Page 95 of Voracious

“Talk to me,” I say softly.

Nothing. All she’s doing is crying and trembling in my arms.

I kiss her temple. “It’s going to be alright. We’ll try again. I promise. We’re just hurting right now, but we’ll work through this, okay? Me and you, Freckles.”

She sobs even louder, and I grow increasingly concerned as I try to pull her back from me to see her face, but she keeps her head dipped.

“Do you want me to carry you to bed?”

She shakes her head. “I’m so, so, so sorry,Kade.”

I hug her to me, my chest tightening. “Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault. Stopapologisingfor something that was out of your control.”

Her hand grips my top at the back as she rattles against me, hyperventilating while repeatedly muttering “sorry”.

My phone dings once more, and the message I get a preview of has me frowning and leaning down to grab it. I rest my chin on her head while I read.

Unknown Number: Not such a good girl now, is she?

Unknown Number: And with him, of all people.

Unknown Number: One video attachment.

Unknown Number: If you want any more details, let me know.

I release her and stand back as I click on the attachment. A video starts.

Bile rises in my throat instantly, and I feel my heart race in my chest, painful and swollen and fucking breaking as I watch Stacey in bed with someone else. They’re naked and… I grit my teeth. She has her arms around him, kissing him as he fucks her.

The guy rolls onto his back, and then she’s on him, and I drop my phone like it’s burned me when Irealisewho it is.

I glare up at the traitorous bitch. “You fucked my brother?”

Stacey cries and holds the back of her hand to her mouth. “Please l-let me explain,Kade. Please. It’s not what it looks like.”

My vision is blurring as my entire body starts to shake, and so does my voice as I manage to speak.

“You slept with my fucking brother?”

She tries to come to me, but I back away from her like she’s a disease. “Please,” she sobs. “I was drunk in the club and—”

“Get the fuck out!” I yell, and she flinches and drops her head. “Leave. Right fucking now. We’re done. You cheated. It’s fucking over! Get the fuck out!”

“Kade. It’s me. I would never do anything to hurt—”

I flip the coffee table, smashing all of its contents. “No!” I point at her, my eyes burning as my heart shatters into pieces, staring at the girl I thought loved me. “You’re nothing. You’re fucking dead to me.”

She tries to grab me as I storm past her, but then she’s on the ground, crying – begging me. I throw the door open and fucking leave her there, fighting against hot tears as I rush through the manor with a crippling pain in my chest.

As soon as I grab my keys, I storm past the dogs and get into my car.

My phone screen lights up with an incoming call.

Freckles.

I reject it and start the engine, just as messages start desperately pinging up on my screen.

Freckles: Please answer the phone, Kade. Let me explain.

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