Page 222 of Bound By Her

Adria blinked. It surprised her that Bryson kept something that big from Kaydon.

“He keeps his word,” Kaydon said, as if reading her thoughts.

Seth hesitated, then said, “One night, my father drank too much. Took things too far.”

Kaydon’s arm tightened around her. “He broke your arm.”

“I couldn’t help much with the job after that,” Seth said softly.

“Even though the fucker tried. Broken arm and all,” Kaydon muttered.

Seth smiled faintly. “He jokes now, but back then? He was pissed. Told Bryson he didn’t want to work with me anymore.”

Kaydon propped himself on an elbow. “That’s when Bryson told me. All the bruises. He was…” Kaydon’s voice caught. “He was barely fifteen.”

Seth’s voice dropped to a whisper. “They showed up at my door that night.”

“Damn right we did,” Kaydon said. “I would’ve killed that piece of shit, too.”

Adria looked at him, voice steady. “Why didn’t you?”

Kaydon sighed. “Wasn’t my decision.”

She turned to Seth. His face was a warzone of emotion. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around him, fingers sliding into his hair.

“I get it,” she whispered into his ear. “I was glad when my father died. But I never could’ve pulled the trigger.”

Seth pulled away, wiping his face. “Okay, so that was my cheery little story. Someone else’s turn.”

And with that, he disappeared into the bathroom.

She looked at Kaydon pointedly.

He put his hands behind his head, sprawling out on the bed.

“Not much to tell,” he said.

Adria crawled on top of him. It was crazy how natural it felt.

Straddling him, she squeezed her thighs.

“I could make you tell me,” she teased.

Kaydon groaned.

Adria moved to get off him, her body shifting on the soft fabric of the bed. “Or I could go?”

Before she could separate herself from him, his hands shot out, grabbing her hips.

“Anything but that,” he said, pulling her into him. He nuzzled into her neck, and Adria caught the warm, musky scent of his arousal.

She didn’t move. She let herself enjoy being wrapped in Kaydon’s arms for a moment.

“A few months after Luca died, I was a wreck,” he said quietly. “Car accident. Nothing I could’ve done. But try telling that to a sixteen-year-old whose only job was to keep him alive.”

Adria leaned in, nuzzling his throat. His scent was softer, like vanilla and smoke.

“I started hanging around some...places,” Kaydon continued. “You know. Where guys went to blow off steam.”

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