Page 142 of To Tango, with Desire

“You’re wrong. You got—”

“Fifty-fifty. Read the fucking will, Zane. After all the shit I covered up for that bastard, he only left me with half.”

The will. I’d assumed it had all gone to Kade. Fuck, I hadn’t thought—

“You made it seem like you were the sole beneficiary. Why? You knew this would come out eventually.”

Kade shrugged. “Yeah well. Had to have my pride, Zaney boy. And you dodging the executor made it easy.” He threw his arm over my shoulders. I could smell his sweat, the acrid sourness of booze and drugs. “After all, my dad fucked me over from the grave. I covered for him so many fucking times and this is how he repays me. When he cheated on your mom, I made sure nobody knew a thing.”

I jerked away. “What the fuck, Kade? That’s not funny.”

“Dear old Dad couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. Went and fucked everything that moved. Why do you think my mom killed herself? Couldn’t fucking handle the pain.”

“Stop—” Amira cut in.

“No, he needs to hear the truth.” Kade grew serious, his eyes hard. “The day your mom died, she found him fucking a maid.”

“Bullshit.”

“Kade, enough,” Amira insisted. But he was unheeding of her attempts to silence him. And every word that came out of his mouth was a death knell.

“Stop trying to shut me up, woman! You were the one who told me to confess. So here I am, confessing!”

A cold chill ran down the back of my spine. I turned to Amira.

“You knew?”

The guilty look on her face was unexpected and so fucking painful, I couldn’t seem to breathe. “You knew and didn’t tell me?”

Amira’s mouth opened, but she remained silent.

“Amira? Answer me! You knew Omar cheated on my mother?”

“I— He told me in confidence and I—”

“In confidence?” My blood boiled. “I’m your husband! If there should be anyone you’re confiding in, it’s me.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to up—”

“Not her fault, Zaney boy.” Kade clapped me on the back. It took all my effort not to punch him in the face. I knew Amira wouldn’t have liked keeping secrets from me, but I was so angry I couldn’t seem to think straight. “I was upset.” Kade pouted again. “Amira was just cheering me up, giving me some solid advice. Not her fault you’re fucking hard to talk to. Shit, bro, I been keeping this secret for decades.”

“You’re a fucking liar.” I stepped back. “Omar loved my mother. He took care of her.”

“First step is denial. I get it. Omar was like some fucking saint to you. But he was a monster. A narcissist. Didn’t do anything altruistic unless it helped his image. Seems he had a thing for maids—”

I lunged at him, but Amira dashed between us, pressing me back.

“You fucking disgust me!” I roared.

“My dear ol’ dead dad was the disgusting one.” Kade puffed at his cigarette, lurching. “He loved having power over those poor women. And I was there to clean up the fucking mess. You know that’s why she had a heart attack that day, right? It was all his fault. And you know what dear ol’ Dad did?” Kade’s eyes turned distant. “He bribed me to go after her. To smooth it all over. He didn’t want her blabbing, you see?”

“Liar.” My voice shook.

Kade pressed on. “I was the one who found her, remember? I called you.”

“No.” Ice-cold dread trickled through my anger now. “You were coming over to see me. Not because—”

“I found her dying. Half-conscious, slumped over a breakup note she was writing.”