 
    He ’ d been such a good boy, coloring inside the lines.
    Black and white, good and evil.
    Reward time.
    Not now. Silas wanted to savor the effect seeing Katie had on him for a while longer.
    Soon those bittersweet thoughts eroded away, giving full reign to the sadistic ones that had haunted him for years. He knew the pattern, knew it was hopeless to shove them away. He walked to his vehicle. He felt the pull and knew he was powerless to stop it. Just like the other times. 
    He was glad Katie hadn’t asked him why he’d come back. He wasn’t prepared to tell her the truth or a lie. There were things he had to do first, one of them earning her trust. You couldn’t just throw that kind of thing at someone the first time you’d seen her in eighteen years. Hi, Katie. You ’ re