Page 32 of The Sinners Touch

“Yeah, scared the hell out of Mama when she didn’t hear from you for almost two years. For a while there, we all thought you might have been killed.”

“I met Angel while I was undercover. Her brother was my in with the guys I needed to hook up with. We got married, and after the bust went down, we parted ways.”

“So, it wasn’t a real marriage?” Nikoli quirked an eyebrow in question.

“That’s what I thought.” Angel rubbed her arms, her memories trying to swim up and drown her in even more grief. She pushed them down resolutely. She’d kept them buried thislong, and she wasn’t going to let them crush her now. Not when she needed to keep up her strength.

“But?”

“But I used my real name while undercover, and I was married under that name. An annulment was out of the question because the marriage was consummated. We’d need a divorce, and what with one assignment after another, it slipped my mind until I saw her.”

“You forgot?” Nikoli leaned back, studying his brother. “How the fuck do you forget something like that?”

“Leave it alone, Nik.” Angel leaned forward. She’d watched Kade explain this more times than she cared to. She understood his putting it in the past and doing his best not to think about it. It was exactly what she’d forced herself to do in order to protect what was left of her shattered heart. It made her wonder if Kade had done something similar. But that would mean he’d cared, and his actions said otherwise. Confusing. That was what this whole mess was starting to become.

Her statement brought the full intensity of Nikoli’s stare to settle on her. “Did you know who I was when I came into Pops’ that first night?”

“Look at you, Nik. Even if I hadn’t seen your picture, I’d have known. There’s no denying you’re brothers.”

“You’ve always treated me like family, Angel Girl. I never understood it, but I do now.” His expression became so serious it alarmed her. “You’re family.”

“No.” She shook her head, emotions she’d worked so hard to shut out pounding on the locked door of her heart. “I…you were Kade’s little brother…and…after Peter…I just…”

“You needed to protect someone, someone you thought of as family.”

Her eyes shot to Kade. They were full of understanding and grief. Was he thinking about their son? The pain in them…the wall around her own heart cracked, the locks on the door splintering.

No. No. No.

She would not succumb. She would not hurt like that again. Never, ever again.

But what if he hurts as much as you do?her subconscious whispered.

“Why didn’t you ever tell us?” Nikoli asked, forcing her attention back to him and away from traitorous thoughts.

Kade shrugged. “It wasn’t anyone’s business but mine and Angel’s.”

Nikoli stared at them both for a long moment then shrugged himself. “Well, I guess we got what we always wanted, but dreaded.”

What did that mean?

“A sister.” He laughed. “God, I’ve known about her for a minute, and all the trouble she’s already causing.” He pulled out his phone.

“Who are you calling?” Alarm spread across Kade’s face, and he half stood. “Don’t you dare call Mama orBabushka. I don’t even know what…”

Nikoli held up a finger to shush him and put the phone on speaker.

Shit, who was he calling? Kade growled, and Angel was right there with him. If Nikoli was calling their mother…she shook her head. No. She and Kade might be legally married, but they weren’t husband and wife. It would only upset Kade’s family.

“Hey, Nik. What’s up.” Viktor’s voice was deep and rich like Kade’s. His Russian accent was also much more pronounced than either of the other two brothers.

“Did you get my messages?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why for fuck’s sake didn’t you call me back?”

“Don’t give me grief. I just got back from Russia this morning. I’m fucking tired, and I don’t need your shit. I've been busy, okay? Like you, I run a company. What’s so fucking urgent you can’t wait for me to call you the fuck back?”

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