Page 8 of Shattered Dreams

“Dude. Stop,” Kai says to Cal, his hand still gently holding my face.

Cal turns to me, anger blazing in his eyes. They soften the moment he sees how distressed I am. He walks over and pulls me into his arms, causing me to yelp.

Cal lets me go immediately, and I watch as his expression mirrors the one of Kai’s. Angry and calm. It’s terrifying.

“Let me see,” Cal says, his voice low.

“Cal, it’sfine —” I start.

“Let. Me. See.”

I gulp and slowly lift my shirt. I’m not afraid of my brother. He would never harm me. But he would hurt anyone else who did. And I know the moment he sees the bruises covering my torso, that’s all he’s going to want to do.

“Fuck!” Cal yells, and I flinch again.

“Mo chridhe,” Kai whispers, his voice low and eyes pained as his hand falls from my face, and he fists it at his side. I have no idea what that means, and I’m honestly surprised by Kai’s reaction to me. He’s been little more than indifferent towards me. Which was an improvement on the anger he used to bring with him whenever he saw me over school breaks before the band hit it big.

“Where is he? I’m going to fucking kill him!” Cal exclaims while pacing back and forth in front of me.

“Please, Cal. Stop. I just want this to all be over,” I plead with him. I wasn’t going to tell him about Brad hurting me. I planned to stick to the falling story, but neither of these men will believe me. I can see in their faces that they know the truth.

“He can’t get away with this, Belle,” he says with forced calm.

“Who?” Kai asks Cal when it’s clear I wasn’t going to tell him.

“Brad Foley. Her boyfriend,” Cal snarls out his name.

“Ex. I left him,” I say softly.

“Not soon enough,” Cal says, and I immediately start crying.

“I know I’m weak. I know I let Brad hurt me. For years he’s hurt me, and no one knew. I finally gotthe courage to leave him, and that was only because I knew the next time would be the last. I wouldn’t survive. And I’m not ready to die,” I sob. I didn’t mean to let all that out either, but my brother has a way of making me feel safe. Just his presence has me spilling all my secrets. Kai used to make me feel that way too.

I watch Cal’s shoulders deflate as he gently takes me into his embrace, careful not to hurt my ribs. Kai’s eyes are molten with rage, his hands are in fists, and the muscle in his jaw is ticking from how tightly he’s clenching it.

“You’re not weak, Belle,” Cal whispers in my ear. “You’re one of the strongest people I know. It takes a weak man to beat a woman. He just needs to control the uncontrollable and used his fists to do it. You’re safe now. He’ll never hurt you again. I promise.”

I snuggle into my brother’s embrace, letting the safety and security of being near him wash away some of the pain. I chance a glance at Kai to see his angry eyes are still on me. But for the first time in years, it’s not me he’s angry with. He’s angryforme, and I take comfort in knowing that maybe I haven’t lost him completely. Maybe my Kai is still in there somewhere. If he is, I’m going to find him.

two

KAI

I’m still pacingthe length of the kitchen when Cal returns from getting Belle settled into his guest room.

I’m such a fucking idiot. I called her mo chridhe,my heart. The name I’ve always called her in my head, never out loud. I don’t think she understood it. Very few people understand Scottish Gaelic in the states. Me included. But my dad was born in Scotland and knows curses and terms of endearment. Which he passed onto his sons. Curses first.

“She’s coming with us,” Cal says.

“Coming with us, where?” I ask, wondering if he said something else while I was mentally chastising myself.

“On tour,” he says while looking at me like I’m an idiot.

“No,” I say before I can stop myself. I’ve kept my distance from Belle for years and for good reason. It’ll be impossible on nights spent on the bus with her.

“I wasn’t asking,” Cal says to me, his eyes filled with fury.

“This band is just as much mine as it is yours. I don’t want her in my space!” I yell.

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