Exhaustion had me wanting to crawl directly back into my bed, which seemed like some kind of oxymoron considering my bed hadn’t brought any reprieve.
Only thing I’d done was toss in it all night.
Guts tied up with themistakethat I had made. Thoughts hooked on a woman who I’d stashed across the property, thinking her presence wouldn’t have a whole lot of effect on me.
Fat fucking chance.
I should have known things had taken a sharp turn south when I nearly panicked when the notification blipped on my phone that she’d slinked out of her room. Should have known I was traversing treacherous ground when I’d diverged course and made a beeline toward the clubhouse.
Figuring I’d cut her off at the pass if she thought she was going to run because that bullshit wasn’t gonna fly on my watch.
Only I found her sneaking along the edge of the building like some kind of cat burglar five seconds from falling into a trap.
Thinking she was all kinds of sly and stealthy when she was precisely five point two seconds from stumbling into debauchery.
And if she wasn’t careful, thatdebaucherywas gonna be me.
A peal of laughter reverberated the walls of the house, and I blew out a sigh and forced myself to keep moving.
We’d only been living here three months. The house was large, fitting for all of us. Nice but nothing fancy. The entire thing was painted cream with white molding, except for a few walls that had floral wallpaper.
A bit old lady, but hell, I figured it suited the situation just fine.
I hit the bottom landing and hooked a right through the archway that led into the kitchen.
My eyes took in the scene.
On the far-left side of the room, beyond the long counter that separated the space into two sections, my grandmother stood at the stove, and my sister was chopping something at the counter next to her.
Their laughter rolled as they bantered and teased.
On this side of the counter was a small circular table tucked into the right corner of the room.
Large enough to seat us all but small enough that when we gathered, it was cramped.
My gaze kept traveling, right to the kid who was buckled in his highchair next to the table.
“Siwas, you wake up?” Kai scrunched up his adorable button nose when he saw me standing at the squared entryway. The kid holding an orange slice without the rind on it in both hands, smashing it to smithereens.
Juice dribbled down his dimpled chin.
My chest tightened at the sight. Wasn’t sure how looking at a single person could cause so much terror and joy.
Golden brown hair a smidge lighter than mine and eyes the same hazel as the rest of ours.
Bare, chubby feet hung out from under the highchair tray, his face full of the type of happiness I was terrified could ever fully reach fruition.
Rage burned in my guts while the loyalty glowed bright.
I was going to see to it that he did reach it. I was going to see that this threat was crushed. See to it that he didn’t have to live through the same type of torment the rest of us had.
Unfortunately, the way I normallycrusheddidn’t seem that prudent of an idea, though there was a part of me that thought it might be for the better.
Part of me thinking it would be worth shredding my last bit of humanity.
“I sure did,” I told him, my words twisted into something soft.
He beamed, his little mouth curled into a precious smile as he stretched out his arm, the orange slice offered in his hand. “You bite?”
