Chapter 17
“Kaden?” Abi places her hand on my shoulder. I look at my childhood home, where they await us inside. My parents have a penthouse in the city, but they still use this house for family meetings.
All I can think about is her. I carry Celine inside of me like a torch that never burns out.
I squeeze my eyes shut. How can I stay away to protect her when I want her so much? My body and soul ache to have her.
“You’re miserable.”
My lips pull up into a tired smile. “You are too, Abi. You just hide it better than me. We’ll find a way,” I insist.
A deep sigh rolls out of her mouth. “We expected too much, and losing them is the price for… It’s irrelevant. We had to protect them from the Family.”
“Maybe we were wrong. We didn’t treat them as equal partners when we were with them. We put them on a pedestal and decided we knew what was best for them. And maybe we did, but look at them. They’re still alive. Angry but unaware.”
I sway my chin toward the house.
“Let’s get this over with.”
I open the door for Abi, and she wraps her arm around my elbow. When we step inside, our parents greet us, pride etched in their eyes.
“The pride and future of this family,” Felix says.
Abi does a small curtsy, holding an elegant pose before giving air kisses to each of them.
“Look at you two, so beautiful and strong, as if we made them to rule,” her father says next.
Bile rises in my throat. This nonsense grates on my last nerve. Abi sends me a pointed stare.
None of us can afford to make them question our loyalties.
“What is the status of the renovation? They’re working round the clock, right? I don’t want you mingling with the lowlifes for long.”
“We’ll move back in once they’re done,” I say.
“By then the authorities will know what caused the fire. That ‘no foul play’ was too good to be true.”
“Trust me. No one would dare come after us.”
With that conversation over, Abigail chats with our parents at the table while I eat my lobster soup.
“You look tired,” my mother whispers.
I would have burst into laughter, but it would show I care. Which I don’t.
“I have a busy life.”
“Your father told me you want to work at the company.”
I place the spoon down. Turning to her, I offer her my complete attention. What the fuck is up with her?
“I do.”
Her lips purse, nodding, and I just want this night to end.
“We’re thinking of a spring wedding,” Abi’s mother says.
They’re not wasting any time. I take another spoonful, but the delicious taste has turned bitter, making it harder to swallow.
“Perfect. The sooner, the better,” I say.
Just a few months. I have to hurry.
Abi blinks away the panic and locks her hands on her lap, knuckles whitening with anguish.
After an excruciating hour, our parents finally excuse us.
I let out a string of curses once we’re in the car.
“Faking a relationship and an engagement is one thing. But marriage… I can’t do that. I fucking can’t.”
I am already married.
Abi looks outside the window, wearing a resigned look. Her shoulders droop and she remains silent.
I swerve right and stop the car in the middle of the road. Stepping out, I bend over, trying to breathe through the carnage of my mind and heart.
Once I regain composure, I slide back into the driver’s seat and continue driving to Mia and Hunter’s place.
I toss the keys in the bowl on the counter and find Bailey, Mia, and Hunter on the couch, watching a movie.
“Where is Blake?” I ask no one in particular.
He has a tendency to disappear, and I really don’t need to fish him out of whatever illegal fighting party he’s probably at.
Bailey sighs. Mia shakes her head, and Hunter shrugs. “Last time we checked, and that was ten minutes ago, Blake and Celine were still standing.”
“What?”
“They’ve been fighting for the last hour,” Bailey says.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, my tone going up an octave. “And you’re not interrupting them because?”
“We tried,” Hunter grumbles.
I take the stairs two at a time and open the door to the gym. The stench of sweat hits me immediately.
Celine and Blake circle each other. She takes him down in a blur of movement, both of them grinning. Maniacs.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
They crane their neck to me, and Celine says, “Oops, busted. Daddy is here.”
The other idiot throws his head back and starts laughing.
“She might be pregnant. I will kill you if something happens to my baby because of this.”
Blake’s eyes widen, and Celine shoots me a dangerous look.
I drag a hand down my face to get a grip on the violent energy coursing through me.
Celine tilts her head at Blake. “I guess we pick this up later.”
“Just tell me the time and place.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Deal.”
I march to them and put myself between them. “No one is sparring, and you…” I pin Celine with a stare. “Are you really this irresponsible?”
She rolls her eyes at me and flips me the bird.
“Really mature, Celine.”
“Fuck you. Go take care of your fiancée.”
“The wedding is scheduled for this spring.”
She runs out, slamming the door behind her.
I deck Blake in the chin, splitting it.
“What the fuck, man?”
“She’s off limits.”
I shove my hands in my pockets, staring at the door.
“Is it true?” he asks.
“It’s a possibility.”
“Are you mad?”
“When it comes to her, I’m all sorts of things.”
“Have you heard of condoms?”
I gnash my teeth so hard my jaw might crack with the tension. “You don’t get it.”
“You’ll put an even bigger target on her back.”
“And you know this because?”
His brows bunch together, and he avoids looking me in the eye.
“Do you have something to tell me?”
“Are you accusing me of something?”
I drag him by the back of his neck, and our foreheads touch. “You’re my brother. I trust you with my life.”
“The same.”
I walk back to the living room with a nagging feeling that something is not right. Celine is sprawled on the couch beside Mia, with Hunter placing ice packs on her knuckles. The others must be in their respective rooms.
I suppress a smile when he says, “You got him good? Did you use my technique?”
My feet are rooted to the floor, contemplating Celine in her element. She is at ease, smiling genuinely. I ease back, though they can’t see me from this angle.
“You mean the move you stole from me?”
“Take that back.”
Mia says, “You two are acting like kindergartners. And that move is your father’s.”
“Yeah, he kicked my ass that day. Shall we tell him that you’re fucking his enemy’s son?” Hunter taunts.
“I will cut your balls off if you tell him that.”
They continue to bicker, but I can only think of one thing: Mia said father as in Celine’s father. Something’s not right there. I tiptoe up the stairs and take out my laptop.
“I need your help.” I type in the encrypted chat Bailey set up. We can never be sure if someone is watching, so she came up with this.
“What?”
“Get me all you know about the principal of Preston.”
“On it.”
“I’m getting frustrated. It’s been two years, and what do we have to show for it?”
“Financial stability. None of them will be able to track the money I’m wiring into our offshore accounts.”
“Still, I need to move quicker with the plan on how we can disappear and not be found.”
Bailey hacks into my laptop and shows me pictures of Cillian from the past and present. In many there’s also the guy from the gala. While we didn’t meet, there was something about him, that eye color so damn familiar.
“Do a search of the other one as well.”
They must have done something to his face because there are no similarities. But shock makes me mute when she shows me old medical and dental records.
“It’s a match,” she says.
“So he’s been alive all this time.”
“Sebastian came back to get revenge, surely.”
“Let’s pay him a visit.”
I drag up Celine’s last visited address and yank a hoodie from my closet. Putting it on, I run down the stairs.
“Where are you going?” Celine asks.
“Right now? Away from your secretive, lying self.”
I try to sidestep her, but she blocks my way. “I asked you a question.”
“Fine, tell me the truth.”
She opens her mouth but then clamps it shut. So damn stubborn.
Maybe because I am going into the unknown, but I wait, hoping she’ll confide in me. Her fiery eyes lock on mine, and I wrap my arms around her. A simple hug, and she goes from rigid to soft. I love her so damn much. I’d wait a lifetime and beyond for her.
“I am still your friend. That will never stop. That boy who promised you things… who had no idea he couldn’t keep them, will first and foremost be your friend.”
“What are you playing at?”
Her distrust hurts worse than this entire situation. “Test me, then. Fuck knows, it’s everyone’s favorite activity.”
I open the door and shut it. You were the one I thought would be the exception.
In my car, I follow the main road leading away from Greenville. After ten miles, I turn right, driving down a long road until a thick gate appears.
Only two guards roam the perimeter. I park on the other side of the road and slip through the night undetected. I jump over the fence, and alarms go off around me. A few red spots mark my chest. I am impressed by how invisible the guards are.
Two guards wearing all black appear from the shadows. I lift my arms in surrender, and they shove me to the ground, pushing me to my knees.
The door opens, and Sebastian, Celine’s father, and Cillian, Mia and Hunter’s father, appear.
“What is with this ruckus?” Sebastian asks.
“An intruder, sir,” one guard responds.
I jerk my chin up and watch Sebastian watching me.
“But Uncle, since when is your nephew an intruder?”
We’re not blood-related, but in this fucked up Family, these titles are used to show how close we are. What fucking bullshit.
At Cillian’s order, I’m escorted over to them.
Sebastian’s face pales. “Kaden.”
“Thank you for not disrespecting my intelligence by bothering to deny it.”
“How did you figure it out?”
“It was bound to happen. We all have the same strategy. I was just quicker.”
Cillian looks at Sebastian and says, “We can’t have him here nor trust him.”
“I haven’t decided whether or not I can trust him yet.” He waves his men away. “Let’s go to my office.”
I follow them, the tracker embedded in my hoodie. You never know what will happen. I left instructions for Bailey, just in case.
Inside, the house has more of a lodge feel. It’s a wide-open space, with blocks of stones and wood creating a comfortable atmosphere. Sebastian and Cillian take a seat in brown armchairs.
“A drink?” Cillian asks.
“Whatever you’re having.”
We raise our glasses, and Sebastian says, “Now, Kaden, what do you want?”
“I will answer your question if our goals align.” I lean on my knees and continue, “I found you. It’s just a matter of time until the Family finds out. And I would rather kill you than put Celine in danger.”
He taps the arms of his chair. “What do you suggest, then?”
“You haven’t answered. Why did you come back?”
We eye each other in a standoff.
“Why should I trust you?”
“You can trust the person who would die to protect Celine.”
“You also broke her heart.”
“I did it to protect her.”
I take a sip. The alcohol burns down my esophagus, but I invite the strong taste. It does little to suppress my anger. Celine should have had a normal high school experience, not being caught up in this fucked-up web of lies and deceit.
“The Family has to pay for its sins. I plan to restore the old order.”
Power, it’s always about power.
I lean back, a headache throbbing behind my temples. “I will take her far away from here.”
“Celine belongs with her family.”
“I am her family. You only want revenge and power. Quite lackluster, really.”
“Meet the leader of the sixth family, Cillian Prescott.”
Nothing surprises me any longer, but this news is something else.
“We can help each other. I need someone on the inside. Greed has ruined a once thriving organization.”
Good luck. I am fucking done with all things Family related. I just want to take my girl and start living a normal life.
“Deal.”
We shake hands, and he pins me down with a stare I return.
“Kaden?”
“Yes?”
“Stay away from Celine.”
“That I can’t do, sir.”
I salute them, and when I am back in my car, head still reeling with all I’ve uncovered, Bailey’s voice, altered by a voice-changing program to sound robotic, blares through my earpiece.
“That was a bold move.”
“I’m done waiting.”
I speed away. My phone pings with a message from my father-in-law.
I possess methods of torture you don’t even know exist if you betray my trust.
I type a quick reply. And I have means of destruction you won’t see coming if you keep me from Celine.
When I park my car in front of the house, Bailey says, “Your pulse is higher than normal. That means you are under a lot of stress. It might affect your health.”
“Argh. Stop stalking my vital signs. That’s your way of caring for me?”
“I do. I worry.”
“I’m a big boy.”
I end the call and head inside.
In my room, Celine’s scent lingers in the air in subtle notes. I rush into the bathroom and see the necklace gone. I yank at my hair. Fuck!