Page 56 of Rejected Plus-Size Mate

I could feel Cayden vibrating as he pulled me a step back behind him, shielding me from Brad. I was grateful knowing he would never let anything happen to me, but it wasn't myself I was worried about. I wasn't the one with a knife being held to my throat.

April blinked, looking between Cayden and me, unsure which of us to look at. I'd seen April be scared many times. Being afraid to learn to swim and turning in an essay, knowing it wasn't good. Breaking up with her first boyfriend, scared she was going to lose a friend.

But this. This was different. She looked terrified and angry mixed together.

"You are making a big mistake, buddy," Cayden growled low, a voice I'd never hear leaving his mouth. His nostrils flared, and his jaw clenched. I could see he was holding back from pouncing.

April looked at her brother, and a spark of hope twinkled in her eyes.

I looked at Brad, wanting to rip his throat out. It was one thing for him to hurt me, but he went after someone I loved. Someone who had stood in my corner for years, and I wasn't going just to stand by while he hurt her. I might not have protected myself, but I sure as hell wasn't going to let him hurt April.

"This could have all been avoided if she hadn't been such a pain in the ass," Brad growled back, his eyes flaring towards me. I could see crazy in them. Whatever calm head he had was gone. He looked like a person that had gone crazy.

I didn't know what to say to him. What did you say to a person holding a knife to your best friend's throat?

"Let go of my sister," Cayden snapped, stepping forward. "She hasn't done anything wrong."

Brad pulled the knife tighter, and April whimpered, which paused Cayden in his tracks. I watched as Cayden curled his hands into tight fists.

I cleared my throat. "What do you want, Brad? An apology? Do you want me to get down on my knees? What?" I felt my voice shake as I spoke. "What do you want?"

"I want you back at home," he snapped, his eyes flickering to me.

"She isn't going anywhere with you," Cayden snarled back.

"This is between Riley and I," Brad growled at Cayden. "And if you want a living sister, you'll stay out of the way."

"Brad, this is insane," I said, stepping closer or as close as Cayden would let me. "You and I both know that there is no good way to end this. I will not go with you. So, you might as well let her go before this goes south."

"I had to do this because you wouldn't listen to reason," he snapped back. "If you had just returned when I told you, none of this would be happening. If you had just listened, I wouldn't have had to go to such extreme measures!"

I scowled, not understanding. Why did I matter? Why did he want me so badly? Was it about having control or about losing it? It didn't matter anyway. He could have anyone he wanted in town, so why did it matter if I left?

But then I thought about April's words before. She was going to make him pay. What had she done? I looked at April, and she stared at me. That terror moments ago was gone; I could see she was proud of whatever she did. She held her head a little higher than before.

"There are plenty of women out there. Surely someone else wants to be with you." I state.

Brad gave a harsh laugh and looked at April. "I could until this one decided to tell everyone what happened. No woman will even look at me. She's ruined my reputation."

Was that what took her so long to get back? Was that why she kept pushing her return date back?

"You deserved what was coming," April stated, which made Brad snarl.

I felt like I couldn't breathe. Of course. The only way to clean this mess up was to come back and act like April had lied.Whatever she'd said, people were listening to, and from the look on his face and his appearance, it was fucking him over.

"Maybe you shouldn't choke women, and you wouldn't have a problem," Cayden said.

Brad snapped his eyes to him, furious now. "Give me Riley, or your sister is done for. I'm done asking."

"You…" Cayden was ready to jump, and I quickly grabbed him and turned to him.

"I'll go," I practically yelled.

Cayden's eyes went to me, looking at me like I was crazy. "Absolutely not! You are not going with him."

I squeezed his arms, not breaking my eye contact with him. I spoke slower. "I…will go with him. We need to save April."

Cayden's nostrils flared, and I hoped he understood. I turned back to Brad and April and looked at April for a split second.

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