Chapter 19
Iknew this would be hard. How could it not be? It’s the reason we didn’t tell her already, but Elio pushed my hand when he opened his big mouth. I’d thought we were past the point of him recognizing me, but with Leo here, it must have been enough to jog his memory.
Had I known he would be here, I would have waited to meet them, but now that I’ve started, I can’t hold it in anymore. For years, I’ve been quiet. In the beginning, I’d been unsure, but even once I knew, I’d been too much of a pussy to tell her.
How do you tell someone something that will shake the foundation of everything they have ever known? Jade is adamant about her ability to be alone, unwilling to rely on others or ask for help. Kratos thinks it’s from the abandonment she dealt with as a child.
But what if she wasn’t abandoned?
What if she had been stolen and her family still cared?
What if everything she ever thought was a lie wrapped up in more lies?
I never wanted to add to them.
She deserves to know the truth.
I owe her that much, at the very least.
The guys have done a good job of respecting her as their boss, but seeing her like this kicks them into gear.
Where they were once intent on staying out of this and letting her handle it, silent backup if needed, they now surround her.
It’s impossible to miss the way they look at her.
I’ve known these guys as long as Kratos has.
I’ve watched them from their first missions, watched them climb up that ladder to be what they are today.
Women threw themselves at all of them, and while they allowed themselves to be entertained, they didn’t let anyone get in the way of their goals or Vengeance.
Jade isn’t like that, though. She is Vengeance, and the same way it consumed them and made them more, it would appear she has the same effect.
Mother always said she was impossible not to love.
“Jade,” I try again, only for Spencer to shoot me a look that tells me the razor edge I’m currently standing on.
Zander and Kratos are usually the ones who deal out punishments, but that doesn’t mean the rest of them can’t or won’t.
To see Spencer ready to stand for her would be heartwarming after how at odds they’ve been since the start.
That is, if his rage wasn’t directed at me.
“You knew all this time?” Her words are quiet but still harsh, cutting through the guy's chatter and questions as they try to calm her down.
She’s borderline hyperventilating, and while that's understandable, I know her. It will get worse before it gets better.
If it gets better.
I’ve seen her deal with things nobody should have to. Losing girls, the mental load of what she does to keep them safe, and how it weighed on her. All these years of her running to Kratos, watching them fall in love even if she didn’t see it.
I saw it.
I was upset at first. She’s my little sister, after all, and nobody would ever be enough in my eyes. But he’s good for her, good to her, and they both deserve the happiness I know they can find in each other.
Who am I to stand between that?
Nobody.
When she looks up at me, tears run down her face, and I know she’s put the pieces together.
Jade’s always been smart, too smart for her own good.
As badly as I wish I could explain and make her understand, I can’t even be upset at how quickly she caught on.
I know that’s what's kept her alive all these years, kept her one step ahead as the world tried to run her into the ground.
My mouth dries up, and I can’t force out the words as she glares at me, her lips curled in disgust. I nod, confirming her suspicions. Something snaps in that moment, as if she was holding onto hope that she might be wrong.
She’s on me in the blink of an eye. The guys stand around, too stunned to do much more than watch as her fist snaps out across my face.
It’s a solid hit that leaves my head swimming and almost knocks me off my feet.
I force myself to stay standing, though, raising my hands in the air even as she comes at me again.
We used to spar all the time when we were younger; back then, I went easy on her. She was a child, just a little girl…
My little sister. My responsibility…my best friend.
I have no intention of fighting her now, though, and she doesn’t need me to go easy on her anymore. Her hits get sloppier as she goes, tears running down her face so fast that it’s a miracle she can still see. Maybe she can’t. I have no doubt she’d be lethal, even blindfolded.
“Fight back, большой брат!” she screams. Her voice catches on the words, and all I can do is shake my head as I watch her fall apart in front of my eyes.
I want to comfort her, but I can’t. I know I don’t deserve to. She has the others for that, but if beating my ass will help her, I’ll take the beating. I’ll stand until I can’t anymore. If spilling my blood is what she needs, I’d gladly bleed it all out on the floor for her.
Jade swipes at her face, angrily wiping away her tears, but they just keep coming. She’s always hated crying, showing weakness. She wanted to be the best, to be deserving of the faith our father had in her, even at a young age.
If only she knew she already was, that nobody deserved his faith more than she did.
“He never gave up on you,” I tell her, unsure she’s even listening.
My lip stings, and I know she’s split it wide, but even as she continues to lash out, she's not really trying too hard. She could have had me down in just a few seconds if she had wanted to. I’ve seen her do it to guys twice my size.
Instead, she continues hitting me blindly.
“That’s why Ivan wants you dead so badly. Father wouldn’t let anyone else take over the family until he had proof that you were gone.” My voice wobbles, but I force the words out. She needs to know she was loved, is loved. Even if she never got to see it, it was there, always.
“He never stopped believing that you would come home!”
My words make her pause, and when she looks up at me, her eyes are so much like they were when she was a child.
Back when she’d had a nightmare, or a storm rolled through, she would climb into my bed, scared to tell Dad, afraid he would be disappointed.
He never would have been, but I didn’t mind letting her curl up with me.
I’d tell her stories until she fell asleep, and the next day she’d kick my ass.
I knew one day she would lead our family, and I would follow her every command.
Even as a child, she was a force, and she’s only become better despite the world trying to break her.
Mother and Father will be so proud of her.
I’m so proud of her.
“Get out!” she shouts, hysterical as she chokes on a sob. “Just… leave,” she breathes, her arm dropping back down to her side as the emotion from just moments ago drains from her.
She sags, and I move forward to catch her, but Jake is there not a moment later as she collapses into his arms. She doesn’t make a sound, but her body shakes as she buries her face in his shoulder.
I watch him run a hand through her hair soothingly, whispering things I can’t hear.
I have no doubt he’s comforting her. Yet her body still shakes with tears, and I can’t fight the self-loathing that creeps in knowing I did this.
Looking around the room, all of her guys stare daggers at me, and I know I deserve it.
I’m not sure if they understand everything or not, but they don’t need to.
They're loyal to Jade, my sister, and I’ve caused her harm.
Even if it’s not the physical kind, emotional harm is just as damning, sometimes even more so.
Leo, for once, seems to be at a loss for a smart-ass comment, and I find myself grateful. I’m not sure I can handle him right now, and I’m pretty sure the guys might put a bullet in his brain without hesitation if he says the wrong thing.
Elio watches Jade and Jake as they sit in the middle of the kitchen floor, his face full of remorse, and I wonder if he sees his own sister in Jade. Their situation isn’t too far off from our own, but with a much happier reunion, one I knew was never in the cards for us.
Elio turns to me as if he can feel my eyes on him, his face full of sadness and pity.
I don’t want his pity; I don’t deserve it. I knew there was a possibility she would hate me after this. Knew when I decided to look for her, I might never find her, but now that I have, I don’t care if she hates me or not.
She’s alive, and that's more than I ever dared hope for.
“Let’s go,” I tell Leo, nodding toward the door as I head out. He follows me without a word, but before we leave the kitchen, he stops, turning back to face the others.
“Ivan has to die, or he’ll never stop coming after her. She won’t be safe until he’s gone. None of us will be,” he tells them. His unspoken offer to help, clear if they should want it. Though I can’t imagine they will, at least not right now.
That’s okay, though. I’ve waited this long. I can wait until she needs me. I have nothing else to do, and Ivan will die one way or another for what he’s done.
I steal one more glance at Jade and find her in Zander’s arms. Curled up like a child, so small yet so fierce, beautiful, and strong.
Everything the lost princess of the Bratva has always been said to be.