Page 73 of Wicked Revenge

He shuts off the engine, moving to open his door when I grab his arm. “If she is here, we need to hear her out. I’m angry she ran too, but I'm sure she had a reason why she thought she had to.”

He responds with a growl, jerking out of my hold and slinging his door open. Heaving a heavy sigh, turning back to look at Maddox.

“She’ll be fine. We won’t let him actually hurt her,” Maddox says, reaching up to squeeze my shoulder. With a nod of my head, we both climb out to follow Royal.

We have to jog to catch up with him before he jerks the back door open with another growl, sounding like a pissed-off grizzly bear. The door slams loudly against the stone wall outside, light flooding the dark hallway as we enter.

Chapter 39

I barely register the loud bang of the door slamming shut behind us, I’m so angry with Raena for running.

What the fuck was she thinking?

King could find her before us. My worry almost outweighs my anger, and I try to take a deep breath to calm down, but the boulder sitting on my chest won’t allow it. She could already be back in King’s hands. He could be hurting her right now.

Stalking down the narrow hall, I hear Ella’s voice behind her closed office door. Without knocking, I shove the door open, relief flooding through my system when I see Raena sitting on the couch with her. Her eyes wide with shock, the rims puffy and red from crying.

I’m aware my brothers are behind me, anxious to get to our girl, but I can’t make my feet move. Alek nudges me just as Ella stands, her expression hardened in anger. She strides toward me with determination, squaring her shoulders as she approaches my frozen body.

Before I can process what she's doing, she rears back, punching me square in the jaw, shocking me from my paralyzed state.

“Ella!” Raena shouts, her hand coming to cover her mouth in shock.

“I’m going to ice my hand,” she grumbles, scowling at me as she shakes out her hand. I stand there stunned silent, rubbing my aching jaw. She moves around me and exits the room.

“That was epic,” Maddox laughs from behind me.

Raena is still seated on the couch, her eyes still wide and her hand covering her mouth. My feet move on their own, stalking toward her like a predator to its prey.

“Royal,” she whispers behind her hand, fresh tears welling up in her eyes when I kneel before her. Her tears are drowning the anger inside me just a little.

“What the fuck, Angel?” I ask, my voice a deep whisper.

Alek and Maddox kneel on each side of me when her hands move to cover her face as she breaks down in front of us.

“What happened, Baby Girl? Why did you leave?” Alek says, his hand moving to squeeze her leg in comfort.

I know he’s itching to hold her, but I need to feel her in my arms right now. I grab her waist, standing up and lifting her before sitting back down, cradling her against my chest. She buries her face in my neck, her hands moving to grasp my shirt as she tries to calm herself. I hold her tight, her warmth seeping into my skin through our clothes, reminding me that we found her. King didn’t get her.

While we give her time to compose herself, my brothers move to sit on each side of us. When her sobs subside, she lifts her head and meets my eyes. I expect to see remorse, but anger shines through as well.

“You should have told me.” Her voice is barely a whisper, but there is no mistaking the hurt lacing her words.

“Told you what?” I ask her, looking at each of my brother's confused expressions that I know match my own.

“King is your father,” she states as the ice-cold realization hits me, stiffening my body. “I overheard you call him ‘dad’ on the phone. I thought you were playing me.”

“He is not our father, he–” I start but she cuts me off.

“I know that now, Ella explained it to me. King adopted you. You still should have told me. You all should have told me.” Her voice breaks slightly, betrayal thick in her tone.

“We should have,” I agree, and my brothers nod their agreement. “Honestly, it wasn’t something we intentionally kept from you. It’s just something we try to forget.”

“I can understand why you would feel that way, baby. I promise we didn’t mean to keep it from you,” Alek adds, rubbing his hand down her back. “I’m sorry. We should have told you.”

“I’m sorry too, pretty girl,” Maddox says, leaning in to place a gentle kiss on her temple.

We sit like that for a few minutes, each of us with our hands on her, needing to feel her and know she is safe.

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