Page 33 of Kael

Only Caine answered. The tension ratcheted up.

I glared at her for a long second. Then I pushed away from the wall.

"I'm leaving."

She frowned. "Kael—"

"No. I don’t want to hear it" I walked toward the door. "Caine, Tell Gionni whatever the fuck you want. But if his daughter ever speaks to Bria again, there will be consequences."

"I already apologized. Lena is a non-factor now. She’s back in Miami. She won’t bother you again," Zia said stopping me.

"Bullshit. You can’t call your half-assed call to me an apology."

Caine’s face hardened. I didn’t care.

The folder she was holding hit Caine's desk with a heavy slap. She turned to face me.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." I stopped walking. My hand was still on the knob. "You called me and told me some self-righteous bullshit about you not wanting to pick sides before you knew the full story. That’s why you let her stay."

"What’s wrong with knowing all the information?" She sounded like Malachai making excuses. In that second, I understood why Indigo behaved how she did.

I turned around fully. "She abused Bria. Told her she was nothing. Told her I'd get bored and throw her out. Made her cry. I told you that. What more did you need to know?"

Zia broke the silence. "I apologized. What more do you want? I'm not your enemy, Kael."

I looked at her.

"Then stop acting like one," I said, before walking out the door.

Chapter 19

Bria

The rain came down like Florida always gave it, at the worst times—thick drops that soaked through everything and still felt like they weren't enough to wash the dirt off your soul.

I had a dream. Or maybe it was a memory. My momma was begging me not to get high, and I pushed her, and she hurt her back. She cried like a baby, but I was too far gone to even be moved by her tears.

I didn't know if it was real or fake. It felt real.

I woke up, and the house that had become my sanctuary suddenly felt suffocating.

Kael was away. I couldn’t look to him for comfort. Now I sat on the back porch steps in nothing but the thin white nightgown he had left on the bed for me. It clung to my body now—transparent, sticking to my breasts and the curve of my stomach like a second skin. Water ran down my face, mixing with the tears I couldn't stop.

I kept thinking about everything I'd done. Not just what I'd done in the dream.

All the times I stole from my parents. The lies I told Maya while dragging her back into the life with me just so I wouldn't be alone in the gutter. The bodies I let use me for a hit. The nights I woke up in strange cars and houses with no memory of how I got there.

Maya kept telling me making amends would help me stay clean."You gotta face it, Bria. Feel it. Then let it go."

But every time I tried to face it, the shame hit so hard my skin itched. My teeth ached. That familiar desire crawled up my spine and whispered…just one hit. Just enough to quiet the noise.I wanted it so bad I could taste the chemical burn in the back of my throat.

I hugged my knees tighter, rocking slowly as the rain pounded the mangroves.

"I'm so fucking tired," I whispered to nobody. "I don't deserve to be here. I don't deserve him doing all this for me."

I heard footsteps.