Page 37 of Love Me

Celine returned home for something that has nothing to do with me. The thought wrecks me, but I have to put my feelings aside and use my damn head.

I push myself up. Would she still want to fight me if she knew how bruised I was on the inside?

Clenching my fists, I go to my room on unsteady feet. Abigail has her hip propped against my desk.

“What are you going to do?”

“Let her have her pound of flesh.”

She approaches me, her eyes squinting at the necklace.

“What is that? I haven’t seen it before.”

I touch it, the meaning sealed into my skin. “Something old.”

“Kaden…”

Abigail eyes me as if it’s on me to fix this. She leaves, but I can’t placate her; I need to discover what Celine’s plan is. I followed her and watched from outside my family’s house. I am quite proud she could access my father’s safe. I tried in vain multiple times. What does he keep in there?

The way she moves stealthily, full of assurance, speaks of experience. She’s confident in what she does, meaning she’s had training.

I snatch my laptop and google that damn school, but I find nothing that would give away her new abilities.

I shut it and drop on the bed when Blake enters. “Why the fuck are you smirking?”

“Celine’s lethal.”

“And you find this hot?”

“Extremely.”

“What if she snitches?”

She would have done it by now. She’s playing a dangerous game with Grandmother because if the old hag finds out… A tremor rocks me at the thought. How can I protect her when she is so reckless? Overconfidence in the Family just gets attention, and attention draws eyes, and eyes mean you’re one step away from being monitored.

***

The next morning, Celine, Abigail, Bailey, and Blake are seated around the island in the kitchen. The heavy silence is punctuated only by chewing. Celine bites into a piece of toast. Blake looks at her with scrunched brows. Abigail stares off into space, and Bailey observes the three of them with concern.

“Ah, family breakfast.” Sarcasm drips from my tongue. I sit in the chair across from Celine, who rolls her eyes at me.

“Pass me the salt, will you?” I say.

“The last I checked, your hands still worked.”

I suppress a chuckle, and Blake bursts into laughter. “You crack me up, Celine.”

“We have dinner with Grandmother in two days. Both of you behave,” Abigail says.

I caress my temples where a headache pounds. I slept like shit, and I am still not any closer to figuring out why Celine returned. She looks like my wife but is a completely different person, unnerving me. It’s as if I am betraying the memory of her by thinking she’s hot and being curious about this new version of her.

Bailey giggles and puts her hand on her mouth while we all look at her. She blushes, focused on her phone.

“Ah, she’s in love,” Blake says.

“Who is it? We need to vet him,” Abigail says.

“Oh my god, we’re just friends. Stop it, guys,”

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