Page 21 of Branches of Betrayal

“My sister is dead because of you,” Peyton seethed, pushing herself back onto her feet. “You deserve to be dead, not her!”

“Probably,” Zellie agreed, grinning like a madwoman as Peyton finally landed a punch. Her first connected with Zellie’s nose, the bone crunching before blood started pouring out. Zellie just continued to grin, even as the blood ran down and into her mouth.

“I hate you!”

“Good. Use your hate. Stop being a fucking pushover and own your shit. You’re angry?¡Haz algo al respecto!”

Zellie’s words unleashed a fire in Peyton’s soul and she raged, running forward. She threw her arms ferociously, again and again, until she finally felt her hands meet flesh. She punched and punched, blind anger taking over her, unaware of herself.

“You killed my fucking sister!” Peyton screamed. Just as she was about to hit one last blow, Zellie flipped them over, pinning Peyton’s arms against her stomach. Blood dripped down the woman’s face, her nose obviously broken, her lips burst, and her eyes already showing signs of bruising.

“Yes, I am the reason your sister is dead. And look, now you’ve got my blood as revenge. But you will never get free reign to hit me like this again.¿Tu me entiendes?If you want to get that anger out, use that hate eating you from the inside out, I can show you how to do it. I can teach you how to fight in ways Hadina can’t.”

Zellie let go of Peyton’s arms, standing up and wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt. She looked down at Peyton and for the first time, Peyton saw something human in her eyes.

“I know it won’t mean anything,” Zellie said, her voice almost soft, “But I’m sorry your sister was a casualty of the shit I started. I’m sorry that you were a casualty of it, too. My sister loves you and…well, I love my sister, in my own way. So, let me teach you so that you don’t die on her, okay? She can’t lose you.”

Leaving Peyton laying on the grass, breathless and defeated, Zellie walked away.

“What the fuck just happened?” Peyton whispered aloud to herself, before bursting into tears.

Chapter 13

Hadina

Dusk had settledacross the sky by the time Hadina pulled her car into the driveway. It had been a long day and exhaustion was picking at her bones. Still, she’d made time on her way home to pick up a couple of greasy burgers and fries for her and Peyton to eat in bed—she needed the comfort of unhealthy food in the safety net of the woman she loved. There was no-one else she would ever let see her pig out on fast food.

She tried to ignore how frustrated she felt as she quietly entered her family home, locking the door and punching in the security code behind her to reset the alarms. To say she was pissed at their inability to find Demi would be an understatement, and Hadina couldn’t help but feel like she was letting Peyton down.Again. She had promised to find her, to help her love find vengeance for everything that had been done to her, and yet Hadina was returning home empty handed again.

Harris and Piper opted to stay another few hours at the office, saying they’d try to come up with some more people to speak to or hide-outs to check for thatputa. Hadina knew thatthey were being honest, in part, but she wasn’t oblivious to the connection sparking between them either. Piper had always loved Adrian and while she and Zellie had always viewed him as the annoying, but ever loyal, brother to them, there was another type of devotion that shone in Piper’s eyes when she looked at him. But Piper was so very cautious about ever getting close to anyone and Hadina just hoped Adrian wouldn’t betray her vulnerability by toying with her emotions—it would really fucking suck if she had to kill him for being a dumbass and thinking with his dick.

Hadina paused outside her bedroom door, taking a deep breath to calm herself. While she was always collected and kept her composure at the best of times, anxiety had begun to creep its way into her heart when Peyton was taken and even though she was home again, Hadina couldn’t seem to shake the feeling of dread that would wash over her. She ached to drown it in the bottom of a liquor bottle, but she’d promised to try and do better and she hated breaking promises. Instead, she was downing a cocktail of vitamins every morning to try and rejuvenate her liver to lessen the blow of the damage she’d already done. Besides, there was nobody to look afterherif she allowed herself to drink away her emotions, no matter how badly she wanted to.

“Is that you, Hadi?” Peyton’s groggy voice called to her as she opened the door.

“Yeah, it’s me, baby.” Hadina kicked the door closed behind her and smiled at the sight of Peyton sprawled out on top of her bed, her entire body on show besides the tiny lace panties covering her pussy. Hadina’s mouth watered and she knew it wasn’t for the burgers in her hand.

Peyton hummed sleepily, yawning as she stretched and woke herself up. “I’m glad you’re home. I missed you.”

Kicking off her shoes, Hadina climbed onto the bed beside Peyton, depositing the bag of food on her bedside table. Sheleaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her love’s lips, relishing in the taste. Peyton let out a soft hiss and Hadina pulled back. “Tentadora, what’s wrong?”

Flicking the switch to turn her lamp on, Hadina gasped as she looked at Peyton. Where her previous bruises were healing and fading, new ones blossomed across her skin. Her lip was burst in two places, a fresh bead of blood forming at each cut.

“What the fuck happened and why didn’t you call me immediately?” Hadina raged, gripping Peyton’s chin in her hand so she could maneuver her face and see the full extent of her injuries.

Peyton batted her hand away, shifting so she was sitting up at eye level with Hadina. “You should see the other person.” Seeing that Hadina didn’t find her little joke funny, Peyton rolled her eyes. “I dealt with some of my shit.”

She could barely contain her anger as she stared at Peyton, her hands trembling with an ache to hurt whoever had done this to her. “I’m not laughing. Tell me what happened.”

“I–I ran into Zellie. Seeing her just unleashed my anger and I–”

“Me la voy a chingar!” Hadina interrupted, ready to go and kill her sister for betraying her again, for hurting the one person she loved.

Peyton grabbed her arm, pulling her back to a seated position, shaking her head. “Calm down, Hadi. I’m okay. This… You can’t blame Zellie for what happened.”

Hadina scoffed. “Like fucking hell I can’t! She put her hands on you, baby.AGAIN!”

“I put my hands on her first.”

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