Collateral Damage by Kaylea Cross Page A

right here in the waiting room. “Both of you, just stop ,” she cried, stepping between them and placing a hand on either of their chests. Liam was the calmer of the two but coiled, she could feel the energy seething inside him. Her father was trembling, his glare still boring holes through the man she loved.
    Concerned that her father would escalate things further, Honor pushed at his chest, bringing his eyes back to her. “This isn’t about Liam, or me, or even you, Dad. We’ll talk about all this later but right now we should be focusing on Charity. She needs us.”
    “No, you should have been focused on your sister all along, instead of carrying on with him when you knew how much damage it would cause.”
    Then he sneered at her.
    Actually sneered, and the disgust and anger in his eyes left her reeling. Charity had always been his favorite, his baby, and Honor’s relationship with him had never been easy. Still, she’d never imagined seeing that look directed at her. She’d only seen him look at someone like that once before, the night Faith had died. He’d looked at her oncologist the same way, placing her death squarely on the doctor’s shoulders.
    An arrow of pain lanced through her and she let her hand drop from his chest, suddenly shaken to the core.
    “They’d only gone out a few times,” she repeated in a whisper, tears slipping down her cheeks. Liam had kissed Charity, but nothing else. How could her father not see how unhealthy Charity’s attachment to Liam had been in light of those things? How could her family not see the difference between that and what Honor had with him? This insanity didn’t make any sense yet in the depths of her mental illness Charity had acted like the world had ended when he’d broken up with her.
    Because of Honor.
    Honor hadn’t known that was the reason at the time, only finding out a few months later, after she’d started dating him. In secret, for fear of how Charity might react.
    In her wildest imaginings Honor would never have thought Charity would attempt suicide over Liam.
    Liam’s arm tightened around her, lending her strength. She was too in shock to bother wiping her startled tears away as she continued. “Neither of us expected any of this to happen when we first met. Neither one of us wanted to hurt anyone, but you know how Charity is—“
    “Charity is your sister ,” her father fired back, now folding his arms across his chest and glaring down at her, “and the only one you have left. Family is sacred, Honor, but you’ve defiled that and the good name we gave you with your selfishness. And then you agreed to marry that man and go against our wishes? How dare you? How dare both of you.” He divided a fulminating glare between her and Liam.
    Honor didn’t know how to respond. Her family had made it abundantly clear they didn’t want her and Liam together when she’d first expressed her interest in him, which is why she’d kept their relationship quiet and had dreaded telling them about the engagement.
    Her father’s eyes turned even colder. “And now that you’ve gotten what you wanted, you’ll have to answer to yourself and God for what you’ve done.” He pointed a finger down the hall. “Your sister is in there fighting for her life right now because of your selfishness.”
    Honor swallowed a sob and glanced at her mother, who was crying as she stared at Honor. As though Honor had broken her heart by being with Liam, let alone agreeing to marry him.
    Somehow she summoned the courage to face her father again and found her voice, shaky as it was. “That’s not fair.”
    “It’s the consequence of your actions,” he snapped. “Now you’ll both have to live with what you’ve done.”
    “That’s enough.” Liam pulled her back toward him and stepped between her and her father. “Honor doesn’t deserve this.”
    “She deserves that and more,” her father snarled, “and so do you.”
    “No, she doesn’t. Charity is sick.