Page 53 of Laila Manning (Shadeport Crew #3)

“ I don’t understand.” Kade blinked with a blank stare, and I could feel the anxiety radiating from Laila at my side. “What do you mean, welcome home ?”

“We bought this house.” I looked around the expansive kitchen that Laila spent all day organizing with the brand-new appliances and dishes she picked out.

Last week I told her the news, and she had secretly spent all week turning the empty house into a home, worthy of a little boy who never had one.

“And we’re staying here, from now on. We’ll grab everything from the barracks as we go. ”

He looked at Laila and then back to me before glancing around the open living room behind him. “I’m happy for you two.” He said, “But can I still stay at the barracks? Or should I plan to leave there now that you guys are moving out?”

“No, Kade.” Laila rushed on. “We want you to live here, with us.”

“But—” He shook his head, “Don’t you want to be alone?” His eyebrows pinched in the center as he shrugged, “You’ve both been incredibly generous to me and stuff, and I’m grateful. But don’t couples want to be alone to be freaky and stuff?”

I groaned, and Laila blushed.

Walking around the massive island, I pulled a stool out and motioned for Kade to sit as I took the one next to him. “See, the thing about a house this size is there’s plenty of space for all three of us to exist without being on top of each other.”

Kade’s eyes squinted slightly, and I could tell he was weary of openly accepting what we were trying to give him. Which meant I had to come clean with him completely about the circumstances. “There’s something we haven’t told you yet, something I wanted concrete proof of before I opened my mouth.”

“Okay.” He replied hesitantly.

I pulled a photo from my pocket, unfolding the worn paper that I’d stuffed in a safe years ago.

It had felt like a piece of my past at the time, something I didn’t want to think back on.

Yet it had come to be part of my future when I met Kade, even without knowing it.

“This is a picture of me when I was three years old.” I said, forcing myself to be brave.

“It’s the only picture I have of my mother. ”

I laid the picture down and slid it across the marble countertop to him, watching his face as he picked it up and stared at it.

“Does she look familiar to you, Kade?” Laila asked gently, leaning over the counter with her hands laced together.

“I don’t understand.” He shook his head gently. “She looks like my mom.”

“She does.” I nodded, “Because it is. She was just a lot younger in this picture.” His icy blue eyes snapped to mine, and I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to offer him something akin to comfort as I told him the news.

“I hadn’t seen her for almost fifteen years before that day at the restaurant.

But it didn’t matter, it’s hard to forget the face of the woman who chose everyone in the world over you, even decades later.

Even as a grown man that no longer needs her. ”

“You’re my—” He stumbled, so I caught him.

“Half-brother.” I finished, fighting the emotions of claiming the only blood relative I knew of besides our mother.

“She was only thirteen when she had me. And I was already a grown man when she had you.” Taking a deep breath, I went on, “I had no idea that you existed, Kade. I walked away from her when I was your age. I ran for my life from the abuse and drugs she exposed me to, and I never looked back. But had I known about you—” My voice broke as his eyes teared up.

“I would have saved you far earlier than I did. I would have taken you from her had I known, Kade. I’m sorry that I didn’t.

I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you. ”

“You’re my brother.” Kade whispered as he took a shuttering breath. Turning to look at Laila he shook his head dumbfounded. “Did you know when we met?”

“No.” Laila whispered with teary eyes. “But I don’t doubt for one second that it was why I was so drawn to you, even without knowing why. I think God put me in your path that day for a reason.”

Kade crumbled in bewilderment, trying to process it all before he scowled and looked at me. “You said you weren’t going to say anything until you knew for sure. You know for sure?”

“I do.” I pulled the other folded paper from my pocket and opened it up, pointing to the DNA results I ordered, using samples taken from Kade’s check-up with the doctor Ryker hired to treat him after his kidnapping.

“There’s the proof, though it would be impossible to ignore our similarities now that I know. ”

“You have the same eyes.” Laila smiled.

“And the same stubborn pigheadedness.” I added.

Kade smiled gently, warming up to the idea. “And good looks. ”

Laila let out a relieved chuckle, “And we can’t forget the dry humor.”

Kade and I both let out a scoff and then laughed before I pushed on. “You may be my brother, Kade, but if you don’t object, I’d like to be more than that to you.”

“What do you mean?” he asked cautiously.

“We’d like to adopt you.” Laila added, walking around the island to stand between us, holding my hand in hers and taking his. “We’d like to give you a forever home with us. Legally.”

“Forever.” He whispered and then let out an enormous sigh. “Are you sure? I’m kind of a pain in the ass.”

Laila pulled him into a massive hug, and I stood up, wrapping them both up in my arms with a chuckle. “Really? We hadn’t noticed.”