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Page 82 of Invisible String (The Underground #1)

“I’m glad you joined us, Max,” Jenna says, looking at Rainey and me.

It’s hard to sit here knowing the secrets from the past. And Rainey is clueless about it all.

I don’t understand how they lied to their daughter.

I’m uncertain what they have told her about the life she doesn’t remember.

What Rainey has told me is that she’s had a great upbringing.

I’ve asked her about her as a small child.

She says she remembers going on family vacations.

I asked just to get an idea of what Collins drilled in her head.

“Thank you for having me.”

“I’m happy you’re making my Rainey happy.” Jenna’s voice is soft and with a touch of a motherly embrace. Something tells me Rowan is the one behind the lies he keeps from Rainey.

Rainey excuses herself to the restroom. My gaze goes to Jenna. “Thank you for inviting me. But, Jenna, why doesn’t she know? Why lie to her?”

She is silent for some time, like she’s holding something back and can’t say it. I keep quiet.

She finally answers me. “It just hasn’t been the right time. Rowan…” She shakes her head. “It just hasn’t been the right time.”

I nod. She’s twenty-one, and there have been several times they could have told her.

“I understand,” I simply say. Jenna is a sweet woman, and I can see how she peers at Rainey like she’s her pride and joy.

I’m glad she has that. I’m glad Rainey was fortunate to find a loving home.

Despite the betrayal, she’s taken care of.

In no time, I know Rowan will be showing up.

The memories of that night with Jenna and Rainey ring in my ears. She was a kind woman.

A wave of frustration surges through Rainey, causing her brow to furrow and her lips to press into a thin line. In a sudden burst of irritation, she swings her hand down sharply, her palm connecting with her knee with a resounding slap, the sting echoing her inner turmoil.

“How dare they do this to me? I’m twenty-five fucking years old.

It’s not up to them to decide if you’re a trigger or not, or if I want to know about my birth parents.

They should have told me at least when I became a teen.

My parents didn’t abandon me. They fucking died.

You shouldn’t have been mistreated, threatened, and manipulated by Rowan.

It was my decision,” she bellows, then stands and kicks an empty box in the room.

Rainey’s warm hands intertwine with mine. I take her downstairs, then to the backyard of my house.

“What are we doing?”

“Hitting the bags.” I made my pool house a mini gym with a ring and punching bags. “You need to relieve all the aggravation you have,” I tell her. “Growing up, that’s what helped me.”

Going through the pile of gloves, I look for the smaller ones I had that will fit her.

“Hands out, sunshine.” My eyes widen when I see her sniffle. “Okay, we don’t have to.”

“No, I want to. It’s not that. It’s that I see it now. You spent years trying to regain my memory. Sunshine, Twizzlers, Daisy. You bought me a dog, for God’s sake. Then you danced with me at the gala to the same song.” Rainey throws her arms around my waist. “I don’t deserve you.”

“ Amor mío, look at me?”

Her glassy brown eyes shine.

“It’s me who doesn’t deserve you. You deserve the world, and I’ll make sure you get just that. For now, let’s get these gloves on. Release every emotion on here.” I point to the bag.

Once I secure the boxing gloves onto Rainey’s hands, I position myself behind her, gently guiding her shoulders to square up.

Her feet shuffle into place as I adjust her stance, ensuring one foot is slightly ahead of the other for balance.

I demonstrate how to bend her knees just a touch and keep her fists up, protecting her face.

She punches the bag while I hold it slightly, so it doesn’t come back and knock her out.

This might not be the time to say it, but she looks so damn cute hitting the bags. Her nose is scrunched up like an angry kitten. “That’s my girl. Let it out.”

She grunts with each punch. “I love you, Mom, but how dare you not tell me the truth? How dare you keep it from me?” Hit.

“I’m grateful I had two moms who loved me.

” Hit. “As a mother, you should have told me. I had a mother who died and a father.” Hit.

“You knew Max. You knew I loved him, and you still betrayed me by not telling me.” Hit.

“I thought we were close. You should have told me on your deathbed,” she cries out.

Sweat covers her face. Rainey bends at the waist, gasping for air.

My arms gently wrap around her waist, hosting her up.

“Come on, let’s take a break.”

She shakes her head stubbornly. “In the ring.” Her voice is choppy as she catches her breath.

I raise a brow. “You want to fight in the ring, amor ?”

“I do.”

“Okay, so you want to hit me? Sure, baby, take your aggression out on me.”

“No, let’s use those punching mitts you use.”

Stepping back, I get them then and lift the rope for Rainey to get in. “Alright, sunshine, remember your stance.”

She’s a fucking natural. Her feet shuffle back and forth, dancing in a perfect rhythm.

“That’s it. You got it.”

“I’m so mad at you, Dad. You’re making it easy to hate you.

You might have saved me from further abuse.

How dare you hurt Mom.” Double punch. “I understand now why I never fit in. I felt it in my heart. I’m not like you.

I don’t discriminate against people based on their wealth like you do.

” Her punches hit in pure range. “You wanted to take the best thing in my life. The only person who knows the two versions of myself. I hate you. I hate you, Dad.”

I open my arms so she can fall into them. She backs me into the corner of the ring.

We stay like that for a while until she controls her emotions. My fingers caress her back soothingly. The softness of her bare skin feels good on my fingertips with the tank top she’s wearing.

Minutes later, she glances up at me. Rainey’s wet eyelashes flutter. “Did it help?” I ask.

“Yes, it helped a little.”

I wipe her tears with the pad of my thumb. She lays her head back on my chest, and I continue to soothe her back. We stay like this for five minutes or so until she feels slightly better.

“Max?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Will you kiss me, please?”

I’m taken aback. She’s never pleaded for a kiss. Asked? Yes, but never a please at the end.

“ Mi amor , you never have to ask or beg. You just take. I always want your lips all over mine.”

Her lips curve. I know it’s hard for her to smile right now with all this new information.

I bend to her and take her lips on mine.

Soft and sweet, like always. Our tongues dance in a passionate rhythm.

Sucking on her tongue always makes her a little wild.

Rainey climbs her legs until she gets to my waist and wraps them around me.

My body always reacts to her. I know now is not the time to get hard, but when it comes to my sunshine, even eye fucking her turns me to steel.

We kiss for I don’t know how long. Our lips are locked, and if this is what she wants and needs to distract herself, I’ll do it.

“I love you. Always know that,” she breathes.

I tilt my head at her and wonder what’s going on in her head. “I love you, too,” I say cautiously. “How about we shower and feed you? Yeah?”

“Food sounds good… Do you still have the stuff I left by chance? You know, like the photo album?”

“Yeah, I do. How about I get everything out after we eat?”

She nods. I take her hand in mine.

It’s a lot for Rainey to absorb, not something that a person gets over in days or weeks. She’s Sol, but she’s also Rainey. She forgot a crucial part of her life.

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