Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Steele chanced them a look, hesitating before his head hung down again. “Yeah,” he said it almost as softly as Samantha. His eyes remained on her, a wall in place between them.
I watched in real time as my wife fell in love.
She’d reached out a hand to him, but seeing the distance he put between them, she blinked, her eyes shining with unshed tears, and let her hand fall. She swallowed tightly. “I—Steele?”
He blinked rapidly a few times, his own Adam’s apple moving up and down. He drew in some air, readying himself. “It’s my nickname. I—” His gaze swung to his friends, his mouth flattening before curving down. “They didn’t know. I…” His eyebrows pulled together again, his gaze swinging my way. “You knew.”
I raised my own eyebrow because this little prick had the balls to sound accusatory to me. “I know everything. You tell her the rest, now.”
Sam drew in more air, her chest rising and holding. She was preparing herself for what was still to come.
Just then, we heard a crash upstairs, followed by a door opening. One set of feet pounded the hallway. A second set of feet pounded after, until—thud. Thump.
Maddy yelled, “Ow! Fucker.”
Max grunted. “You need to give them time. Jesus, Mads.”
Her voice went low, but we could still hear it. “If you don’t let me go, I swear to God, Max, I’m going to do permanent damage to your dick.”
Enough was enough. I went to the stairs and shouted, “Logan Malinda Kade.”
They fell quiet. The sounds of their wrestling ceased.
“Dad, I—”
“We are figuring some shit out. Go to your room and wait.”
Thunk.
Max groaned.
“Do not hurt Max’s—any body part of his. Just go to your room.”
“But, Dad—”
“We will read you in when we know everything ourselves. Until then, go to your room.”
They were quiet again, until Maddy began whispering.
“What? No, Mads. Do what he said. I mean—”
She whispered again, more fervently.
Max fell quiet.
She raised her voice, “Okay, Dad! We’re going to my room. We’ll have the door closed so no worries about the loudness of your voices. We won’t hear a thing.” To Max, we could hear her hiss, “Come on! Let’s go.”
He groaned again, but their feet faded, going in the direction of Maddy’s bedroom.
I met Sam’s gaze and saw some dark amusement pooling in them. Some of the stress in me lifted, just slightly. She didn’t know everything. When she did, that amusement would be gone and I didn’t know when it would come back again, but I was grateful to my daughter for putting it there now. Only if it was going to be a short time.
Sam and I shared a look, on the same wavelength. Sam said, “You know she’s going to—”
I nodded, already moving. “Go around to the back end of the house and sneak downstairs, where they can overhear us. Let’s move this to the study.”
I led the way.
The boys followed next with Sam bringing up the rear. She and Steele kept sneaking looks at the other.
Beltraine joked as we went inside, his voice strained, “You guys have a study? And I thought we were rich.”
No one laughed.
He grimaced. “Tough crowd.”
“It’s not fucking funny, Traine. Shit. Are you listening to what’s happening?” Axel exploded, his arm thrust out toward Steele. “Fucking Steele’s been lying to us this whole time.”
Beltraine grimaced again, but this time there was some guilt mixed in. His eyes shot to where Steele had braked.
Axel saw the look. His arm dropped dramatically and he squared up against his friend. “You knew? You fucking knew?”
Beltaine shared another look with Steele before opening his mouth, but nothing came out. He cringed, before closing it back up. He shrugged, admonishing, “I…”
Sam closed the door, but she didn’t move far from it. Her back was to it, and she stood there as if she were barring anyone from leaving or entering. I tried to get a feel on what was going on with her, but she wasn’t letting me. Her eyes were heavy, some sadness shone out, but that was it. She wasn’t closed off, but she wasn’t meeting my gaze either.
Steele interjected, raspy until he coughed to clear his voice, “He didn’t know the specifics, but he just knew I wasn’t being on the up and up for why I’m here.”
“Why are you here?” Sam asked quickly. Clearly. Her gaze was only on her brother.
“I…” He trailed off, flinching before raking a hand through his hair.
There was a lot of that happening. A lot of people not finishing their statements. A lot of grimacing. A lot of fucking lies that needed to be out, and the sooner the better.
I growled, bringing all attention to me. “Drop the act. You come clean now, or I swear to God, kid, I’ll do it for you. I’ve got a feeling you’ll appreciate if you say the words first. You hear me?”