Page 53 of The Sinners Touch

“I know.” The surly reply only made him laugh, which served to heighten Angel’s ire. She was not in the mood to deal with more than one Kincaid brother this morning.

“You are a prickly one,sestra.”

Lily poured herself a cup of coffee. “Do either of you want some coffee?”

Nikoli came back out, grinning. “He’s sound asleep.”

“Asleep?” Angel couldn’t believe it. He went in the office and went to sleep when she’d been up all night agonizing over his little bombshell. “He’s fucking sleeping?”

Nikoli’s eyes widened when she yanked open the fridge door and took out an ice cold bottle of water. He was on her heels when she marched down to the office where Kade was sprawled out in the desk chair, head hanging to the side, feet propped up on the desk. And snoring.

The fucker was snoring!

She opened the water then turned it upside down right over his face. He came awake spluttering, and she continued to pour it on him until every last bit was gone.

“What the hell, Angel?”

“Good morning, husband dearest.” She smiled her nastiest smile, the one she reserved for customers who thought she was a hooker back in her stripping days. “While you were in here sleeping, I had all the time in the word to think about everything.”

Kade stood, alarmed, completely ignoring the water dripping down his face. He knew that sugary sweet tone. It meant trouble for him. “Angel, I know you’re pissed…”

“Oh, no, darling husband, I’m not pissed.” She smiled, but it was nothing but teeth. “I’m so far beyond pissed, you’re lucky you still have your balls attached.”

Shit, she was mad. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He’d been on the phone with Bailey. They’d found the girl who’d been taken. The one who looked like Angel. They’d all agreed it was better for Jeremy to take the lead and for Kade to keep an eye on his wife. They’d keep him updated and only call him in if it was necessary. The unsub had sped up his timeline. It could only mean he was starting to unravel, that he’d make another mistake soon. No one wanted that mistake to be at Angel’s expense.

After he hung up with Bailey, he’d closed his eyes for two seconds then woke up to a face full of ice water.

“I’m sorry I fell asleep.” He wiped the water out of his eyes. “I didn’t mean to…”

“But you never mean to, do you, Kincaid?” Her green eyes were spitting fire. “You didn’t mean to make me love you, you didn’t mean to knock me up, you didn’t mean for the baby to die, you didn’t mean for Peter to die, you didn’t mean any of it, did you? Well, how about not looking for me? Did you mean to look harder, to track me down? No, you went on about your fucking life and forgot all about me. That’s what you told Barney, wasn’t it? Youforgotyou were married.”

“Bailey,” he corrected her.

She shot him a glare. “Whatever.”

“Angel, if you just calm down…”

“Oh, I am calm.” She tossed the empty bottle on the desk. “And right now, if I have to look at you a second longer, I am going to do you serious physical harm.” She turned and pushed past Nikoli and Viktor, who were staring at them, open-mouthed.

“You’re fucked,” Viktor said as he watched her disappear down the hall toward the main room.

Kade sank back down in the desk chair. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“She’s a firecracker.” Viktor sat in one of the chairs facing the desk, and Nik took the other. “So, you want to tell us what’s going on?”

Kade snorted at Viktor’s mild tone. The man was dying of curiosity and trying to conceal it to weasel information out of Kade. He knew his tricks.

“Met a girl. Knocked her up. Married the girl. Busted her brother on drug charges, and it all went downhill from there.”

“She lost the baby?” Kade’s attention swiveled to Nikoli. Kade didn’t quite know how to describe the expression on his brother’s face. It worried him a little.

“Yes. I thought she’d be out of the house by the time the police arrived, but she hadn’t left yet. When they broke down the door, she got startled and fell down the stairs. The doctors did what they could, but it was too late. She was only twenty weeks along. The baby was too little to survive a torn placenta.” His voice broke at the end, and he sucked in a breath, doing his damnedest not to cry. The loss of his son still crippled him to this day. It was why he tried not to think of Matthew.

“I’m sorry,brat.” Viktor shifted in his seat. “Why didn’t you tell us? We could have helped you.”

“It’s a long story.”

Nikoli snarled low. “Long story? You just told us we had a nephew who we would have loved from the second we found out about him. Then you tell us he died, and you didn’t even bother to allow us to grieve with you, let alone for him. Trust me, Kade, we’ve got the time for this story.”

---