Page 2 of Liberated By Sin

“She said later,” Derek countered, stepping in front of Ronan as Kai and I maneuvered around them and into the hallway.

There was a brief back-and-forth between the two men, though not unusual. Derek and our adoptivefatherbutted heads more often than not. And I had a gut feeling that one of these days, one would end up dead at the hands of the other.

My money was on Derek.

We spilled onto the front steps, the cool summer air caressing my face as I closed my eyes and tasted the petrichor lingering from a light evening rain.

“Are you riding with me or Derek?” Kai set me down and tossed me a helmet before straddling his new bike. He had discovered his love of motorcycles two years ago and hadn’t looked back. It suited him.

The Cain brothers, while they looked nothing alike, were equally handsome in their own ways and always drew the attention of a swath of women wherever they went. And the three of us together—well, I wasn’t conceited, but once I was old enough to understand the world, I knew Ronan hadn’t just handpicked us based solely on potential.

“I’ll ride with Derek since you only have one helmet, and I don’t want to be the cause of you messing up that pretty face.”

“You’re in luck.” He chuckled as he climbed off his bike, which he curiously named Gloria, and reached into the open backseat window of Derek’s car, pulling out a black helmet with hot pink wildflowers on one side.

“For me?”

“Well, Derek wasn’t a fan, so why not?”

I swatted him with the helmet and tucked it under my arm, rising onto my toes to peck his cheek. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.”

“Come on. Hop on.”

Hanging my new gift on a handle, I slid behind my brother and rested my head on his back. “How long do you think Derek will be? I can’t be out all night.”

“What’s wrong? You got somewhere else to be?”

I glanced at my phone again, expecting a response from Ezra, but there was nothing.

He must be busy.

“No, it’s just that headache, remember?”

“Sure.”

“Kai?” I whispered, staring at my dark screen, willing a text to appear. “Do you ever think about leaving all this behind?”

He remained quiet for a moment and reached for my hand. “Maybe someday, blue.”

“Yeah, someday,” I said with a sigh, giving him a squeeze.

I used to hate that nickname until it grew on me. Some dumb boy on a playground called me a freak for having different colored eyes and for so-called pretending Derek and Kai were my brothers. I was still a kid, so naturally, I cried. But they had my back and reassured me we were family, no matter what. And that even though we didn’t look alike, we all had blue eyes, even if I only had one.

The boy went home with a bloody nose that day.

“Athena.” It was rare for Kai to call me by my first name unless it was important. I stilled, waiting for him to speak. “Promise me something. If you ever decide to leave, take us with you.”

I laughed and tousled his hair. “Why? You’d miss me?”

But Kai didn’t react the way I expected. He was strangely serious.

“I mean it.”

Again, I lay my head against him and hugged his shoulders. “Okay, Kai bear. I promise.”

He belted out a laugh at the old nickname I used to call him as a kid sincebearwas one of the first English words I learned.

There was the Kai I knew.