Page 2 of Digital Desire

“Did you kiss him?” Madison asked as they cycled home.

“Yes,” Aubrey blushed.

“Do you love him?”

“I don’t know,” she lied not ready to share these feelings with anyone else.

“Aubrey.”

“What?” she snapped feeling irritated her sister was keeping on.

“Look.”

Something about Madison’s tone froze the blood in her veins. As she looked up at the still dark sky as they entered their street, she saw fire engines and police cars. Smoke and flames licked the night sky as terror clawed at her until she could hardly breathe. Dropping her bike, she ran towards her home that was engulfed in flames.

Strong arms caught her as she tried to fight her way free, her parents needed her. Everyone was looking at her and all she could hear was screaming, tears pouring down her face as the heat from the fire caressed her skin.

“No, no no no,” she screamed, kicking out at the arms that held her immobile. Her eyes never leaving the burning house as she called for her mum and dad, all the while knowing in her heart that they were gone, and she would never see them again. That it was her fault this had happened. If she had been a good girl and stayed home instead of losing her heart to a bad boy, her parents would be alive, they would be with her. She felt her sister’s arms around her, sobs racking her body as hers did and she held her tight. She watched silently as the fire was extinguished, the last swirls of smoke in the air, the smell would haunt her for the rest of her life.

She should have been here, she was a light sleeper and her parents were not. If she had been home, she could have saved them, but she hadn’t been. Part of her wanted to blame her sister, to hit out at her for always making her follow her to protect her but as Madison looked at her with her heart as broken as hers, she knew she had to do what she had always done, she had to protect her baby sister.

So, as they drove away, and she saw the boy she had given her heart to sitting on his bike watching her with heartbreak and guilt in his eyes, she knew she had to turn her back on love and on bad boys. That way only led to pain.

Chapter 1

Will watched his friend take in the news Noah had just delivered and smiled. If anyone deserved it, then it was Nate. The guy was a natural father and loved Noah to distraction. He wondered if he would ever have kids. It wasn’t something he had ever given much thought to, but as he did, his mind flew to Aubrey.

Her sweet smile, her beautiful dark brown eyes, the button nose, and the throaty laugh. She would be a great mum. He wondered again why she was hiding from him. Something kept telling him it was more than just him she was running from. He couldn’t shake the fear that she was in trouble and needed him.

His fucking brother wasn’t answering his calls since their fight, and he hated that their relationship was so fucked up because of the decisions he had made as a teenager. He knew he had cost Jack a lot, and he would carry that guilt forever, but he had tried to make it up to him without Jack knowing.

That was the thing about his older brother, he had to be in control just like their father. He was an uncompromising bastard too. He had no clue how his mother had put up with them all these years. But she had, and she did, even when she was sick from the chemo. She still stood by her husband and did all for him she could.

He remembered one Christmas when he and Jack were boys. He had worshipped his older brother, and Jack had been so patient and kind with him. He had been given a magician’s kit, and Jack had got a Meccano set. Jack had been so excited, but instead of playing with his new toy, he had spent hours with Will playing magic. Will knew his brother hated it, but he did it for him. That was the kind of brother Jack was. Will missed him, the feeling like a fist to the gut, but he had nobody to blame but himself. It was why he had done what he had and why it was his closest guarded secret that only Zack knew.

His phone buzzed, and he took it out to check it. The name on the screen had his heart beating rapidly. “Dogberry?” he asked standing to leave the room.

“Boy scout,” she replied.

“I take it this is not a Merry Christmas call especially as you called on a phone you shouldn’t even know about.”

“Oh, please, don’t insult me, you don’t honestly think I didn’t know?”

“Yeah, good point. What can I do for you?”

“Your girl is in trouble and needs an extraction.”

Will felt his heart beat double time as he locked eyes with Drew who was walking out of the dining room. “Where is she?” he demanded.

“In the middle of the Colombian jungle!” she said.

“Thanks, Dogberry.”

“You owe me.”

“Yeah, yeah whatever,” he said hanging up.

Will looked at Drew and felt a plan forming. It was a lousy plan and would probably get him in a world of shit with his brother and Zack, but he had no choice—he had to help Aubrey. “Want to have some fun that will probably get us into a world of trouble?” he asked Drew who grinned slowly.