Page 128 of Kade

She began laughing, this time a genuine trickle of amusement coming from her. “Still in contact? I’ve never not been in contact with my godfather. Some might say I’m closer to him than my own father.” Her lips curved up. “Those people would be correct. I know everything you’ve done to him—”

“I very much doubt that,” Sam snapped.

There she was.

The shaken look was gone. The old Sam was back, mixed with the new one, and she was even stronger. More powerful. This was the kickass Sam, and God, I loved her. Pride swelled in my chest, along with arousal and desire. My woman made me hard.

Sabrina frowned, and she faltered a step. This wasn’t the sister she thought she’d be meeting.

“What—” she started to say something.

Steele cut off his own sister. “He’s brainwashed her.”

“Steele!” She slapped him.

Whoa.

Sam’s eyes widened at how quick her reaction had been, and she wound up to do it again.

“I don’t fucking think so.” Beltraine was there, getting between her and her brother. “Step back, you bitch.”

Sabrina inhaled sharply, but her target just switched. Her hand went back again. She was going to slap Beltraine instead.

“Fuck no.” Axel got involved, shoving her backward. He followed her, stopping after a few feet, now blocking both Beltraine and Steele from her. “You ever touch your brother like that again and I don’t give a fuck who you are, I will ruin your life.”

I met Sam’s gaze over their heads, both of us in shock. These kids were us. Me. Logan. Her. They were in the form of Beltraine, Axel, and Steele? This was a whole head trip that I didn’t see coming.

Sabrina growled, “You’re the one who called me to come here.”

“Because your brother won’t tell them about whatever sick secrets you’ve made him keep. He came clean that she’s his sister, but that’s it. You have to come clean abouteverything else. Tell them the truth. Enough with these fucking manipulations.”

Her eyes grew uncentered, a wild gleam taking root in them. She tipped her head back, another chortling laugh rippling up and out of her throat. “Oh? It’s like that. Is it? I come on command and what? Confess? Is that supposed to save my soul, Axel? My brother’s soul?”

Axel switched, going from heated to a cold smirk in point zero seconds. But the transition made her uneasy. That only reinforced his smirk. “I don’t give a fuck about your soul. I’ve listened to you rant enough to know you are gone. You’ve been brainwashed. There’s no coming back for you.”

Her face grew heated, reddening. She flung her hand out, pointing at Sam and me. “These people—you don’t even know what they did.”

“I don’t care.” He got right back in her face. “You want to know what these people did for me? For Beltraine? For your own brother? You wanna listen to that because I can tell you. It happened in real time. In front of me. It’s not a story I’ve heard from someone else, who is so fucking obvious about his agenda, that you’re batshit stupid to believe one fucking word of it.”

“He’s been there for me—”

“I’ve been there for you!” Steele roared, stalking around his friends and getting in his sister’s face.

She blinked, and blinked again. He kept going at her, and she backtracked. They didn’t stop until she hit against the wall and even then, Steele got all up in her space. He was taller than her so he leaned down, his voice chilling. “Do you know what Bell’s dad was doing to us?”

Some of the fight faded. “Wha—what are you talking about?”

“Phillip Moreaux. We didn’t know anyone here. You’re the one who approached Moreaux. You’re the one who put me in Bell’s house, but I’m the one who got Bell to agree to lie for me.He just didn’t know the truth. How’d you know to contact Phillip Moreaux?”

“What… What was he doing to you? What did he do to you?” Her voice rose, becoming sharp again. The beginning of some panic was setting in.

Steele ignored her, speaking low, almost depressed. Some of his shoulders loosened again, becoming defeated. His voice become replete, empty. “It wasn’t just once. We’ve been playing football for almost two months now. We started the end of August. Do you know… You have no idea, but they did. They stopped it.”

“What did he do to you?”

Fuck. That voice. The unhinged tone was gone, and in that voice, she was stripped down to a sister. She fucking sounded like Samantha. The same voice. I did not want to hear that familiarity from her. Fuck no. I didn’t want a reminder whose blood she shared, because in that voice, as Sam heard it too, I saw hope rekindle in my wife’s heart.

Fuck, fuck,fuck.

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