Page 90 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

Chapter 31

Tristan, Tenebrae City

"I love him."

His sister, his beloved beautiful sister, who he hadn't known long enough but never would have suspected of even knowing about the fucker, just sat there and told them all she lovedhim.

The fucker who had led them to her. Tristan didn't know whether to kill or thank him. He was leaning more toward the murder right then.

He felt Morana's hand slip into his, holding him back from doing or saying something stupid that could damage his very new relationship with his sister. She had always been smarter, more emotionally astute between the two of them. Sometimes, he wished she wasn't. He wished she would let him rage and ask what the fuck his sister was doing with the asshole pulling the strings and leading them around on a merry chase like it was a game. What the fuck was she doing with someone who lived in a world so filthy it made Tristan feel sick? It wasn't a fucking game. Fuck, he waspissed.

His jaw clenched tight, he realized he was glaring at his sister, who, for the first time in their entire time, looked him straight in the eyes. The docile, damaged girl transformed right before him into a darker, defiant one, one with confidence rather than confusion in her eyes. He loved the confidence but hated who it was for, who had inspired it. How could she feel confident just thinking of a fucker who wasn't even there? Tristan would have suspected some kind of drug if he hadn't been with her the whole time.

"So, you do know who he is?" Morana asked from his side, her voice even.

His sister let his gaze go and looked to his side, right at the woman who had started the whole conversation. "Yes."

"Who is he?" Dante chimed in, leaning forward in his seat.

Luna turned to him. "He is… mine."

"You have to be specific, Luna," Amara encouraged her, more gentle than any of them, more gentle than Tristan was capable of feeling at the moment.

His sister took another deep breath, her hand going to the gold choker necklance she always wore. Tristan had wondered about it, about who had given it to her, why she wore it all the time, and when he'd asked, all she'd told him was it had been a gift. But she'd seemed happy about it so he'd not prodded any more.

Now, watching her touch the necklace, it became crystal clear to him. The fucker had sent her to them marked with his possession.

"He is my lover. My… husband."

Stunned silence, completelystunned, before gasps escaped some lips.

Tristan was on his feet before he knew what he was doing, striding toward her and almost at her before turning in the last minute, angrily pacing away, returning back to her. He leaned down, fuckingfuriouswith her for keeping this from him whenthey'd been opening up to each other every day, keeping the fact that she not only knew the fucker but she wasfucking marriedto him. Married, when he'd not married for years because he'd wanted to find her?What the actual fuck?

His thoughts spiraled in a flurry of pure fury, but only one word came out.

"Explain."

The word grit out of him, harsh. He could feel the shock around him, but his body was buzzing with adrenaline, as though prepping to fight an enemy he couldn't see.

"Tristan," he heard Morana warn from somewhere near his back but ignored her tone, looking his sister straight into her beautiful eyes. Had she been lying to them the whole time? Had Dante's suspicion been correct, she'd become a pawn for the Shadow Man? She'd been playing them with her innocence?

He knew he was showing her a side of himself that she hadn't seen before, that maybe she'd not been exposed to before, but he couldn't control it.

"I said," he gnashed out again, staring her down. "Ex-fucking-plain."

Her body flinched slightly before she straightened her spine, tilting her chin higher, staringhimdown even though she was a head shorter.

"What do you want me to explain, brother?" Luna didn't flinch this time, even though her jaw trembled.

"Ex-fucking-plain." The same word came out stunted through his grit teeth.

Her teeth gnashed too, her eyes sparking with fire he hadn't seen in her before.

She tilted her head to the side, her spine rigid. "What do you want me to explain? How I was a slave for The Syndicate all my life? How I was used and abused? How I had no one and no memories and absolutely nothing? How I wanted todieratherthan live in that hell every single day? Do you know what that does to you? You might have felt pain and anguish, but you had a light and you had something worth living for. Let me assure you, you don't know what it feels like to be completely alone in the utter dark and feel your soul break, day after day, night after night, until its gone and you're left an empty husk, just praying for it to justend."

There was complete silence, tense silence as she caught her breath, and everyone just processed her talking. She'd never said so much. His jaw went slack at her words, at the emotions and the pain in her voice, hitting their mark as pain shuddered through him.

She suddenly moved, her hands fisting at her sides. "You want me to explain howhefound me, in that dark as an empty husk and breathed life back into me? You want me to explain how me protected me for years? How he saved me from others and from myself foryears?How he searched for each shard of my shattered soul with patience, piece after piece, until I felt healed? How he led you to me?"

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