Page 40 of Secrets Unveiled

“But I can?—”

“Sage, now!” Saxon yells, but when I turned around, Saint is already leading Ophelia to his motorcycle. He doesn’t even spare me a glance as he hands Ophelia his helmet and swings his leg over his bike. Ophelia looks at me with concern, tears, and a puffy face before she mouths the words, I’m sorry.

We will see each other in a bit when we get to the club. The sooner the better. Because I intend to find out what the fuck is going on.

SAGE

We arrive at the club, and Ophelia and I immediately head to the bathroom, where there are two shower stalls waiting for us. We both have Dante’s blood all over us, me more so than her. Once we finish, there are two pairs of sweatpants and two white T-shirts folded and waiting for us on the bathroom sinks. The guys always have a change of clothes here for instances like these. Blood is never a good thing to track back to the house. Luckily, these clothes are small and fit Ophelia and me relatively well. They do the job. The moment I dress, I exit the bathroom, hell-bent on finding my brother and Saint.

“Where are you going?” Ophelia’s voice calls after me, but I can’t answer her. I’m too focused on finding two of the biggest pains in my ass. They are exactly where I thought they’d be—the meeting room. When I burst through the doors, my eyes immediately land on Saint’s. Silver irises surrounded by fresh bruises and puffy skin.

“What the hell is going on? Why were you two fighting?” I have an idea of what it was, but I want to hear it from them.

“Don’t play dumb, Sage. It’s not a good look for you.” My brother’s voice is dripping with venom. The corner of his mouth tips up in a scowl that gives everything away.

“You and Saint have been keeping some secrets. I merely needed to relieve my stress and confirm my suspicions.” I don’t speak. I hold my ground with my spine straight and my stare burning into my brother, waiting for him to explode. But he never does.

“You’re not to see each other anymore. Do you understand, Sage?” The way my chest hollows and vision turns red scares even me. I’ve never had a temper, but the sternness of my brother’s voice as he makes demands as if I am a child has every drop of my blood boiling.

“You can’t boss me around forever, Sax. You especially can’t tell me who I can and can’t see.” Saxon’s fist slams on the mahogany table so hard I fear it will splinter. I can’t help the sudden jump of my muscles.

“You will do exactly what I fucking tell you to do because I’m the one in charge of you! I’m the one responsible for you!” He’s never spoken to me in such a malicious way before; I’ve heard him lose his temper, but it was never directed towards me. I force down the lump in my throat. I will not cry.

“I’m no one’s responsibility. I’m a grown woman, free to make her own decisions—” I stop when he starts taking long strides towards me. I’m not scared he’s going to hurt me; he would never lay a hand on me. However, he’s also never yelled at me before, or looked at me the way he is now. Like I’m his enemy he’s about to eliminate.

“That’s close enough, man.” Saint’s low voice is suddenly incredibly close. I was so focused on Sax, I hadn’t noticed Saint moving to my side to stand slightly in front of me, blocking Saxon from getting any closer.

“You think that’s wise, Saint?” The room falls silent. The tension, as thick as an electric blanket, makes the room heat to unbearable temperatures. “What? You think I’d hurt my own sister?” Saxon scoffs at his own question. He backs away before he raises his fist and hits Saint across the cheek.

“Sax, are you serious?! What the hell?!” I scream, grabbing hold of Saint’s shirt, steading him from the impact. Sax raises a fist again, but I’m quicker. I stand in front of Saint, blocking Saxon from delivering another blow.

“Move, Sage.” His words are lethal and laced with so much anger.

“If you hit him, you better hit me too. I’m guilty as well.”

“I won’t say it again.”

“No!” I scream. Energy buzzes through my body; defiance I’ve never shown my brother makes him tense every muscle in his body.

“I know it was wrong to keep this from you, but you’re proving us right. We knew you’d react this way. Always anger, no questions about why or how. Just Saxon’s way or no way at all. Have you ever asked me what I want? Who I want? Out of everyone I could be with, I want to be with him.” I can’t help the shake in my voice. I don’t want to cry, but I’m pleading, begging, for him to hear me out.

“He’s protected me from day one. He’s been there for me when you couldn’t. When I was alone and feared the shadows in the night, Saint was there. He’s always been loyal to you, doing everything you’ve told him to do. So now that we’ve grown feelings for one another, you get pissed and throw a tantrum like a child? You have a role in this as much as he does. What did you expect, Sax!? All the times you told him to follow me, watch over me, stay with me, you thought nothing would happen? He’s always been constant for me—Mom died, Dad’s dead, fuck, who knows about Frankie, and you… you’ve been off living your life, trying to find love for yourself, leaving Saint behind to watch over me as if I needed watching. Did he ever tell you no?”

The room is silent. I’m not losing this fight, and I’ll be damned if Saxon is going to stand in my way. I finally lower my voice, a sudden wave of exhaustion coming over me.

“You have to see this for what it is, Sax. Yes, I’m sorry for keeping this from you, but I care about him, and I hope he cares about me too. You can’t stop me from being with him. You need to push your overbearing, protective, asshole brother role aside so we can work together on figuring out what the actual fuck just happened to Dante.”

Oh shit, Dante. He was murdered—in front of me. He died protecting me, shielding me from the bullets of the drive-by. Bile quickly rises in my throat as I look down at my hands. I can still see the blood, his blood, coating my fingers, dripping down my arms. He told me Frankie was involved in some way. Our uncle had a hand in killing our father. My breathing is short and jagged; I can’t inhale enough to fill my lungs.

“I-I can’t.” I grab the table beside me, steadying my swaying body as I continue to try and catch my breath.

“Sage, listen to me. Breathe. Come on, breathe.” I can hear Saint behind me, his strong arms wrap around my waist, holding me up. The image of my brother’s form blurs in front of me, little black dots speckling my vision.

“Come on, Sage. Breathe, baby, breathe.” I can’t. All I can think about is blood. So much blood weighs me down, as if Dante’s body is still on top of mine. My body is spun around, Saxon disappearing as Saint’s face comes into my line of sight. Calloused hands cup my face, our noses practically touching as he coaches me to take in a deep breath. I try, I really do. I’m suddenly sitting in a chair with my brother’s hands on my shoulders as Saint kneels in front of me.

“Deep breath, in. Deep breath, out. Good girl, just like that.” I copy Saint, inhaling and exhaling on his count until the room stops spinning and finally comes into view. The weight pressing down on my chest slowly eases up. I cling to Saint, holding his wrists as he continues holding my face in his hands.

“That’s it, baby. Good job.” Saint presses his forehead to mine as the fear and panic seeps out of me. Exhaustion quickly takes hold of me. I need to lie down. I am so tired.

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