Page 91 of Piece You Saved

She sniffs. “I don’t see how that is any business of—”

“And his father?” Kade has his back to me, but he’s smiling.

This is the second time I’m hearing this, and I still cannot believe how seriously messed up you have to be to do something like that.

“Kade.” Aden steps out from the kitchen to join me in the entryway. “Maybe you should—”

“Go.”

I whip my head to my left, up the staircase. Standing at the top of it is Dariel. He’s in black sweatpants and the t-shirt he’d laid out on his bed before I went to his room and hugged him.

Briefly, his eyes settle on me. There’s an intensity in them that tells me he’s thinking about our kiss.

Remembering what happened after, I look away.

Claudine is staring at me. From the line between her perfect brow, she didn’t miss my flushed cheeks, nor guessed the reason why.

After a probing stare, she swings to Dariel, giving him a look up and down, and makes a moue as if she finds his clothing lacking.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Shaking her head, she continues, as if the reason doesn’t matter. “I can’t find Leo. We were supposed to meet for him to take me shopping. Now his father keeps ringing and ringing, probably because he wants—”

Dariel’s steps are silent as he prowls down the stairs. “Youtoldhim to take you shopping.”

A dangerous note creeps into the room, a chill that makes me want to inch away. Aden must feel it too, because he circles one hand around my arm and nudges me back as he takes a half-step forward.

Claudine’s laugh is a musical tinkle. “Don’t be silly. I don’ttellLeo to do anything. He offered.”

“He’s dead,” Dariel says. “I buried him in the garden. That was why my father was calling. Not to stop your little shopping trip. He would have felt it. It shouldn’t surprise me you wouldn’t when the only loss you feel is when you can’t get what you want.”

Claudine blinks at him. I think I do too, because I wasn’t expecting him to tell her that bluntly.

“You can go now,” Dariel continues.

My eyes return to Claudine, and as I wait for her response, I notice the thumbnail sized diamond on her ring finger.

How the hell did I miss a diamond that big?

“You’re lying,” she whispers, twisting the ring on her finger.

“Nope. He’s dead,” Kade drawls lazily. “Or did you know that already, and you wanted a little more Desidario between your thighs?”

My eyes widen.

Claudine snaps her gaze toward Kade, who backs up, holding his palms out flat to her as if in apology. “Oh, was that not what you wanted to hear?”

I can’t see her expression from here, but I assume she’s pissed. Right up until she stops twisting her ring and swings back to face Dariel as she stalks toward him. “Well, Ididfeel something. I just thought… Well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. You have to return to the pack. Your father promised me I’d be Luna, and with Leo gone, I have to have you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Dariel responds.

“But you have to. I’m beautiful and I…” Claudine seems to remember I exist because she whips her head toward me. “You.”

One word, and I hear the threat in it. I edge back as Aden steps forward. “Don’t,” Aden warns. “Leave while you can.”

Leave while…?

I glance up the stairs, thinking he means Dariel. But Dariel has stopped five steps from the bottom. My eyes sweep the entryway, and I take in Kade.

He’s partially shut the door, and not only is he blocking it with his body, he’s staring at the back of Claudine’s head with an intensity I struggle to believe Claudine doesn’t feel. Maybe Dariel won’t kill his mate, but from Kade’s dark stare, he won’t have that problem.

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