Page 55 of Bound By Secrets

When he reaches the door, he knocks his knuckles against it a few times before stepping back, creating some space between himself and the door. I watch through one of the panes of glass as a large figure moves through the darkened entryway.

The door opens and I hear Kat and Brad gasp beside me. I glance over at Brad questioningly as my father shakes hands with the guy at the door.

Brad leans over to me and whispers in my ear, “That’s the car park guy. The ex. The one I told you about the other night.” My brows raise, and I cast my eyes back to the dark-haired man who’s now standing in the doorway scowling at us both.

“Hi, uh, I’m Nate,” I offer, wiping my hand against my leg and stepping forward before lifting it between us, waiting for him to shake it. He smirks and sizes me up before flickering his eyes over to Brad.

Once he’s fully observed us both, head to toe, he takes my hand and shakes it firmly.

“Ryker,” he states. “Nice to finally meet the other two guys that want my girl.” My eyes widen at his abrupt comment and I hear my dad sigh beside me.

“Alright, that’s enough, macho man. Just let ‘em in the bloody house!” Someone shouts from inside. I breathe a sigh of relief when he releases my hand and steps back, allowing all of us inside.

Light filters into the large entryway through a doorway, illuminating it enough for us to see where we’re walking. I follow after my Dad as he walks across the tiled floor. I’m relieved to see Connor and Callum sitting there when we enter the kitchen.

“Where’s Callie?” Kat asks, pushing her way between all of us, directing her question toward the twins and the burly man they’re sitting with. My father grabs her wrist, stopping her from barrelling over to them and instructs her to calm down.

“She’s upstairs, needed some time to herself. She’ll be down in a little while.” The gruff voice draws my attention to the blonde-haired man who’s swirling a glass of brown liquid around in his hands. His gaze lowered to the table. Although I can only see part of his face, I think it’s safe to say he’s a Conrad, considering he looks like a blonde, older version of the twins. From the vibes he’s giving off, and how he’s dressed in all black with a thick leather jacket on, he looks like some kind of biker.

My father clears his throat, drawing all attention to him, including the biker guy.

“Johnny, can we talk somewhere else for a few moments whilst Calliope is busy?”

Johnny’s eyes narrow and he shakes his head. “Don’t call her that,” he murmurs. “It’s Callie. Only Derek called her Calliope, made her hate the name.” He stands from his chair, downs the contents of glass and then stalks off through another doorway.

“I’ll be back shortly,” My father tells us, following Johnny.

Brad, Kat and I stand awkwardly to the side of the kitchen for a few moments as Ryker leans against the counter, watching us like a lion with his prey. I glance around nervously and find smashed glass spread across the floor over by the sink.

“Can I go check on Callie?” Callum shakes his head at Kat's question and cringes.

“She’ll come down when she’s ready to. She’s okay, though,” he tells her. Ryker scoffs, and Callum turns to glare at him.

“Don’t look at me like that. You can’t say she’s okay, Callum, because we both know she’s not!” he spits, causing me to frown.

“Shut up!” Connor shouts, banging his fist against the kitchen island.

“I’m assuming you guys don’t like each other?” Brad asks, walking through the kitchen and taking the seat next to Callum. Ryker huffs and turns away from the group, busying himself with filling the kettle with water. Meanwhile, Connor chuckles and shakes his head.

“At this moment in time, no, we don’t. He’s an alright guy, a bit full of himself sometimes, and he’s annoying once you get to know him. He’s also a dickhead. Let’s just say, he fucked up, he hurt Callie and also hurt us. Got a lot to make up for and a lot to explain still.”

Every person in the room looks just as shocked as I feel by Connor’s statement. Not only did he just admit to being hurt by someone, but he also spoke more than a few words. Even Callum, his own twin, is side-eyeing him as if he’s someone else.

“I’ve already explained why I did what I did!” Ryker shouts, turning to face Connor. “I’ve explained to Callie and I’ve literally just explained it to you. I thought I had no choice!”

“You did have a choice. You chose to do the wrong fucking thing!”

“So you’d rather I stayed here? We all know I would’ve ended up dead! You think you could’ve helped put her back together if I fucking died?”

“Can everyone calm down and stop shouting, please?”

My head whips around to find Callie standing in the doorway wearing a fluffy black dressing gown that swamps her figure. Her wet hair is loosely tied on top of her head and water trickles down the sides of her face from the loose tendrils. A large purple bruise is spread across the side of her face and her lips look more swollen than usual.

I feel my eyes prickle as I stare at her.

No. No, that can’t be right.

I blink rapidly, trying to make the bruise disappear, hoping that it’s just my imagination conjuring up my worst thoughts. The bruise doesn’t leave her face, though. It seems to become clearer to me each time I blink my eyes back open.

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