Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130512 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
I knew what she was thinking.
She was thinking about the day she first held her sister in her arms.
She was remembering that day and remembering all the love she had for her, and after needing to suppress it for so long, it was flooding back to her. She wasn’t seeing how her sister wasn’t her sister anymore. She was an enemy. She was someone who wanted to hurt her.
I thought she could tell Sam, tell her what she did, how Steele had told Samantha who he was.
I was dead fucking wrong.
This girl was going to do it. She was, I saw that, but she was going to do it in the cruelest way she could. She wanted to inflict the worst kind of pain she could on Samantha.
I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“What, little brother? Aren’t you happy to see me?”
He didn’t go to her. He didn’t hug her. He just stood there, glared, and fisted his hands at his sides.
She’d been taking him in at the same time, because she let out a harsh laugh. “Are you kidding me?” Her head tilted. Her eyes narrowed, cold calculation smearing her face. Her lips twisted in a snarl. “You were supposed to make contact.”
“I did,” he bit out.
“You were supposed to become friends with their daughter.”
“I did do that.” He glanced at Sam, warily.
Her tone went mean. “You weren’t supposed to start caring for her, you dipshit.”
He flushed. “She’s my sister, Brinna.”
“So?” She taunted. “She’s also the reason Uncle Seb went to prison.”
Sam gasped, her eyes tearing my way, just as mine shot to hers. Shock and alarm branded me. “Uncle Seb?”
She went still, eerily still, before rotating to face me. The entire motion made my skin crawl, but the smile on her face wasn’t right. She wasn’t right. She continued with that mocking tone. “Yes. My godfather. I believe you knew him as Park Sebastian.” She winked at her brother. “Why do you think I wanted a different nickname? Seb is his name. Not mine. We can’t have the same nickname.”
Uncle Seb. Park Sebastian. Holy shit.
I was rocked.
The ground could’ve fallen out from underneath me and I wouldn’t have noticed.
Our past had come back to haunt us.
“He went to prison.”
“Yes, he did. For what The Network pinned on him.”
She knew about The Network.
She thought they set him up? For being a serial rapist?
She had no idea what he’d done. No idea at all.
“The—” Beltraine asked, his face scrunched up. He cast Steele a look before saying, “Never mind.”
“The Network.” She sing-songed the name, clapping her hands. “I’m so excited for this moment. I’ve been waiting so long for this. Yes, Traine. The Network. It was a secret society that your new Mommy and Daddy destroyed.”
Sam was so pale, shaking her head.
The list of shit he’d done to us, the worst was to her.
“Except they decided they didn’t want to be a part of it so they took something that generations built and they burned it all down to the ground. Much like another building, am I correct, brother-in-law?”
She knew about the fraternity house. She knew about The Network.
I said, “You’re still in contact with Park, aren’t you?”
She began laughing, this time a genuine trickle of amusement coming from her. “Still in contact? I’ve never not been in contact with my godfather. Some might say I’m closer to him than my own father.” Her lips curved up. “Those people would be correct. I know everything you’ve done to him—”
“I very much doubt that,” Sam snapped.
There she was.
The shaken look was gone. The old Sam was back, mixed with the new one, and she was even stronger. More powerful. This was the kickass Sam, and God, I loved her. Pride swelled in my chest, along with arousal and desire. My woman made me hard.
Sabrina frowned, and she faltered a step. This wasn’t the sister she thought she’d be meeting.
“What—” she started to say something.
Steele cut off his own sister. “He’s brainwashed her.”
“Steele!” She slapped him.
Whoa.
Sam’s eyes widened at how quick her reaction had been, and she wound up to do it again.
“I don’t fucking think so.” Beltraine was there, getting between her and her brother. “Step back, you bitch.”
Sabrina inhaled sharply, but her target just switched. Her hand went back again. She was going to slap Beltraine instead.
“Fuck no.” Axel got involved, shoving her backward. He followed her, stopping after a few feet, now blocking both Beltraine and Steele from her. “You ever touch your brother like that again and I don’t give a fuck who you are, I will ruin your life.”
I met Sam’s gaze over their heads, both of us in shock. These kids were us. Me. Logan. Her. They were in the form of Beltraine, Axel, and Steele? This was a whole head trip that I didn’t see coming.