Page 20 of The Sinner’s Touch (Manwhore #2)

“You forgot?” Nikoli leaned back, studying his brother. “How the fuck do you forget something like that?”

“Leave it alone, Nik.” Angel leaned forward.

She’d watched Kade explain this more times than she cared to.

She understood his putting it in the past and doing his best not to think about it.

It was exactly what she’d forced herself to do in order to protect what was left of her shattered heart.

It made her wonder if Kade had done something similar.

But that would mean he’d cared, and his actions said otherwise.

Confusing. That was what this whole mess was starting to become.

Her statement brought the full intensity of Nikoli’s stare to settle on her. “Did you know who I was when I came into Pops’ that first night?”

“Look at you, Nik. Even if I hadn’t seen your picture, I’d have known. There’s no denying you’re brothers.”

“You’ve always treated me like family, Angel Girl. I never understood it, but I do now.” His expression became so serious it alarmed her. “You’re family.”

“No.” She shook her head, emotions she’d worked so hard to shut out pounding on the locked door of her heart. “I…you were Kade’s little brother…and…after Peter…I just…”

“You needed to protect someone, someone you thought of as family.”

Her eyes shot to Kade. They were full of understanding and grief. Was he thinking about their son? The pain in them… the wall around her own heart cracked, the locks on the door splintering.

No. No. No.

She would not succumb. She would not hurt like that again. Never, ever again.

But what if he hurts as much as you do? her subconscious whispered.

“Why didn’t you ever tell us?” Nikoli asked, forcing her attention back to him and away from traitorous thoughts.

Kade shrugged. “It wasn’t anyone’s business but mine and Angel’s.”

Nikoli stared at them both for a long moment then shrugged himself. “Well, I guess we got what we always wanted, but dreaded.”

What did that mean?

“A sister.” He laughed. “God, I’ve known about her for a minute, and all the trouble she’s already causing.” He pulled out his phone.

“Who are you calling?” Alarm spread across Kade’s face, and he half stood. “Don’t you dare call Mama or Babushka . I don’t even know what…”

Nikoli held up a finger to shush him and put the phone on speaker.

Shit, who was he calling? Kade growled, and Angel was right there with him. If Nikoli was calling their mother…she shook her head. No. She and Kade might be legally married, but they weren’t husband and wife. It would only upset Kade’s family.

“Hey, Nik. What’s up.” Viktor’s voice was deep and rich like Kade’s. His Russian accent was also much more pronounced than either of the other two brothers.

“Did you get my messages?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why for fuck’s sake didn’t you call me back?”

“Don’t give me grief. I just got back from Russia this morning. I’m fucking tired, and I don’t need your shit. I've been busy, okay? Like you, I run a company. What’s so fucking urgent you can’t wait for me to call you the fuck back?”

Nikoli ran his own company?

And what was it with the f-bombs that dropped out of the Kincaid men’s mouths?

It was like a permanent part of their vocabulary.

Angel glanced at Kade and saw his panicked expression.

A giggle bubbled unbidden. He looked so terrified right now.

It reminded her of the time they’d gone swimming in the ocean and a jellyfish had gotten near him.

He’d been stung as a child, and the things scared the hell out of him.

He wore the same expression now as Nikoli talked.

“We have a sister, that’s what’s so fucking urgent.”

Kade snarled, and Angel let her head hit the table, all her amusement gone with that bold statement. Why couldn’t Nikoli keep a secret a secret?

“What the hell are you talking about?” Viktor snapped, sounding more irritated than anything. “I’m in no mood for jokes, brat .”

Angel laughed when she heard him call him a brat. He was being a brat at the moment. At least Viktor called him on his shit.

“It doesn’t mean what you think it does, Angel.” Kade tapped his fingers on the table. “Although the American term fits right now. Brat in Russian means brother.”

“Kade?” Viktor sounded confused.

“Yeah.” A sigh rumbled out of him, and Angel turned her head sideways so she could see the kaleidoscope of expressions flickering across his face.

“What’s going on, and who is Angel?”

“Angel, say hello to Viktor.” Angel raised her head long enough to stick her tongue out at Nikoli, which only made him laugh and blow her a kiss. He was such a sweetheart.

A wave of tears threatened her as she looked at him. In that split second, she caught a glimpse of the old Kade she’d known when she was nineteen in his brother. The devilishly charming, fun, and adventurous man who’d won her heart. She missed him. So very much.

“Hey, now, what’s wrong?” Nik asked gently.

“Nothing.” She wiped her tears and sat up. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” Viktor’s voice growled.

“Well, it seems Kade went and got himself married and didn’t tell us.”

“I swear to God, Nik, I told you not to say anything…”

“No, you didn’t.” Nikoli held up a hand. “I only told Viktor because we need his help.”

“Married? What the hell are you talking about, and why do you need my help?”

Kade took a deep, steadying breath, wrestling between his desire to strangle his little brother or maybe thank him. Nikoli ripped the Band-Aid off without even understanding how much it freed him. It brought him a step closer to admitting what he really wanted.

“You remember me telling you about the Boston serial killer case I’m working?” He scrubbed at his face with both hands, suddenly tired. When Viktor grunted his version of yes, he continued. “Angel got a look at him, and now he’s set his sights on her.”

“And Angel is…?”

“My wife.”

“The fuck you say.”

He gazed at her, and the wide green eyes were more than shell-shocked. She might be trying her damnedest to hide how affected she was by not only the serial killer, but by him, and it showed in the hollow, haunted look in her eyes.

“I do say. It’s a long story, Vik, but I need help. I’m working this case, which means I can’t watch her twenty-four-seven, and I need someone who can. People who are trained to see and deal with this type of psychopath. Nik tells me you hire only the best, and that’s what we need.”

“You’re serious?” Viktor’s tone got very soft. “You’re married?”

“ Da .”

“Well, fuck. We finally got a sister. Do Mama and Papa know?”

“No, and I’d prefer to keep it that way until I tell them.” Kade shot a glance at Angel, who looked ready to argue, but he warned her with his eyes and hoped she’d heed him.

“Why don’t you want them to know?”

“It’s complicated.” He ran a hand through his hair, aware he’d nearly killed it as much as he’d done that today. “Please, Viktor. I’ll explain later, I promise. Do you have some men who can keep her safe?”

“ Da . I’ll get them there within the next few hours. And Kade?”

“Yeah?”

“Congratulations. I’m happy for you, man. And Angel, she is there with you now?”

“She is.” Wariness crept back into Kade’s voice, and he glanced at her. As mad as she was with him, God only knew what she’d tell Viktor. He’d rather explain this fiasco to his brother in person and not over the phone.

“ Dobro pozhalovat' v sem'yu mladshey sestry .”

“I have no idea what that means.” Angel looked up at him, confused.

Kade smiled at her. “It means welcome to the family, little sister.”

“I will get you the Rosetta Stone for Russian,” Viktor promised, chuckling. “Otherwise you will forever be confused when we are all together. Did you get Lily the program, Nik?”

“Uh, no, not yet. She’s got enough on her plate with finals coming up. And I think she said something about Babbel.”

“What?” Viktor asked, confused. “Why would she want to babble?”

“No, not babble. She wants to use the online language program called Babbel.”

“Oh.”

Poor guy sounded as confused as ever. She had a feeling he’d be googling Babbel as soon as he hung up the phone.

“I must go. I have a lot of work to catch up on, as well as finding you some guards. We’ll talk soon.”

“Vik?”

“Yeah, Kade?”

“Thanks.”

“She’s our family now, brat . We take care of family. I got shit to do now, motherfuckers. Aw, hell, I shouldn’t have said that with Angel there. Damn, I did it again.”

Kade laughed, imagining the disgusted look on his brother’s face. The man tried hard to watch his mouth around women; he just wasn’t used to doing it when taking to his brothers.

Nikoli disconnected the call before Viktor said anything to embarrass himself further.

“Why didn’t you tell him the truth?” She looked between them both, and Kade shrugged. He honestly didn’t know.

“I wanted to watch him squirm.” Nikoli grinned. “Besides, Viktor’s services are expensive as fuck. He’ll either give me a discount or do it for free if he thinks it’s for Kade’s wife.”

“Swear to me, Nikoli, not a word to Mama or Babushka .”

“Hey, man, I only wanted to see you squirm a bit, not get you thrown into the fires of hell.” Nikoli held up his hands. “They’d be on the next flight out of Russia. Babushka is terrified of flying, but if she thought Angel was in danger, she’d brave the plane.”

They would. That was how much family meant to them all. They’d drop everything to help each other. He glanced over at Angel and saw a single tear fall from the corner of her eye.

And that was when it struck him.

What he’d really done to her.

She had no one. He’d taken everything from her, stripped her of her home, her family, her pride, and broken her heart to seal the deal. He was the villain in her story.

Hearing them talk so casually about their family had to be breaking her even more. Seeing her cry was more than he could handle right now.

“I need to check in with Bailey and go over some things with Jeremy. He’s my partner at the BAU. I have to get him up to speed on the case. Nik, can you take Angel back to the apartment for me?”

Nikoli wasn’t looking at him. He was staring at Angel, who didn’t seem to be aware of the fact she was crying.

“Yeah, but me and you, we’re gonna talk later.”

Kade nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.