Page 30 of Masked Darling

“They’re officially coming this weekend. Dad and the Renegade Rebels will be coming to help take down the traffickers. They’ve already secured a place to put the bodies when everything is said and done.”

Kade clenched his jaw. “You know this is a bad idea. Why aren’t you just calling the cops? When Dad gets involved shit goes sideways. You know it’s true.”

“You know it’s not the kind of situation to involve the cops in, they’ll let at least one of those assholes free and dead men can’t kidnap, rape, or sell women. We will need the extra man-power,” Jagger pressed and Kade could hear him straining in the background before hearing the thud of a cooler door. “It’sthe last time we do anything, you and me. We will put an end to these guys and get out.”

Kade glanced around, making sure no one was around to overhear his conversation. “And if it gets fucked up again?”

“We’re prepared this time,” Jagger snarled, tired of his brother’s constant backlash. “We are the only ones who will help them. We’ve done a lot of fucked up shit for Dad over the years–he owes us this. We’ve cleaned up plenty of his messes, he can clean up ours for once.”

Kade shoved away from the wall, hoisting the box up on his hip when he heard people coming his way. He watched the group of students laughing and chatting, their carefree lives so far removed from the chaos he was currently facing and it made his chest tighten. It wasn’t fair. He should be worried about graduation parties and last minute finals–not this shit.

“I plan on leaving once I graduate,” Kade said finally, his heart pounding in his chest as he spoke the words aloud for the first time to his big brother.

“What?” Jagger sounded confused. “You just came back with Dad a year ago.”

“I’m serious.” Kade sighed. He hadn’t expected to do this over the phone. “I can’t stay tied to this life anymore—I don’t trust myself to resist getting swept up in it. I can’t let myself get close to anyone because I’m afraid something will happen like it did to mom. I’m not like you. I’m too much like Warren and I will get stuck here and this will be all my life will amount to. And I’d enjoy it.”

Jagger fell silent for a moment. Kade could almost hear him processing it all.

“Listen,” Jagger finally replied, his voice softer now. It was like he was trying to calm him down from a nightmare when they used to be kids. “I get it. And if that’s what you need to do, I’ll support it. Hell, I’ll even give you the money to getstarted somewhere… but don’t shut me out over this thing this weekend.”

“I’m not shutting you out.”

“Good.”

“How’s Sadie?”

It was obvious that Kade was trying to change the subject.

That was just fine.

Jagger knew how to break the tension, too.

“She just got done riding my dick, so I’d say she’s doing pretty well.”

Kade rolled his eyes but couldn’t stop the laugh that tore out of his throat when he heard Sadie’s voice in the background of the call yelling at Jagger for oversharing.

Kade stood frozen in front of the door to Madison’s apartment. His fists clenched at his sides, his knuckles so tight from the force they felt like they could split.

The final exam had been tough, sure—but his mind hadn’t been on the exam. No, his focus had been on Madison.

Or lack of Madison.

Her absence from class had been jarring, something so out of character for her that it had him in a panic all morning. She was never late. She never missed a class, let alone a final. And this afternoon, when she hadn’t answered his texts or calls, the knot in his stomach had tightened.

And then he’d gotten to her apartment.

Alison had answered the door with that perfect little smile of hers, but there was a hesitation in her eyes that only deepened his concern. And when she told him that Madison wasn’t there, Kade’s gut twisted.

“What do you meanshe’s not here?” Kade’s voice was a low snarl, the frustration slipping through his words as he stepped closer to Alison, his body stiff with tension.

Alison sighed, her lips pressed together and she faltered in her usually confident stance. “I talked to her yesterday after some of her finals. She said she would be going to the bar to talk to you. She had some news, and she thought it might change your mind about what you guys are going to do after graduation.”

Kade’s mind raced. Madison had news? Something important enough to make her think that maybe, just maybe, she could change his mind about everything they had discussed? The words she’d said to him—the offer to run away together, to escape the mess that was their lives—flashed in his mind, and it made his chest tighten with that pesky feeling of hope again.

But none of that mattered if she was missing.

Alison adjusted the crease in her blouse, glancing away from him. “But I figured she either spent the night with you, or she didn’t sleep well and took off early.”

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