Page 174 of Sire
But he can’t.
Nadine promised me Sire would get to tell him. That’s why we’re here. Don’t ask me why we’re in the auxiliary building and not the chapel, but I have faith and assume Sire doesn’t want blood on the Bibles.
“You mad at me?” Sire steps to him.
“Yeah.” Axel chest bumps him like they’re about to brawl.
I glance at Jace and Loch, their broad shoulders drawing up, about to pull them apart.
“Good.” Sire stays in Axel’s face. “You should be mad at me. You should hate me. You should never want to talk to me again, and I deserve it.” His voice breaks. His handsome face, falling, too. All the pain Sire’s been hiding, he lets it go. “I’m sorry, brother. I’m so fucking sorry from the bottom of my soul.”
Axel pulls back, coldly raging, “So, it wasyou? You’re the one who sold us out to our father.”
Grant barks, “What the fuck are you talking about—he sold us out?”
“We’ve been found?” Nick fumes. “The fucker knows where we are?”
Jace growls, “Goddamn, I suspected it. I heard?—”
Nadine lifts her hand, snapping her fingers.
Silence falls over the family and the brothers, standing nose to nose.
Sire won’t let go of my hand, either. Does he think I need comfort? Or does he?
“You knew?” Sire asks, sounding calm.
“Yeah, we fuckingknew.” Axel doesn’t. “Our captive? The one who climbed over the wall at Delta’s? Roman: he’s our half-brother and told us we’d been found. But we didn’t know who ratted us out.” His lip curls. “You.”
“What the fuck?” Jace thunders. “Roman’s our half-brother? And you ratted us out?”
The circle of angry brothers tightens around us, but Nadine turns to them with one eyebrow raised.
They stop.
“Ruslan raped my maid’s daughter.” It’s the first time I’ve heard Nadine use his name, explaining, “She was fourteen, and Roman is their child. He was raised to kill us, but is on our side instead. He hates Ruslan and told us what he knew.”
“Like how Roman used to be married to Katya,” Axel adds, not breaking his deathly stare with Sire. “But our father made Katya leave Roman and come after me instead. To marry me. To get pregnant by me. To leave me and take mysonas his heir.” His nostrils flare. “Our father knew where to find me. How?” He grabs Sire’s throat. “Becauseyoufucking told him where we were.”
Ruby tugs Axel’s arm. “Don’t. Don’t do this. Let him go.”
But Axel’s not listening. This is why he’s furious; he’s had time to feel the pain. He knew half of the secret.
“Yes.” Sire doesn’t flinch. “It’s my fault. It’s my fault he found us through my criminal record. It’s my fault he took your son.”
“No, it’s not.” I try to wedge between them. “Tell him, you had no choice.”
“What is she talking about?” Axel snarls, “You had no choice? No choice but to let him take myson?”
“He wantedmyson.” Sire lifts his neck, letting his brother choke him tighter. “He wanted my heir, so I offered my unborn child to keep us safe. And I secretly vowed to never have one. It kept him away from us for years, until he came after you and he took…”
A tear falls down Sire’s cheek, over his broken heart tattoo, confessing, “He took Lev, your baby boy, and I’m so fucking sorry, brother. I’d rather die than hurt you or him, and I’ve been trying to get him back.”
“He gave his kidney,” I blurt, joining Ruby, tugging on Axel’s flexed arm. “Let him go. He almost died trying to get Lev back.”
“Lev.” I hear Nash invoke the name to Axel. “You have a son, my brother; that’s his name. So be a better man than your father. Be a father Lev can admire. Forgive your brother.”
Axel swallows, slowly dropping his hand.
