Page 231 of Bound By Her

Seth muttered, “Since when are we ever lucky?”

Kaydon punched him lightly in the arm. “Hey. We are so lucky. Don’t jinx us before the big show.”

Kaydon waited by the back entrance. The estate grounds buzzed with motion. Staff weaving between deliveries, valets circling in and out with car after car. It was a logistical nightmare.

He didn’t envy Eric.

Secretly, he hoped Bryson never decided to throw parties like this. Kaydon already knew he’d be terrible at it. Not like Eric.

He admired Eric more than he let on. Calm. Steady, one step ahead. Even the night Adria was attacked. Eric had held it together.

But Kaydon had seen what lingered underneath. Eric blamed himself for being too late. And Kaydon felt that.

Leaning against the cool stone wall, he closed his eyes, trying to drown out the noise of the event. And the deeper noise inside his head.

But the images came anyway.

Callen’s office. Bryson, bleeding.

That day would haunt him forever.

It hadn’t been the first time Callen laid hands on Bryson—but it was the first time Kaydon truly feared Callen might kill him.

He remembered the sound of Bryson’s body hitting the marble floor. The way he’d crumpled. Silent. Lifeless.

For one awful, endless moment, Kaydon had thought he was dead.

That feeling had carved something permanent into him.

He vowed then that he would do better. Protect harder.

No matter what Bryson said, they were never going back to Callen’s.

It wasn’t happening.

Maybe we will come here.

Amidst all the uncertainty, the hopeful thought came to mind. They had found a new place, a better place.

The future wasn’t something they dealt with often. The past was always there. And Bryson and Seth were almost always down to dabble in the present. But the future.

They didn’t talk about it, and they sure as shit didn’t plan for it.

But here the future held a glimmer of possibilities. Things were different, in ways they never thought possible. Suddenly the future was manageable. Even Bryson, who always hated family business, saw things differently. Because of Adria.

Your friendly neighborhood criminal, as ridiculous as it sounded, it was true. It was Adria.

She donated money, she carved out community programs, and she listened. If there was a need, she was working on it.

His parents always used to say, “You get more with honey.”

Through her above-board dealings, Adria had amassed quite a following. Instead of being isolated, she was more powerful than the Nine could have ever realized.

A swath of red caught his attention, and Kaydon’s mouth fell open.

“Kay!” her bouncy voice sang out into the courtyard.

Kaydon rearranged his expression. “El, I—we weren’t expecting you.”

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