Page 88 of Sins and Secrets

Any retort is lost in Lukas’s mouth. Maybe he’s trying to keep the situation from getting worse. Or maybe it’s hard to encapsulate years of trauma into one sentence.

Adam claps his hands. “Ok, let’s do this thing. Where should Kimberly and I stand?”

By clapping his hands, he’s freed Kimberly from his grasp. She takes a step back and waves. “Oh no. I shouldn’t be in this picture.”

Kimberly’s blonde hair hides her face. Her dress is too short for this event, and I have a strong suspicion she only wore it because Adam told her to. Did he even tell her they were going to a wedding?

Angie crosses her arms and spears her brother with a demonstrative glare. “Your revenge fuck won’t be in my pictures.” Then she glances over to Kimberly, her voice and stare soften a touch. “No offense.”

“None taken.” Kimberly crosses her arms and gives a sort of a side-frown smirk as she motions to the door with her thumb. “I should go.”

“YOU FUCKING STAY RIGHT THERE!” Adam’s malice spreads throughout the space, sending me flinching, my throat closing from the recall of his attacks.

“Adam, she doesn’t want to be in the picture,” I say. He can’t hurt me now.

“Fuck you, Waverly. You did this!” Adam snaps and the room turns. Half of them stare at me with disgust and the rest are annoyed at the grown man having a temper tantrum.

Lukas steps closer to Adam, pointing his finger like it’s a sword. “Don’t fucking talk to her like that.”

But it’s Kimberly’s high pitched squeak that quiets everyone. “Wait,she’syour ex? You said she was mentally unstable.” Oh, really? Strike two, buddy. “She gave me a tampon in the bathroom, fixed my hair and my eyeliner, all while giving me a pep talk. She’s super nice. She’s not the one screaming like a psychopath.”

Adam tries to make his plea to win over the room. “She kicked me out of our home.”

Lukas defends my honor a second time. “Because you were cheating on her, in her house, on her bed.”

“It was the shower,” Kimberly corrects, then squeaks, “Sorry.”

I wave her concerns away. “No, it’s all good. It gave me the push I needed. I do owe you a new bag though. Go meet me at the bar. We’ll have some shots and pick one out together.”

She presses her hands to her heart and pinches her lips in one of those frown smiles. “Oh my god, you’re like the nicest.”

And I’m fucking tired of it. “Kimberly, leave,” I say, letting my anger seep into my voice for the first time all day. She doesn’t deserve any of it—being with Adam is punishment enough—but she needs to leave before she becomes collateral damage.

This time she’s out the door before Adam can catch her. The room is thick with tension, reasonable heads try to prevail and talk to him, but he’s narrowed his attention on me. His father’s voice finally breaks through the dull mutterings. “Son, we have a lot to talk about. I think it’s best you leave.”

But Adam doesn’t move.

“The only decision that needs to be made right now,” I say, “is if Angie wants Adam in the picture, or if she’s telling everyone he was in the bathroom when we took it?’

“He’s ruined my day enough,” she confirms.

I agree. “This can all be dealt with in the morning.”

“Fucking bitch,” he hisses, and now Lukas is beyond livid. His fist lands on Adam’s jaw with a satisfying smack.

Their mother screams like she’s the one who’s been hit. “You animal!”

I’m not about to let any more damage happen to Lukas and his family. He’s breathing deep, his eyes pinpoint black. I press my hand to his rapidly beating heart and say, “Red.”

Adam pants a few times before taking his eyes off his brother, still too stunned to speak.

Lukas doesn’t like this answer either and stomps his foot and waves the arm furthest from me at his brother. “He can’t speak to you like that.” His anger rolls off him as I take his cheek in my hand.

“He can’t hurt me anymore,” I say, rubbing my thumb on his neck.

Adam stands, holding his cheek as blood trickles out of the side of his mouth. “You’re with him?” Adam says with disgust. “Shit, Waverly, I might not have treated you right, but at least I didn’t treat you like a fucking little whore like he will.”

“How he treats me is no business of yours,” I state.

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