Page 136 of Kade

“Are you asking me not to?” I guarded myself, waiting for her response.

Her hand rose to rest on my chest. She spread her fingers out, her palm splayed there. My heart knew it was there and tried pushing its way out of my chest, trying to get to her touch.

She dropped her voice. “She’s been warped. She’s his weapon. You hurt her; you’re not hurting the right person.”

I didn’t want to talk anymore. I knew what Sam was saying. There was logic there, but Sabrina still made a choice. She did a whole lot to hurt my father and laid the groundwork to angle closer to Maddy.

“Mason?”

I shook my head, cupping her face and pulling it to my chest. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

She resisted, keeping some space so she could see me better. Her fingers laced with mine. “Promise me you’ll talk to me before you do anything. I’m not saying she shouldn’t face consequences, but I want a say in it. That’s all I’m asking. I’m not forgetting that she wants to take Maddy from us.” She held my gaze, studying me intently.

I didn’t want to lie to her. Grazing a finger under her jawline, I felt her tremble under my touch. I murmured, “Once I know what I’m going to do, I’ll talk to you about it.”

Her relief was palpable.

I hated seeing that because while Sam was torn, I wasn’t.

Sabrina was her sister.

She wasn’t mine.

52

MADDY

Iheard all the bullshit Brinna was spewing.

Her mind was all messed up. Kudos to that douchebag. Job well done if he wanted to fuck up lives. Goal accomplished. Brinna was never going to be a normal functioning person again.

Mom and Dad moved from commiserating in the bathroom with my mom going to their bedroom. My dad went to the kitchen where he was now getting answers from my friends.

“I want you to call Garrett.” That was my dad talking to my uncle.Snicker. “Find out if he knew about this? Why the fuck he allowed it?”

“The secret society?” That was Steele.

“No. I know he’s aware. It’s why they’re in Europe. Why didn’t you two go with them?”

“We were. We did. We were there most of our lives, but Brinna wanted to go to college stateside. We weren’talwaysover there. We have other family here on my mom’s side that we visit, but the plan was that Brinna would be at a university for the next four years. Dad didn’t like she was going to Cain, butit’s where we’re all going. It’s a family tradition. I came because I wanted to be close to her.”

“How the fuck did you end uphere? Cain’s three hours away. There’s other high schools closer.”

Steele didn’t reply right away. I heard some scuffling sounds. “My dad doesn’t know I’m here. Brinna enrolled me. She’s dealing with the payments, and all she told me was to get close to Maddy. I’m not a total dumbass. Once I knew Maddy’s last name, I figured out the connection early on. Brinna’s always talked a certain way about our older sister, but I’ve never let that influence me. I wanted to see for myself, make up my own thoughts about our sister.”

“Is my dad in this secret society thing?” That was Beltraine asking, his voice sounding strained.

“As far I know, no. He’s not in, but I’m remembering a few things Brinna said. I think he’s aware of the secret society and that he wants to be in. She mentioned a fake recruiting exception for him, but she laughed about it, said they were just using him. I didn’t know what she was talking about. I hadn’t met you and I thought he was being used for me, letting me stay here. Now I think he was letting me stay here as a way of getting initiated. Maybe. Or that’s what he thought.”

“You knew who Sam was?” My dad.

Another beat of silence. “I always knew who she was, but seeing her in person was… She’s not how Brinna said. I don’t—I’m not on board withanythingmy sister did. I knew she was going sideways, but I didn’t realize the extent of it until we all heard what she said. She’s messed up. She needs help.”

“She tried turning you against Sam?”

There wasn’t a response, and my heart hurt at that because of course she would. Brinna was cracked. If she were an egg, she’d been cooked the wrong way and her shell was all splintered up.

I listened to more, as Steele explained that once he met Beltraine, they bonded within the first weekend. It was an easy friendship. How Beltraine and Axel had no idea what Steele was doing. They were told he needed to hide from some bad family members. They didn’t push Steele for more, assuming he’d tell them what was going on when he felt comfortable to do that.

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