Page 35 of Branches of Betrayal

She made to move but Zellie was quicker, grabbing her by the hair and pinning her down. “Never wear your hair in something so easy to grab. Braid it, put it in a ponytail that’s further down your head, or a bun that you can pull out easily. But having your hair on top of your head like this makes you a target. You’re easy to take down.”

Peyton nodded against her hold, grinding her teeth as Zellie yanked on her ponytail once before letting go.

Her breath was coming in short, stunted waves. Her sides ached and she longed for a break, some cold water, and the soothing touch of her beloved. Instead, Peyton watched as Zellie geared up for round two…or perhaps three—she’d lost count of how many times she’d be thrown onto her ass.

“You’re unhealthy.”

“I’m not a pro fighter like y’all,” Peyton countered with a scowl. “And I’m still healing.”

Zellie scoffed. “Nonsense. Healing should give you the motivation you need to bebetter. Stronger. You should be working out every day, making your body a machine.”

“The doctor told me to take it easy. To rest until I was healed.”

“Pffft. If we all listened to that advice, Adis & Co. wouldn’t exist. Sometimes you have to fight through the pain.”

“I’m trying, Zellie.”

“Not hard enough.”

She felt, rather than heard, Hadina come up behind her. The presence of her woman made Peyton stand a little taller, a little more confident. “Stop being so hard on her, Zelina.”

Zellie hissed through her teeth. “No. She needs the discipline of someone who isn’t holding her hand.Papididn’t take it easy on us, Hadina.”

Hadina stepped forward, pushing Peyton behind her slightly. Zellie turned around, storming over to the table where her water bottle lay. She took a swig, not bothering to look at them as she spoke.

“You’re too soft. She needs to learn the difficult way.”

“I think she already learnedthe difficult waywhen Demi had her held fucking captive, Zellie. Your methods are too rough. Can you stop being a bitch, just for once?”

Zellie spun around, glaring at Hadina. She balled her fists at her sides. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’m not doing this to be a bitch. I’m doing it because Icareand I want to help! Someone needs to teach her properly. All you do is coddle her like you coddled those fucking tequila bottles when she was missing.”

Peyton tensed beside Hadina. “What did you just say?”

“How fucking dare you?!” Hadina screamed. “¡Mantén tu boca cerrada!”

In a matter of seconds, something flew through the air towards Zellie. It took Peyton a moment before she registered that it was a knife—and that it was not going in the direction Hadina had intended it to.

Zellie laughed darkly as the knife embedded itself into the wall, nowhere near her. It was obvious from the look on Hadina’s face that she’d intended to hurt Zellie, and that she was furious that she hadn’t.

Peyton looked down and saw Hadina’s hand trembling. As if sensing her gaze, Hadina looked down too, a pained expression visible on her face.

“Peyton, I-”

Holding up her hand to stop Hadina from saying anything else, Peyton shook her head. “No. I don’t want to hear it right now. We’ll talk at home.”

She made her way over to Zellie, holding out her hand. Zellie waited before finally clasping hands with her.

“Thank you. You’re right—I do need your style of training. Give me a day or two, and then we can try again?”

Zellie pursed her lips, nodded, and exhaled slowly. “You’re welcome. And I can make that work.”

Peyton nodded back and then made her way back over to Hadina. She schooled her face, not allowing Hadina to see the hurt and worry she felt inside, and held out her hand.

Peyton saw the fear behind Hadina’s eyes as she linked hands with her.

“Let’s go home. We need to talk so we can deal with this together.”

The drive homewas silent and filled with unease. Peyton wanted to say something to ease the anxiety that was clearly plaguing Hadina’s mind, but she knew that it wouldn’t help. Nothing would make either of them feel better until they’d talked, until everything was laid out on the table so that they could work through whatever was happening.

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