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Chapter Twenty-Six
KAYCE
And just like that, Rae drops that bomb. The look on Cam’s face says it all. He is grinding his teeth together as he fists his hands at his sides. He wants to snap back with something, but there’s apparently a bit of decent human still in him as he holds back and bites his tongue.
In a huff, he pushes off the counter and storms out of the house. See ya, fucker. Cam really needs to cut the shit and get with the program. Raelyn is here for as long as she wants, and we will protect her.
It’s what I couldn’t do for my mother.
Closing my eyes for a moment, the image of my mother smiling at me is right there. God, how I miss her. She was so loving, so caring, and always looked out for others. But when she disappeared, when she was taken from me, my entire world was turned upside down.
At the time, as an eight-year-old, hearing that your mom was missing was devastating. But then finding out years later that yes, she was missing, but she was also murdered, guts you. I never gave up looking for her. Never.
Even though my grandparents kept me involved in baseball and school activities, I used whatever time I could to look for her.
It was why when I was a senior in high school, I discovered that her body was found, and I was devastated. She was sexually assaulted, and parts of her skin were burned. Whoever kidnapped her had tortured her, her body riddled with cuts and bruises.
And from the time she was murdered to when her body was found, she had just been killed, according to reports. She was alive that entire time, until she was killed.
And they never found her killer.
For the longest time, I blamed myself. She was getting off work early to come see my little league game. If she hadn’t left work early the day she was taken, maybe she would still be alive. She would’ve gotten to see me play professionally.
I would have taken care of her like she had taken care of me.
Maybe that’s why I’m protective of Raelyn. Why I will go to the ends of the earth to take care of her and make her comfortable. To help her in her time of need.
And why it angers me that Cam has been a total asshole to her.
I want to beat him to a bloody pulp.
“Are you okay?” I hear Asher ask her, and I turn to look at Raelyn.
“Um, yeah. No. I don’t know,” she stammers as I walk into the kitchen.
“Do you want to rest?”
“No. I need to get out. I need air. I need space. I’m feeling confined,” she offers honestly. “I-I feel conflicted.”
“What do you mean?” I hear Drew ask her as I take a deep breath.
When I glance back at her, Raelyn runs her fingers through her long brown hair.
“It’s like two of me live inside my body.
I want to run and hide, ignore the world, hope no one sees me.
But the other half, my actual self, is fighting to get back.
With my memories coming back, I feel more like my old self.
It’s conflicting. It’s suffocating. I need to get out. ”
“Then let’s go out.” Tristan stands up. “We can go to the nightclub.”
“The nightclub?” Raelyn repeats, face scrunching in confusion.
“Level Seven,” I respond, and all eyes turn to me. “Tristan’s family owns it. Probably a good place to go. We know the security there, and it’s a safe club. We can even get a private booth.”
“Level Seven…” She hums for a moment. “That name sounds familiar. But I don’t know where I’ve heard it before.”
“It’s pretty popular out here,” Drew answers, glancing between us. “Maybe you heard one of us mention it.” He shrugs.
“Possibly.” Raelyn bites her lip. “Can we get something to eat first?”
“Absolutely. I know of a good restaurant near it.” Drew smiles.
“Vertigo?” I reach into the refrigerator and grab a bottle of water.
I hear Drew call over from the living room to confirm, “Vertigo.”
“What kinda food is there?” Raelyn tilts her head to the side when I walk back over.
“Sushi,” I answer her. One of my favorite foods of all time.
She squints for a moment. “I’ve never had sushi before.”
I chuckle. “Well, you are about to have the best sushi in the world for your first time tonight.” I offer her a wink.
“Guess I’d better go get ready.” Raelyn turns on her heels and heads toward her room.
Once she leaves, I look at Drew. “Dude, what the fuck is with Cam?”
“I was just gonna ask the same thing,” Asher says, leaning back on the couch with a sigh. “His reaction is over the top.”
“He’s pushing her away,” Tristan grunts.
“Yeah, that much is obvious, but why?” Asher runs a hand through his hair.
Drew furrows his brows in thought. “He doesn’t like change. His focus has always been baseball. Not settling down, not family, nothing. Just baseball. Having Raelyn here is a huge change. And he just can’t deal with it.”
“So, he’s what, pushing her away so she will leave? Get tired of his shit and piss her off enough that she just vanishes?” I knock back the water, finishing off what was left in the bottle.
Drew lets out a sigh. “Yep. Pretty sure that’s exactly what he’s doing. Except I think despite her fragile state, Rae is a lot stronger than any of us realize.”
Let’s hope so. Because I don’t think Cam is going to go soft on her anytime soon.
“Wow.” Raelyn gasps as we walk past the bar on the outside of Vertigo, which is packed with people. The bar is decked out in wood planks. A huge tree sits in the center of the bar, where the tree grows and hangs over it all.
“Just wait. The inside of this place is a trip.” Drew holds out his arm and waits for her to cautiously wrap her arm around his.
The restaurant is shrouded in these large structures that explode out of the floor and loop over us, some turning into tables and a sushi bar for people to sit at.
The orange color stands out from the wooden tables and chairs, a stark contrast to the dark floors.
Blues and whites painted on the arcs add a splash of color.
“This place is… wow.” Raelyn looks up at Drew in awe.
He smiles at her. “Wait until you taste the food.”
Once we sit down, we order some oysters for the table and pick out several rolls to share between us all.
“How you doing. Rae?” Drew looks over at her. She is sitting between him and Tristan as Asher and I sit across from them.
“I… uh, I’m fine.” She looks around the restaurant, fiddling with the straw of her Coke Zero.
“What’s wrong?” Drew places a hand on hers.
She blows out a breath. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Try me,” he offers.
“I-I don’t know if it’s still the confusion I have or if it’s real, but I constantly feel like I’m being watched.” She takes a sip of her drink, her hand shaking slightly.
“Well, a lot of people stare at this sexiness, so they are staring. At me.” I give her a wide grin and waggle my eyebrows while flexing my muscles.
She snorts. “Well, you can think that, but I feel it even when I am at the house. And I know that may sound silly, but I just feel the eyes on me all the time. No matter where I go. And maybe it’s just all the stuff I have been through.
Maybe it’s a bit of paranoia with the situation.
I just still feel so uneasy with just… existing. ”
Her lips turn down as she looks down at her hands in her lap.
“Rae, it’s kinda understandable that you are feeling that way.” My lips turn down as I watch her struggle with the everything she is feeling.
“I’ll kill whoever it is,” Tristan grunts out.
“No death is needed,” Drew deadpans at Tristan, then turns to Raelyn. “We won’t let anything happen to you,” he assures her.
She shakes her head. “You couldn’t stop the attack in the bathroom.”
He hasn’t told her yet. I look at Drew, and he purses his lips and shakes his head at me. I do everything I can to keep quiet. All I want to do is open my mouth. I should just tell her. Fuck this waiting bullshit.
Fucking asshole needs to tell her.
But of course, he’s not going to. The letters come for her, and we don’t have a clue as to who they are from.
We can only speculate that they are from the guy who took her, but they give nothing away.
We need to get them to John. We need to tell her that the monster who took her may be lurking in the shadows.
But instead, we sit here, not saying a word.
Instead, we sit here and just keep a closer eye on her, keeping her with one of us as much as possible.
Instead, we just pretend that all is hunky-dory. And it is far from honky-dory.
“Look, we won’t let that happen again,” Drew tries to assure her.
He can’t guarantee that. She was under our nose, and it happened. She has a right to feel as she does. And I thought we could keep her safe, and every bone in my body will fight to keep her safe. Fucking everything. But even I can only do so much.
But I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again.
Raelyn goes to open her mouth, but just then the waitress appears with our food. She sets down countless rolls ranging from Rainbow to Volcano to Snow Crab and more. Even Raelyn looks impressed, taking in the sea of colors on the plates.
Drew stares at me, and I know he is silently begging me not to say anything.
So, I don’t. I keep my very pissed thoughts to myself.
The truth of what Raelyn needs to know.
I shove a roll into my mouth, barely tasting the spicy tuna and crab. I don’t think this is the way we should be handling the surprise we got.
But I got vetoed.
And I have a feeling that veto is going to be a problem for us all.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30 (Reading here)
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38