Page 25

CHAPTER 25

Raven

I don’t hesitate. Not even for a second.

The moment I step out of the bathroom, I march straight to the bed, phone tight in my grip, and shake Malakai awake.

"Wake up." My voice is sharp, demanding, furious, and desperate all at once.

He grunts, barely stirring, one arm slung over his face. "The fuck, Lamb?—"

"Wake. Up."

I yank the sheet off of him, and that finally does it. He sits up fast, blinking, his green eyes hazy with sleep but already narrowing the second he registers the rage on my face.

"What the hell is your problem?" he rasps, voice gravelly from sleep, but I’m not distracted. Not by the way his tattooed chest flexes as he stretches or the way his hair is a mess from my fingers pulling at it earlier.

None of that matters.

Because I know his secret now.

And I want answers.

I shove his phone at him. "What the fuck is this, Malakai?"

His gaze drops, and the second he sees the screen, everything shifts.

His entire posture changes.

The sleep, the laziness, the I’m always in control attitude?

Gone.

Because he knows.

He knows exactly what I found.

His expression shutters, his jaw locking, his fingers twitching against his sheets like he’s already deciding whether or not to lie to me.

"Don’t even think about it," I snap, stepping closer. "I unlocked your phone. I saw the messages. I saw the pictures. I saw the fucking bank transactions, Malakai."

His nostrils flare, but he doesn’t say a word.

I shove a hand through my hair, pacing now, because my entire world has just been tilted sideways.

"You've been taking money from Alex’s father?" My voice is shaking, half from anger, half from the sheer weight of this revelation. "You and Alex—you're not just rivals, are you? There’s something more there. Something you're hiding. So tell me."

Silence.

Then, finally, Malakai sighs, dragging a hand down his face before swinging his legs over the side of the bed, planting his feet on the floor.

When he looks up at me again, something in his expression is different.

Like he’s finally decided to stop running from this.

"You want the truth, Lamb?" His voice is low, almost resigned.

I nod.

"Fine." He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his fingers threading together as he stares at the floor, the weight of his past pressing down on him.

And then, finally?—

He tells me everything.

"I’m Alex’s brother."

I freeze, my breath catching in my throat, because that was not what I was expecting.

I blink at him. "You’re what?"

His lips curl, but there’s no humor in it. "Half-brother. Same father. Different mothers."

My stomach drops.

Because suddenly, everything starts making sense.

Malakai leans back, stretching his arms out, his tattoos shifting with the movement, his gaze dark, unreadable.

"Alexander Callahan Sr.," he continues, voice void of emotion, "is a lying, hypocritical son of a bitch. He runs his little megachurch like it’s some sacred, holy empire, preaching about morality and family values while making sure his bastard son stays hidden. When my mother had me, Alex Sr. was married already, so he couldn't let anyone know... and seven months later, his wife was pregnant. He was only too happy to forget about my existence."

I swallow hard, my entire world tilting.

Because fuck.

Fuck.

"I didn’t grow up in the mansion," Malakai continues. "Didn’t get the fucking privileged Callahan upbringing. My mom was a mistake he never wanted to acknowledge. He paid her off to stay quiet, to keep me out of sight. We lived in a shitty apartment, barely scraping by, while he played perfect family man in front of cameras."

His voice is hard, but beneath it? I hear something else too.

Something almost broken.

I sit down slowly, the anger fading just enough for something else to take its place.

Something dangerous. Something like sympathy.

Because I know what it’s like to feel like someone’s dirty little secret. I know what it’s like to be controlled by the Callahans.

And suddenly, Malakai doesn’t feel like the villain in this story anymore.

"Alex never knew?" I ask after a long pause.

"Oh, he knew," Malakai says, shaking his head. "He just didn’t give a shit. He grew up knowing there was some other kid out there. Some mistake his father refused to acknowledge. And he still had the balls to act like he was better than me."

The bitterness in his voice is undeniable.

My stomach tightens. "So when did you start… all this?"

Malakai’s jaw flexes. "The day I realized his perfect life wasn’t so fucking perfect."

He leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees, his fingers tensing and releasing, like he’s trying to control the rage still buried inside him.

"He’s just like his father. Pretends to be the golden boy. Pretends to be this disciplined, godly man, when, really? He’s nothing but a fucking fraud."

He glances at me, and I know he’s thinking about the pictures I saw.

"That night at the party? That wasn’t the first time Alex broke his precious abstinence vow." He smirks. "It’s just the first time someone caught him."

A chill runs through me. Because I believed in Alex once. Believed in his image. Believed he was better than Malakai.

And now? Now, I’m starting to question everything.

Malakai watches me closely. Measuring. Calculating. And then, he makes his move.

"You wanna help me take him down?"

I blink, my pulse stumbling. "What?"

He tilts his head, his smirk dangerous. "I know you, Lamb. You’re mad at Alex. Mad at what he’s done, at what he’s taken from you. You want to get back at him, even if you won’t admit it yet."

I inhale sharply because he is right. I want to deny it, but deep down, I know.

Alex took everything from me. My trust. My security. My mother’s care.

For what, though? For his own selfish pride?

My fingers clench in my lap, my nails biting into my skin. I meet Malakai’s gaze, my heart pounding against my ribs, my breath shaky.

"How?" I ask.

His smirk widens, his eyes glinting with satisfaction.

"Leave that to me, Lamb."

And just like that?—

I cross a line I can never come back from.