Page 80 of Broken Dreams

Since the walls are soundproof, I open the door slowly to the dance room, peeking in to see Quinn and Linus taking a break to drink water. They’re both sitting on the wood floors, breathing hard as their heartbeats begin to slow down, and their adrenaline levels begin to drop to normal. Their cheeks are flushed from exertion, reminding me of what they would look like after sex. Ugh, I can’t think about that right now, not when I need to have such a serious conversation with them.

Callum leans down to grab Quinn’s pen and paper by the far wall, and we walk toward them.

“Hey,” Linus says, searchingly looking for something wrong before slumping slightly. I hate seeing that, and it makes me want to kill my father and Quinn’s to call it a day.

Unfortunately, that still leaves Ayla.

“My father is gone, and there’s no signs of bugs or cameras in the house,” Callum says, dropping to the ground in front of them. Following his lead, I fold my legs to sit as well.

“Quinn, your dad is like a dog with a bone. I’ve had my phone on silent in a desk drawer since he began texting me, and am using a burner for work,” I say wryly. “My dad showed me a photo of you getting out of the SUV, which I deflected because it’s new and he doesn’t know about the purchase.”

“Sneaky,” Linus mutters sourly.

“You have no idea. The plates won’t even lead back to us,” I say to him, enjoying the way his lips twitch.

They have every right to be annoyed and worried. All we want is to keep them safe, but it’s a careful balancing act between that and caging them.

“I told him there’s no real way to tell if it's Quinn or not due to being gone for twenty years, and Dad said that Hudson putan old photo of yours through an age imaging program,” I say. “I tried to deflect but?—”

“He showed the photo to your mom, Quinn,” Callum rasps. The blood runs out of her face so quickly, I throw my hand out to catch her, sure that she’s going to faint. Instead, she shakes her head, forcing herself to breathe, holding Linus’ hand tightly.

With her free hand, she reaches for the pen and paper.

Tell me how she is?

We’ve been beating around the bush about how Ayla is, giving her little details, but refusing to explain the full truth.

“Hudson institutionalized her just after you disappeared,” Callum says, his voice dead as he forces himself to tell her.

I feel the prick of tears stinging because our mom passed away when we were ten, and we leaned hard on Ayla. Back then, she was so damn strong and sweet. She’s the only reason we have any good inside of us at all.

“She was overcome with grief, but Hudson wouldn’t let Callum or I see her,” I say. “God, I don’t think we were much better if I’m being real straight with you. You were our best friend, our everything back then.”

A jagged breath fortifies my brother as he continues. “Your dad refused to take any of our calls, and my father told us to let him handle his family as he saw fit,” he mutters. “Three weeks later, Ayla was out, and looked so fragile, I was afraid to hug her. She’s a ghost of herself now. I fucking hate that he gave her hope.”

I can’t kill that hope,Quinn scrawls out.I won’t.

“Hudson wants a party,” I say, shaking my head as a tear falls between my anger and grief. “He’s so fucking insistent on keeping up with social niceties. Dad said that he even has a list of packs to introduce you to.”

I’m yours!

Her words make Callum and I growl with approval, because she is. Fuck, we’re going to need to at least put in paperwork before this farce if we’re going to keep her from having to deal with that.

“You are, both you and Linus,” I agree. “There are few packs that will want to get between a scent match, but there’s only one way to get around it outside of a bond bite.”

Her curious look is only there before she writes,Yes. File the paperwork.

Smart girl.

“I’ll print it out, and I guess I’ll have to return the dickwad’s phone calls,” I say. “I’m sorry, I know he’s your dad, but he’s shown time and again that he doesn’t deserve to be.”

Quinn surprises me as she releases Linus’ hand to crawl across the floor toward me. Her pink hair is up in a cute little pony tail, her breasts contained in a new sports bra we picked up along with pretty bras. Watching her crawl does so much shit to my brain, reminding me that she’s fucking mine. She crawls right into my lap, facing me as she swipes her thumb over my cheek slowly to catch a tear.

“He kept it together the best while our dad was here, so it’s coming out now,” Callum explains. “I can’t deal with this bullshit.”

Quinn throws her arms around me and I smile, hugging her back as she scent marks my neck. All I need is the people in this room right now. Adira would be walking out of here to kill everyone who made me upset. While sweet, that’s not the energy I need right now.

I need to make sure I can make them as safe as possible.

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