36. Jude #3
She jumps to her feet, holding her arms up in the air. She’s the only one who doesn’t seem to notice the temperature dropping a couple of degrees as Sullivan marches into the room.
They are so alike now that Slade’s had his hair cut and shaved off his stubble.
It’s almost unnerving. Slade’s hair is still longer, though.
And I was right when I thought Sullivan looked leaner in the magazine article.
He’s all clean lines. Navy suit, razor-sharp jaw, laser-focused eyes, assessing me as I cling to Slade.
Slade’s broader, less harsh, like his edges have been blurred. A sunset over water, all the colors beautifully blending into one another to make something breathtaking.
Sullivan scoops Molly up, his hardened expression melting into a startlingly beautiful smile as he presses a kiss to her cheek. “You okay, Sweetheart?”
“Play babies?” she asks.
His eyes glue onto Slade’s and something about the way he’s looking at him has me fidgeting uncomfortably.
“Daddy will play in a minute. I need to talk to Slade first.”
“Uncle Shade,” Molly says, beaming at us.
She says it with such a tender innocence that I can’t stop the shock from bubbling from me in a surprised giggle.
“Yeah. She calls me Uncle ‘Shade’,” Slade says, his voice full of adoration.
I gaze at him. He’s looking at Molly with what can only be described as complete besottedness. He clearly loves her already.
“Sounds kind of like shadow,” I say.
His eyes crinkle, still fixed on Molly. “I know, but I like it.”
Sullivan walks over and passes Molly to Tate. He flicks his eyes in my direction more out of necessity than interest.
“Jude,” he clips. “May I have a moment with my brother alone?”
It’s not a question; despite the polite way it’s phrased.
Slade squeezes my hip, then slides his arm from around me.
“You look like you could do with a drink. Coffee? Or something stronger?” Tate smiles at me as she ushers me away.
She leads me to the open-plan kitchen area, and I look back, searching for Slade, but he and Sullivan have already left the room.
Placing Molly on the counter, Tate bops her on the nose. “No wriggly foxes, okay? I don’t want you falling off.”
Molly nods seriously and sits statue-still as Tate gestures to the coffee machine.
“Please,” I answer gratefully.
She flicks it on, then turns to me, leaning back against the counter. “It’s a lot to take in. I felt like that meeting everyone, and that was under normal circumstances.”
“Yeah, this certainly isn’t… normal.”
She gives me a kind smile. “It’s not. But the main thing is he’s back. The rest will sort itself out.”
“I agree with Tate. I can feel it. Have faith,” Halliday adds, appearing beside me.
I try to smile at her, but I know it’s wobbly and unsure and probably looks more like a grimace.
“You got any of those delicious gingerbread left, Molly?” Halliday asks.
Molly nods slowly, making sure she doesn’t move another inch of her body. Tate laughs and grabs a container from the counter, peeling off the lid.
“You did an excellent job, Molly,” she tells her as she offers Halliday, then me one of the cookies.
I decline, unable to stomach anything, even though the decorated people look delicious. Each one has a different animal onesie iced onto it.
Halliday bites into one dressed as a ladybug and groans in delight. “These are so good. This baby is going to come out demanding gingerbread.”
Tate slides a coffee to me over the counter, then lifts Molly into her arms.
“Sullivan hides his heartbreak behind harsh words, but he loves him. It’s why this has hit him so hard. I didn’t meet him until a while after it happened, but he told me he was in darkness for a long time,” she says.
Tate’s words have me pulling in a breath. She knew I was sitting here worrying about what Slade and Sullivan are doing right now. The concern must be painted all over my face.
“Slade was in darkness too,” I say, unable to hold back. “Except, he had no one.”
“That’s not true,” Halliday says softly. “He had you, Jude.”
“Yeah, he did,” Tate agrees, sharing a smile with Halliday.
I look at them both, my eyes filling with unshed tears. They’re both beautiful women, unique in their own ways. But one thing they share—a genuine love and respect for one another. It flows from them in waves, warming the air around them.
But they’re wrong if they think anything about this has been anything less than horrific for Slade.
“We only met recently,” I tell them. “Before that, he was alone. He was—”
“How the fuck could you?”
The hairs on the back of my neck spring to attention at the sudden shout.
“It has to happen sooner or later,” Halliday says. Her eyes pinch as a giant crash rings out, as if someone’s thrown something in another room.
“Want to watch that fox cub video on my phone?” Tate asks Molly, pulling her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and turning the sound up as a video plays.
“They’ll be fine, leave them to it,” she adds, looking at me.
Another crash blares out and I rush across the room, ignoring everyone as their heads whip in my direction.
I follow the hallway where the rage-filled yell came from. My heart hammers as another shout spills from an open doorway.
“You’re so goddamn selfish!”
I swerve around the doorway, rushing into the room just in time to see Sullivan hurl something against the wall. It smashes into pieces. He turns back and advances on Slade who’s standing his ground, glaring at his older brother.
I see red.
I storm into the gap between them, throwing myself in front of Slade like a shield.
“Back the fuck up!” I yell.
Sullivan slams to a halt, his head snapping back in shock.
“How dare you!” I scream, not caring who hears me. “You deserted him! His own family. You turned your back on him. You think that was protecting him? You left him alone! And you’re the one calling him selfish.”
It takes everything in me not to step forward and hit Sullivan across his perfect jaw. The fact he looks so much like Slade is the only thing stopping me.
“What did you just say to me?” Sullivan steps closer, his eyes hardening like piercing daggers.
Slade steps forward, pushing an arm across my body as he moves in front of me. “Take another step toward her, Brother, and you’ll regret it.”
Cold blue eyes narrow at me before Sullivan redirects his wrath back to Slade once more.
“You’d know all about regret, wouldn’t you, Brother?” He sneers. “You’re the king of monumental fucking mistakes. You have no idea what you did to us all that day, do you?”
His eyes drop over Slade in disgust.
“Of course you wouldn’t. You’ve been living it up on a beach somewhere, working on your tan.” His eyes slide to mine, and his lips curl into a sneer. “And being every woman’s vacation fuck.”
I lunge forward but I’m beaten to it.
Slade’s fist connects with Sullivan’s cheek with a bone-crunching crack.
A scream pierces the air from the doorway as Sinclair rushes to Sullivan. He waves her away, wiping beneath his nose where a trail of blood is snaking to his lip.
“It’s fine, Sis,” he says, his eyes pinned on Slade with a menacing calmness like he wanted him to hit him. “Just brothers getting reacquainted, that’s all.”