Page 152 of Wild Blades

“He looks like me.”

“Poor boy,” I joke, making him laugh.

Nicki lays her mug down on the table. “Little Freddie, and Leah, his mother, have been welcomed into our family. What Marcus thought he was doing by keeping them away from us, I will never know.” Nicki sighs and forces a smile. “No more mistakes. We are drawing a line under that now. The tides are changing, Kali. But I need your help.” Nicki looks me dead in the eyes. “If you can stomach it, of course.” She looks down at my barely touched tea.

“Morning sickness lasts all day for me.”

“I may have a cure for that.”

“Yeah?”

“A healed heart.”

Oh, great, that sounds impossible.

“And a visit to the doctor. I’ll book one for you. Nothing but the best for my family.”

I think with Nicki now at the helm, our lives are about to change forever.

“Then we need to come up with a plan.” Pushing her chair back, she’s ready for action when all I want to do is go to bed and curl myself into a ball.

“A plan?” Anything beyond the next hour is a struggle.

“To integrate Wade into the family, bring him into the fold, show him how much he is loved. By us all.” She pauses. “Show him how muchyoulove him.”

“He won’t listen.”

“Well then, we’ll make himsee.”

What the hell does she mean?

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Wade

“I have a lot of explaining to do.” Marcus stares out the windows overlooking the creek. “If you’ll please hear me out.”

“I will.” I want to hear his reason for keeping me a secret for so long, directly from his mouth, in his own words.

For me, there is only one word to explain it.

Shame.

I was the living, talking, breathing evidence of their adultery. Every day Miranda laid eyes on me, I was a constant reminder of what she did. That’s why she couldn’t look at me.

It all makes sense now.

My mother used it as an excuse to treat me the way she did. I was her scapegoat.

When she was the one to blame. Marcus too.

Nicki was spot on; I have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about.

Since Nicki left with Lola and Zane twenty minutes ago, Marcus and I have made awkward small talk, mainly about the team and the games we’ve won.

Well, I meantheyhave won. I haven’t played for a month. It’s the longest I've ever spent off the ice.

“I’ve been a fool, Wade.”

---