Page 91

16 Years Old

Zadom

I sit and watch my sister as she giggles and runs away from Kyro and Lynx. I’m surprised our dads let her step foot outside in that bikini. It’s almost winter, but we have an indoor pool now that Creed had the back area enclosed with a roof that opens for hot days.

I smirk when she sidesteps Kyro and pushes him into the pool. Almost a year ago, I lost my mind and blurted out the insanely weird feelings I have for my sister. I know it has something to do with being genetically created. I’m sixteen years old and gravitate to my sister’s room every night, unable to sleep unless I know she is safe and near. Mum says it’s been like that since the day we were born. It doesn’t make it any less weird, but the number of kids I have fucked up over it is costing my parents a fortune in plastic surgery bills.

My jaw clenches when I see Lynx pick Zhavia up from behind and spin her around. Logically, I know they will all end up together. Just like our mum and dads. Nothing I do or say can stop it. It doesn’t make it any less painful.

“Still jealous of those dipshits macking on our sister?” Kenji asks, flopping down beside me. The little shit stirrer is two years younger than me, and if he wasn’t blood, I wouldn’t like him. I love him, but he is annoying as fuck.

“Fuck off, I’m not jealous,” I snap.

“Sure, you’re not. Have you even considered that you are? Not for the weird, pervy way you feel about her, but because your entire team will be fucking, and you can’t be involved in that? Even our parents don’t know how that feels.”

Maybe he has a point. Not about the fucking, because I know for a fact that hasn’t happened yet. But she has always relied on me, and now she gravitates towards them, and that’s a hard pill to swallow not being needed anymore.

“You know, if you went to see the school counsellor like you’re supposed to, maybe you could work this shit out.”

“Maybe you should focus on your own team instead of mine,”I retort.

Kenji scoffs at me. “I’m fourteen. I have plenty of time, plus I’m not the lone wolf in my team. We all know the drill.”

“She still hates you though,” I throw back.

“For now. It’s only a matter of time before she can no longer resist all of this.”

He gestures to his six-pack. The asshole is tanned as fuck, with sandy-blond hair and the same aqua eyes as Zhavia. I hear the younger girls at school call him a walking wet dream.

I push up from the spot I’m sitting in. Having had enough of this conversation, I leave my brother to watch our sister being chased around by four guys.

Walking inside, I hear the hum of really old pop rock and head in the direction of Dad’s studio. I turn the handle and push the door open. A woman in her late twenties, at best, pulls her pants up and fastens the buttons.

“I wouldn’t let Mum see that,” I say, jutting my chin in her direction. “She has been awfully stabby the last few days.”

Kai laughs, but he knows I’m not lying.

“Thanks again, Kai. You killed it,”she says.

Dad pushes back on his rolling stool and grabs something off his table and throws it in her direction. “Don’t forget to use that.”

She catches the small tube of cream and nods.

“What’s up?” Dad asks, and I shrug. I love art as much as he does—it must be in our blood.

“Do you ever feel like everything is moving forward, but you’re just sitting stationary?”

“When I was your age, probably. Sixteen is a rough age. Maybe it’s time to get a girlfriend. We have lots of students not in teams.”

“I know it’s hard to believe, but girls don’t exactly throw themselves at me. That’s more Kenji’s domain.”

As I look around the room at the artwork lining the walls, I can only hope I’m as talented as him one day.

“I was looking through your sketchbook earlier—you have some wicked designs in there.”He stands and walks over to a set of drawers and pulls the bottom one open and pulls out my sketchbook, or one of many. I like to sit in here and imagine what it would be like to have clients. So far, Dad has let me tattoo him and my other dads. I’m getting good, but I’m not at his level and probably never will be.

“Thanks.”

“This rose has some amazing details,” he says, opening the page to the tattoo I designed for myself. Zhavia’s middle name is Hana, as in flower. I have given her yellow roses every year for our birthday.

“Do you want me to tattoo it on you?” he asks, and I raise a brow at him. Mum has forbidden us from getting tattoos.

“What about Mum?” I ask. I don’t need to be on the receiving end of her wrath again this week.

“Let me worry about her. You’re sixteen now, and this tattoo is for your sister, right?”

I nod. She is the most important person to me in the entire world and always will be, thanks to our genetics. That’s also why I have never even bothered with girls at school. They wouldn’t be able to handle taking second place to my sister.

He gets me to sit in the chair after he cleans and wraps it, and I wait while he gets the stencil ready.

“Where’s this bad boy going?” he asks, sliding over to my side on his chair.

“On the inside of my arm.” I point to the space between my wrist and elbow.

Watching the way he works, I have always been mesmerised by his talent. While I know Chester is amazing, he has some weird kink when it comes to doing tattoos and so stopped after Mum and Creed. He says he doesn’t miss it, but he still occasionally will sit and draw portraits of Mum or us kids. But tattooing is a thing of the past for him.

It takes Dad no longer than an hour to finish up, and I’m staring down at my own design, freshly tattooed on my skin. It’s perfect. He even added mine and Zhavia’s birthday in the design.

“You know,” he says, “I try to stay out of certain aspects of your life and let you figure it out on your own, but here’s a little advice from your old man. Don’t shy away from the love you have for your sister. You were designed to be her protector.”

“She has the rest of the team.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Their love for her will be selfish, but you don’t have to worry about hormones or any of that. You won’t be blinded by lust. And that is a powerful tool. Also, you will be in charge of those boys and have to keep them in line. Your part in the team is the most important.”

“I never thought about it like that before. When did you get so wise?” I ask with a chuckle.

“It was all downhill after I turned thirty—I just keep getting wiser every year. No, seriously, it’s our downfall with your mother. We love her so much we are blinded by it. It’s why we have had handlers for your team since you were born. Even though we would protect you with our lives, we couldn’t risk what we would do if we had to choose you kids or her. Every fibre of our beings would want to save her because it’s in our biological makeup. And sometimes you need someone who will make the hard decisions. So, as much as you hate Team Swift Six, they are there to do what we might not be able to do. Even though you do questionable things to each other, they will always choose you and your sister over us.”

“Thanks, Dad, that really helps.” He pulls me into a hug, and I wrap an arm around his neck. I’m finally taller than him and Case. Not that it was that hard; they are the shortest of my dads. I’m not quite as tall as Laughn or Marlow yet, though.

Petra sends an alert through our phones that she has made food. Mum has tried to force her to retire, but she refuses. Mum even hired a new housekeeper to take on that role, but Petra still cooks for us kids—it was a compromise, since we’re only home on weekends and holidays, anyway.

Dad stays in his studio, and I head down to the kitchen, excited to show Zhavia my tattoo. I already know she will march upstairs and demand Dad give her one. Except I have heard her talk about her ideas, and she will regret ninety percent of them.

I stride into the kitchen, and the entire team is already there. It’s like they don’t have their own parents’ houses to stay at.

“Something smells good, Miss P,” Kyro says, leaning over the kitchen bench, trying to see what she is about to pull out of the oven.

“Go take a seat, boy, before you get burnt,” she chastises.

I walk over and take my seat, used to how dinners in my house go.

“Holy shit, it’s about time,” Hayes says, looking at my cling-wrapped arm. He already has a heap, as his parents don’t care if he has tattoos, and it’s the same for Kyro.

“About time, what?” Zhavia asks, leaning across the table to see what we are talking about. She gasps.

“How did you get that?” she asks.

“Dad. He said I was old enough.”

“Oh, did he? It looks like I have some serious words for him,” she declares.

“It’s Kai, just turn on the waterworks and he will cave,” Cruze says with a laugh.

“Who is caving?” Mum asks, walking into the kitchen.

My heart jumps straight into my throat, and I give everyone a warning look, but clearly Kyro is a moron.

“Kai. He gave Zadom a tat. It’s about time.”

I look up at Mum, and she nods her head. I push my chair back, letting it scrape across the black tiles before I stand, throwing Kyro a fuck you glare, and he just smirks.

She holds out her hand, and I place my arm in it. She lifts the cling film and just nods before pulling me out of the kitchen and through to the foyer.

“Kai Andrew Chambers, you better get your ass here right now!” she yells, her voice bouncing off the walls.

Kai is the slowest of my parents—he seriously acts like he has all the time in the world—yet he appears just like magic when he has been middle named. He knows he is in serious shit.

“Wildflower, I can explain.”

“I’m going to kick your ass,” she throws at him, and he smiles. Gross.

“Is that a threat or a promise? Because both options work for me,” he jokes.

“Office, now ,” she demands, and turns her back on him, heading towards the hall to the office.

Kai slowly follows Mum, winking at me as he passes. Thank God he has to deal with her first. It will soften the blow when it’s my turn because she will say I know better. All in all, she is a cool mum, but she can be strict when she needs to be. I just hope Dad makes it through the next few minutes. If not, he brought it on himself, saying he would deal with it. He is the grown-up, and that’s the argument I plan to go with.