Page 38 of Insatiable

Kyle: Was thatKadeMitchell?

Kyle: Wait… Am I losing my mind right now? Are you hanging out withtheTobiasMitchell’s kids? Is LucyLuciella? The twin?

Kyle: I know I’m being the overbearing big brother here, but do you know who he is? Have the twins given you fake names? Shit. Do you remember our emergency code if you need me to come and get you?

I lie in the small double bed, reading each text. Attached in his next message, he sends news articles dated from when Tobias Mitchell was arrested.Psychotic killer ordered to live out his life sentence in an institution.One of them has a picture of Kade and Lu as kids, smiling with their dad in an artificial park within his institution in America.

LegendaryTobiasMitchell finally granted visitation with his children.

There are related articles at the bottom of the page, and I click on the one about Aria.Doctor Miller finally finds true love with a former flame. But what doesTobiasthink?Somehow, they got a hold of their wedding photo, where the twins are around seven years old. Lu has a huge grin, Kade is scowling and their big brother Jason, who is eleven years older, has his hands on their shoulders.

I remember I used to think he was a son of Tobias too, but he looks like Ewan. Aria isn’t his mum, but she treats him the same as she does Kade and Lu, especially since his biological mother overdosed a few years ago.

He’s been a ghost to the family for a while now.

The last article I read is from two months ago – Kade with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, leaving a nightclub in London with a girl on his arm. They call the brunette brave then go into detail about the pair sharing a hotel room, which she left a few hours later withmessy hair.

I close the browser.

Kyle sends another message, asking if this is a code red.

I’ve only been able to read his texts. When we were in the car, my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing, and the last thing I wanted to do was discuss Kade with my stepbrother while sitting in the passenger seat.

It was awkward when he first picked me up because I had no idea what to say, especially after what happened in the studio, but I grew less anxious when no rude comments came from him. It was a comfortable silence I’ve had many times with that side of him.

Well, the version I had to myself for nearly a year. The version that held my hand under the covers and smiled at me when no one was looking. Kissed me in the pool house. In the car. In random hotel rooms all over the world while we watchedThe Greatest Showmanfor the billionth time.

The version I’ve missed every day since he walked out of my life – and I let him.

That side of him quickly shrank back into its shell when he tossed his bag into our room and stormed off, muttering afuck’s sakeunder his breath hours ago. I’d sat on the small bed, kicked off my shoes and pulled the duvet over me, and I’ve been here ever since.

He’s back to his usual dickish self. I won’t be surprised if he’s drunk in the bar downstairs or in a taxi on his way to a random girl’s house.

Should I text him and ask if he wants to grab food, or will he tell me to go fuck myself?

On cue, my phone dings, and my heart stops, thinking it’s him. But it’s Kyle sending a question mark.

I forgot to reply. No doubt he’s sweating and pacing the floor, worrying about my safety. He really is the total opposite of his younger brother.

Me: Sorry. My phone was on silent! I’m okay. Promise me you won’t tell Nora or Chris who they are. I don’t want them freaking out. But yes, they are his kids.

A few minutes pass, then my screen lights up once more.

Kyle: Fucking hell. Yeah, sound – I won’t say anything. What are they like? Cool? Dickheads? Do they boast about who their dad is? I read something aboutKadebeing exactly like that psycho. Did you see the article on him when he was 12? It says he has death in his eyes. The fuck does that even mean? Oh shit, I don’t think I want to know, but you aren’t dating him, are you?

I sigh, shaking my head. Some of these articles are ridiculous. If these reporters knew the side of Kade I did, they’d never say those things about him. Regardless of how he acts now.

Tobias struggled witheveryemotion and had no idea how to control them. Whereas his son can feel them to some extent, can certainly show them when he’s comfortable enough and doesn’t go on a killing spree when things don’t go his way.

I reread the last part of Kyle’s text, narrowing my eyes. I’m not about to tell him that Kade is my ex or that we have a heavy history that could write an entire book.

I’m not going to tell him that one time, while he was knocking on my room door to see if I needed anything from the shop, Kade had me pinned to the floor with his hand wrapped around my throat, tight enough to nearly cut off my oxygen supply while roughly fucking me.

No. I definitely won’t tell him that.

Another message, and I huff.

Kyle: I’m uncomfortable with the delayed response. I wish to retract my question.

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