Page 161 of Second Sets Omnibus

“None of us were, Pretty Girl. Well…” Kieran. That’s what he wants to say.

Maybe that asshole knew and decided he didn’t want to tell us because of our new gig. He didn’t want to jeopardizeour future like I didn’t want to either. But she’s a child, and she needs us to be in her life. How could he make that decision without telling us, too? It affects us all.Hypocrite,my subconscious shouts at me as a familiar burning pain tightens my chest and trickles up my throat. Reaching into my pocket, I grab my antacids and pop two into my mouth. The relief isn’t instant when I chew them up, but at least it’ll tamp down the pain for a few more hours.

“No. I wasn’t aware you had a baby. Let alone… She called me other daddy,” he whispers, heaving a frantic breath. “You told her that…”

“I wasn’t going to hide where she came from,” River cries out in frustration, taking another step back from us and shaking her head. “She knows all about the four of you. For five years, I’ve been under the impression that you all denied her and didn’t want her. You all walked away from me. You didn’t say goodbye. You ignored my fucking texts! And then Gloria said you wanted nothing to do with her. I don’t fucking know what the hell to think right now.” Confusion swims through River’s eyes, and her brows dip, creasing her forehead. Moisture pools in her eyes, most likely from frustration and rage. It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell them that they’d been tricked into leaving, but I hold my tongue like a coward.

“Gloria?” Callum asks us softly, furrowing his brows again. “What did she do?” Fuck. What didn’t she do? She had her hands in our doomed relationship before we even left.

River’s jaw works back and forth, and her fingers curl into fists, whitening her knuckles from the pressure. “Listen, it’s late. Could you all go? I really don’t want to talk about this right now. I shouldn’t have to defend myself any more than I have. It’s you all who owe me an explanation. I’ll see you all on Monday, okay?” River stands firmly where she is, watching wearily as we all nod in agreement.

“Sure thing, Pretty Girl,” Rad says softly. “But this isn’t over. You know that, right? We’ll talk more.” He raises a brow when her eyes narrow into slits, and I know a snarky reply sits on the edge of her tongue, ready to tell us all off if I don’t get everyone out of here.

“Let’s go,” I say, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him out of the house as Callum follows slowly behind us with his hands in his pockets.

The moment we’re outside, the warm summer air smacks us in the face. I take a breath, listening to the hypnotic sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore behind River’s house. Oh, how I ache to run down the beach, exerting myself into forgetting my sins.

“Fuck,” Rad grumbles, picking up his discarded dirt bike from the middle of the road, looking it over under the streetlights shining down on us as brightly as the sun.

“Looks fucked,” Callum says, stopping beside me as Rad looks it over.

“No shit, Einstein,” Rad grumbles with a frown. “Old reliable has finally met his match,” Rad pouts, running his finger over the deep scratches in the metal. “And all it took was one little girl to bring her down. I could have squished her.” He touches the side of his face covered in brightly covered bandages and sighs.

“What the hell is going on?” Callum finally asks, shaking his head with frustration. “What was she saying about Gloria?”

“Don’t forget the restraining orders on top of that,” I grumble, rubbing my chin, still perplexed by that statement.

“That’s what she told me, too! She fucking said Gloria handed her four restraining orders,” Rad growls, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead as he lifts his bike off the ground.

“With our signatures on it,” I point out.

Callum’s gray eyes bug out of his head. “Restraining orders?” he asks, looking to Rad for confirmation. “What the hell? We didn’t do that.”

“I told you. Something fucking stinks like a dirty coochie fish on the beach.” Rad scrunches up his face, grunting when he tries to roll his dirt bike forward.

“But she-she kissed Van,” Callum’s voice dips low with accusation and hurt, shaking his head in denial. “I saw it with my own two eyes. Right after you showed us the-the video.”

My stomach churns at the thought of the video, starring River and Van from when they were together. It was my only tool at the time to convince them we needed to leave without her. I was so convinced she’d drag us down. Now, look at her. She runs the damn show. If only I’d given her the chance.

“Did she? Or did he force her to?” Rad shouts out in frustration, wheeling around and letting his bike drop again. “Because, according to her, he forced himself on her, and you just stood by and took a fucking picture,” he growls with flaring nostrils. “And then you walked away, leaving her there with him. Fuck! We all walked the fuck away because of you!” Rad barks, slamming his foot into the dented rims of his turned-over bike. Over and over again, he slams down on the metal, ruining it further. Only stopping when he’s sweaty and breathing heavily from the exertion. “Why didn’t we talk to her first?” he growls, advancing on Callum with malicious intent, curling his fingers into fists. This is one fight Rad would not win. Callum stiffens, tensing his body and waiting for impact.

“Whoa,” I say, jumping between them and putting a hand on Rad’s chest. His heart accelerates against my palm when he heaves a breath. “Fighting gets us nowhere,” I say, pushing him back a step.

“Well, I want some fucking answers!” Rad shouts through the anguish, pushing me away and nearly knocking me off my feet.“I just want to know why I left the love of my fucking life. What the hell is real?” His chest heaves beneath my palm until he steps back, shaking his head.

“We’ll figure it out.” My voice trembles as I speak, knowing the truth of the situation already. Although, there seem to be certain factors I never planned that were put into play.

“Where’d you get the videos from?” Callum asks, spearing me with his knowing gaze. I swallow hard and blow out a breath.

“Van sent them to me,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck, actively avoiding their stares.

“Out of the blue?” Callum asks again, scrunching his eyebrows.

“Yeah. Out of the blue.” I shrug, crossing my arms so they can’t see the tremble of my fingers.

“No idea what prompted it?” Callum asks again with more suspicion.

“No, man. I just assumed he wanted to rub it in my face that he was banging her behind our backs. You know how he was back then. He was fucking obsessed with her and following her around everywhere,” I huff, throwing my arms around. “I thought I was doing the right thing!” I shout, pulling at the ends of my hair. “I thought…”