Page 10 of Branches of Betrayal

“Fine! You don’t owe me. But however you want to look at this, you helped Demi and then she kidnapped Peyton.”

“Why does this girl matter so much to you?El amor te ha hecho débil.”

Hadina shook her head, looking up at Zellie through her tears. “Love has not made me weak! She matters because she iseverything goodabout this world—especially the fucked up world we reside in. We spend our lives in the darkness, Zelina; Peyton is the light keeping me from disappearing completely.”

Zellie was silent for a moment. “I don’t remember the last time I saw you cry.”

“Yes, you do. Because it was the last time I saw you cry, too.”

“WhenMamidied.”

Hadina nodded, using the sleeve of her shirt to wipe her face. “I have barely felt anything sinceMamidied. And then Peyton turned up at the house and my whole fucking world changed.Este dolor hace que me duela el corazón de la misma manera que lo hizo perder a Mami.I can’t lose her. I can’t go through that pain again. I will not survive it.”

“Entiendo. Yo te ayudo,”Zellie said, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. “But first, there’s something you need to know.”

Chapter 6

Hadina

Hadina watched her sister—theperson who had taught her how to be calm and collected—fidget nervously and chew on her lower lip. Just the thought of Zellie being nervous madeherfeel uneasy. Which was deeply annoying because Hadina was already feeling far too much.

“Entonces habla.What is it you have to tell me?”

Zelina brushed a strand of her short hair behind her ear, her hand almost trembling, something the untrained eye wouldn’t have caught. But Hadina was more than trained and could spot a myriad of things in the human behavior.

“I made a mistake…a big one. WhenPapifirst stepped down from Adis & Co. and put me in charge, I was looking through a bunch of the documents and trying to store things in a more efficient way. But I found something and when I confronted him, he told me everything.”

Hadina narrowed her eyes. “You knew, didn’t you? You found the birth certificate.”

Zellie nodded. “I was confused at first. I wanted to know whyPapihad it in his possession. At first, I foolishly thought it was some illegitimate sibling we didn’t know about. I saw the fear in his eyes when I waved it in his face.”

“What did you do, Zelina?”

“Well, you know most of the story. I figured we should work with some of ouroppositionif we really wanted to go after the sick bastards we do. You and I both know that there are many more people we can’t reach; people not within our circles. Demi’s circle would give us an in.”

It took all of her willpower for Hadina to bury her growl and sit still. Zellie had split their family apart when she tried to make those connections, work with those disgusting people. Demi Treyva was scum. She’d push drugs, booze, bodies…whatever it took to make money. Hadina still harbored hate for her sister for betraying their code like that.

“That’s not what we stand for, though.Protegemos a los inocentes.Demi is everything we stand against. You should have known better.”

Zellie looked up at the ceiling, blowing out a long breath. “I got greedy, okay? Is that what you want to hear? I know I messed up. I thought I could do a better job thanPapiand that I could make him proud of me if I could go after bigger targets. In my mind, Demi was simply a means to an end.”

Despite her anger, Hadina could partially understand where her sister was coming from. Zellie was an asshole, but her heart beat with the same purpose that Hadina’s did: save the people who couldn’t save themselves. Zellie had gone about it all wrong, but her reason for doing so made sense.

“¿Entonces qué pasó?”

“Papiomitted some of the vital details about Demi. Like the fact he hadpaid herto give Peyton up for adoption. I thought she was just a screwed up woman who made a series of badchoices. I figured I could use Peyton as leverage.Papihad all the details about where she was and her adoptive family…”

“Mierda,” Hadina cursed, rubbing her temples. “Tell me you weren’t that fucking naïve, Zellie.”

“I know how stupid it was! But it didn’t seem like such a bad idea at the time. I arranged a meeting and told her I knew about Peyton. I told her I knew where she was, what she looked like. Then thisperra psicóticalaughed like I had told her the funniest joke in the world. She said she didn’t care where Peyton was.”

Hadina shook her head, gripping onto the armrests of her chair to stop her finding something to throw at her sister. “But you couldn’t let it go, could you?”

Zellie threw up her hands. “Of course I couldn’t! What kind ofpinche putaacts like that? We were raised byMami,Hadina—I couldn’t fathom someonenotloving their child whenMamiloved us so fiercely.”

She was taken aback by that admission from Zellie and it struck Hadina in her heart. While she could be angry with Zellie for the stupidity of her actions, she also would never be able to comprehend why Demi was so heartless. Their mother had showed them love at every moment of their lives and losing her was something they could never recover from. And Demi had simply given away her opportunity to have that connection. She understood why people gave children up for adoption—she wasn’t stupid—but Demi didn't have areasonfor doing it. No reason other than greed and wanting.

“I threatened her, Hadina,” Zellie whispered solemnly. “I threatened Peyton’s life when Demi refused to work with me. I thought I could force her hand.

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