Page 116 of Bride By Initiation

Killian booms, "Sean, where have you been?"

"I had shit to do," I tell him.

"You snuck out of the party, then disappeared for a day," Declan accuses.

"As I said, I had shit to do." I brush past them and go to the bench press. I order, "Spot me, Brax."

He doesn't argue and comes over. We get lost in our workout, and I'm relieved when I don't hear any more questions about my whereabouts.

Killian holds up a pair of gloves. "Want to go for a round?"

"Yeah, sure," I reply, setting the free weights down and walking over to him. I tug my lifting glove off and wince, forgetting about the brand.

Killian eyes my hand. "Why is your hand wrapped in plastic and all bloody?"

I glance down. The wrap is bunched up, barely covering the skull. It's a bloody, nasty-looking wound.

Killian grabs my hand, wrinkles his nose, and belts out, "Jesus. That's disgusting. What the fuck did you..." His expression goes slack, and the color drains from his face. He pins me with an angry look, snarling, "What did you do, Sean?"

I pull my hand away. "None of your business."

He grabs my shirt and pulls me toward him. "I asked you what you did."

"Whoa, what the fuck is going on here?" Finn barks.

"Nothing," I insist.

"Sean did something stupid," Killian spouts.

Finn turns to me. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. Leave it," I state, but I know I'm fighting a losing battle.

"We have to get going, or we'll be late," Brax interjects, trying to get me out of this mess.

Finn warns, "Stay out of this, Brax. I mean it."

Brax clenches his jaw and gives me his I'm-sorry-but-I-tried expression.

Killian seethes, "I'm only asking one more time. What the fuck have you done?"

There's no getting out of this, so I reply, "I put my father's mark on my hand. Why is it such a big deal?"

Killian and Finn exchange a worried glance.

Killian fumes, "Why would you do that to yourself?"

Anger fills me. "I just told you it was my dad's design, and he had it on his hand. There's no reason I can't have it on mine."

Killian closes his eyes and shakes his head, grinding his molars.

Finn adds, "You don't know what you've done, Sean."

"Well, why don't you fill me in?" I question, my heart beating faster. I add, "I'm tired of all these secrets. If there's a reason I shouldn't have done it, then man up and tell me."

Nolan joins us. "Your dad had that on his hand, but people stole it. Somebody... Well, one of the Rossis stole his design. A lot of them have that on their hands. So do the Baileys. You shouldn't have branded yourself and especially not in the same place."

I scoff. "How was I to know? You could have told me that when we talked about it."

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