Page 61 of Bound By Secrets

“Are you open to the whole sharing thing as well?” she asks, turning to face me as I lean against the desk that she’s sitting at.

“I think I might be open to it. We’ve seen Brad’s parents make it work, so it’s not like it’s a bizarre thing, and Callie’s interested in all three of us. I think we could make it work if we got to know Ryker better and if we each were all able to spend quality time with Callie… Brad told me that he has spoken to her about it and he thinks that she’d be open to it, so maybe we could give it a go.”

“I wasn’t asking if you’d be into sharing her like that, Nate.”

My brows furrow, “What do you mean then?”

She scoffs and shakes her head. “Honestly, Nate, sometimes I wonder how I’m still a virgin and you’re not.”

My eyes grow wide. “Oh, you mean sharing her like that with them.” I feel my cheeks warm from embarrassment. “Uh, I, well…” Kat howls with laughter, almost falling off her chair.

“Stop! Stop talking,” she croaks out between breaths, “Please, don’t say any more. I don’t actually want an answer to that! Just think about it yourself, dude.”

I push her shoulder and then curse before quickly scrambling to grab her arm as she begins to topple backward. I don’t grab her in time and she lands with a thud and a groan against the carpeted floor.

“Shit, I didn’t mean to do that!” I tell her, reaching forward and offering her my hand to help her up. She slaps my hand away and tips her head to the side, squinting her eyes as shelooks at something. Her brows furrow as she crawls towards the desk, pushing the chair out of her way and sticking her head underneath.

“Are you ok? Did you hit your head or something?” She shakes her head and crawls backward, pulling herself up with the help of my outstretched hand.

“Nate, when Callum and Connor get home, I need you to discreetly bring them up here,” she says in a serious and calm tone. “Don’t say anything to anyone else. Just tell them to come to this room.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

When she doesn’t answer me, I bend down, attempting to look under the desk myself but she grabs a hold of my shoulders and pulls me away.

“Kat, what the fuck is under there?”

She shakes her head and flicks her gaze to the open door that leads out to the hallway.

“I don’t think this was just Derek’s hiding place. I think their brother may have used this room as well, or maybe their mum, I’m not sure…” she whispers, trailing off when her eyes land on the desk again.

“Okay, and what makes you think that?” I ask impatiently.

“There’s an adoption certificate taped to the underneath of the desk, along with a birth certificate.” She slowly walks over to the doorway, peeking her head outside to scan the hallway before she faces me again. “From what I saw, I think it might be Cameron’s or Callie’s birth certificate.”

“Okay, so why am I gonna get Connor and Callum up here? I thought you’d seen a gun or a chopped-off body part or something, Kat! You had me freaked out.”

“Shut up!” She rushes over to me and clamps her hand over my mouth. “I’m whispering about it and acting like this becausethey’re taped underneath a desk in the bloody guest bedroom,” she hisses. “They’re obviously hidden for a reason, you idiot!”

When I scrunch my face up in confusion, she releases her hold over my mouth and sighs, rolling her eyes and muttering something about my intelligence.

“Think about this logically, Nate. They’ve mentioned to us that they suspect Callie may not be Derek’s child. There is also what I think is Cameron’s birth certificate under there, and I don’t want to know why. So, either Cameron has hidden those there for some reason, or their mother hid them there knowing they would expose her secrets if they were found.” She flicks me when she finishes speaking and checks the hallway again to make sure no one can overhear her.

“Okay, that makes sense now… but shouldn’t I go downstairs and get Callie as well then?”

“Oh my, honestly, Nate. You’re acting so dim right now. You’re usually smart, especially when it comes to situations like this where you have to consider people's emotions and mental state. Callie isn’t in a good headspace at the moment, and I don’t want her to find out about this if it’s something bad. If we get the twins to come up here and check it out, then they can decide what to do about it.”

“Well, this sounds interesting.”

Kat and I jump, squealing in surprise. We both look over at the doorway to see Ryker standing there, leaning against the door and raising a thick, questioning brow at us.

Oh, shit.

Chapter Thirty

Ryker

Chuckling, I step into the room and close the door behind me, keeping my gaze locked on Nate and Kat as they stare at me like deer caught in headlights.

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