My Dangerous Rogue, Paula Wong [best books to read for self improvement TXT] 📗

“Michael!” He yelled, him on his knees, both of his hand on his brother’s gunshot wound. Michael groaned and coughed up blood. “It seemed my calculations was incorrect,” he replied weakly, smiling. “What are you doing here?”
“Do not talk,” he assured him then called. “Somebody help me!”
“This is an abandoned factory, no one will hear you. This is why they chose this place. Listen,” he said his hand grasping Richard’s shirt. “Tell mother and father I love them. Take care of your sisters I am sorry to leave this burden on you but I know you can be able to do it. I trust you Rick,”
“Don’t say that. I am going to catch the people who did this to you. I promise, just please hang on.”
Michael shook his head. “No, you must forget about this. I do not want you to suffer the same fate I had suffered. Live your life normally. I am sorry for claiming all the of the -,” he gasped and closed his eyes. “All of the abilities you have. For spoiling everything for you. For not letting you shine once in a while. But now you will have the opportunity, make mother and father proud.”
Richard shook his head. “I can never replace you. They would always prefer you instead of me. You were always the better one,”
He shook his head in response. “You have the same abilities that I do, but you have more intelligence,”
“Just hold on, I know help will come.”
“It’s futile,” he whispered, his face growing paler by the second. “Forget about this, forget what you saw today.”
“How can I? I killed you,”
Michael began to laugh and let out a groan. “You are a fool. You saw the facts and yet you chose not to believe it with your own eyes.”
“If I didn’t fire then you would still be alive,”
“I would have died anyway in the end,” he whispered, his eyes closing, life slowly fading away. “This is not your fault, please remember that.” Then he grew silent. Richard looked down at his older brother, shaking him. “Michael?” He asked looking down at him, “Michael?” Still no response. “Michael!”…..

His cries disappeared and he was suddenly back. He blinked as he realized his name was being called. “What the hell is the matter with you? Are you going to kill yourself now?” He looked over at Loretta’s frustrated figure, and closing the window with a loud bang and heading over to the fire place to start the fire yet again. “God it is freezing in here.” It was cold enough that she can be able to see her breath out in the air when she had talked. “Look, I do understand that you are mad about the fact that the only woman you loved died. But that does not give you a reason to kill yourself at the process,” She rubbed her hands together.
“What are you doing here?” He asked looking over at her.
“I had forgotten about my handkerchief. I thought I had lost it so I came back here to fetch it and I see you hunched in that chair with that serious expression in your face, and the room FREEZING COLD!”
Richard winced. “You do not have to yell,”
“I do not have to yell? I do not have to yell?! You practically killed yourself by hyperthermia. I know losing someone you love hurts but this is out of the question you could-,”
“What do you mean by losing someone I love?” He asked raising a brow.

Chapter 14

Loretta Chase nodded and made her way to the other side of the room. “I am right, am I not?” She cannot believe the nerve of this unfaithful rogue! How dare he try to commit suicide!
Her temper is still high just by thinking about it. She knew very well that losing someone is painful, but that does not mean you have to take your own life also. He is capable of many things, many great things and yet he choose to throw it all away?
“I did not love her,” He replied looking at the fire.
She whirled around to face him. “What do you mean you don’t love her? Then why in bloody hell are you acting like a lunatic?”
Richard’s temper rose, he stood from his chair quickly forcing it to tip over: which caught her by surprise. “Listen here you hard headed woman. I do not love her, my business in none of yours.”
“What is wrong with you? Here I am so worried about your well-being and yet you do not tell me what is wrong?”
“It is none of your concern,” He replied calmly. “I am alright by own,”
“I do not think alright is the definition of trying to commit suicide Lord O’Conner,” Loretta snapped. “But fine, since you are ‘alright’ maybe it is time to tell you that I am engaged,”
Richard raised a brow, but other than that his expressions was unreadable. “Engaged?”
“Yes, Lord O’Conner. Engaged,”
Silence filled the room, nothing was heard except the beating of their heartbeats. She was so afraid that the silence was going to consume them; she managed to clear her throat. “So there is no use considering your proposal to me,”
When he met her gaze, she was invited by the coldness of his eyes. Strangely, the blue-green mixing together in his iris, the blue cold color overpowering the other. “I was not considering it,” he shrugged. “As far as I know, it never happened.”
Her mouth formed into a thin line, so her suspicions were correct, he did not mean anything by the proposal, now she is wondering, what could have happened differently if she had said yes? Softly, she shook her head; she will not regret her actions. One thing she has learned in life was to never regret what she had chosen, no matter how terrible or good the consequences are. She had to learn the outcomes of her decisions, to forever cherish the consequences. As cruel as it might sound it is definitely isn’t, she had learned that from the beginning. “Now that that is settled, let us go and move toward the task. In a couple of hours, we will leave for Brock Dismantle. I want to find Annie as soon as possible.” With that last word, she started toward the door- but was stopped with a hand on her wrist, keeping her from moving any further in place. Her heart pounded as he forced her to turn around and look at his cold and intent gaze. “Don’t you bloody worry, I’ll fucking get your damn companion out of harm’s way. I hope you and your husband-to-be have a happy life.”
Loretta winced at the foul words. How dare he be rude to her without her doing anything or was aware she had anything wrong to wrong him.
She raised a hand, now filled with rage and flew it across his face, a loud slap of a sound echoing in the room. Her breath came in quick and small, her fists clenched together with fury. His expression was unreadable, his head tilted to the side, her hand leaving an imprint on his face.
“I,” she began, panting with rage. “Am tired of your arrogant ways. I have trusted you with the information that I have held for the last few days. And yet you dare to criticize something important such as this? Have you been really reduced to something as cruel as the man you are now? I do not know what had happened in the past to make you turn into a man like this but whatever it was… you need to let go of it. It will eat you in the inside until nothing is left of you. You drive people away it is just-,”
“You have no right to tell me what I need or what can do. As far as I am concerned, you are not part of my life.”
Loretta was taken aback. She opened her mouth to argue the point but it seemed whatever she will say will only prove him correct. She is not part of his life. She needs to keep that in mind. “You are right, I had stepped over the boundary. I am sorry,” She bowed in farewell and picked up her skirts to run toward the door. “Good night Lord O’Conner,” With that, she opened the wooden doorway and stepped out, closing the door behind her. Her heart pounded in her chest, the beating overpowering all of the other noises in the inn. She felt warm and hot. She was so angry at him that she couldn’t even stop herself from shaking.
She was right, the sooner she can be able to find Annie the better.


A couple of hours later, Loretta stepped out of the carriage with Richard following behind her.
“Like I had said before, you keep silent while I take with him.”
She nodded in understanding and followed after him as he headed toward the alleyway. The keeper of the inn had informed them that he was living here, so they had come here hurriedly. A figure was hunched up in the corner with a cardboard box covering him from the snow. Richard held out a hand, stopping her from walking. He motioned for her to stay there while he went to go check on him.
Yet again, she nodded. From now until the case is over, it is better not to argue before they start in the wrong foot again. It seemed that every time they talk they always lead into fighting that is a pattern that has been repeating ever since they had met.
Holding her breath, she waited until he had gave her the signal.
Richard bent down to touch him in the shoulder. Immediately, the man stood upward looking around in both surprise and bewilderment.
He smirked. “We have some questions for you,”
The man scoffed and stood up, Loretta backed away while Richard remained where he was, strangely calm. “What is it ye want! You have disturbed my rest,”
“Remember me?” He asked acidly smiling.
The smile sent shivers down her spine. It was a smile of a completely different person.
“YOU! You were the one who had killed that poor girl, you should-,”
Before he could say anything else, Richard took his shirt collar and pulled him up to the wall, the poor man’s feet helplessly dangling off of the ground.
Her eyes widened at his sudden action. She had never seen him like this before. He was really upset, she realized. About what had happened to that poor girl.
“I’d watch myself if I were you,” He cautiously warned him.
The man’s eyes widened horridly. Clearly he was surprised, his cap falling off of his head and down to the ground. He wreaked of garbage and street debris, she realized fighting the urge to cough and gasp for clean air.
Not