Page 40 of Scorched Veil
“I do,” I whisper.
“Fuck, baby.” He cups my face and kisses me tenderly. “I fucking love you too.”
“Nooo …” my brother screams. “Summer, no. Don’t choose him. Please, don’t.” He keeps begging, voice breaking.
“No, Storm, our father sold me. You don’t get to question my decision now. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Kairo, but I have. This man is my husband, and I am excited to plan a future with him.”
My brother shakes his head as a sneer falls across his lips. "Did he tell you about Landon?"
Landon? Who the hell is Landon?The name means nothing to me. "Who?"
"Landon Marin. He worked for your husband. He was one of his men." Storm's voice has changed, it’s colder. The loving brother has disappeared. "He was assigned to watch you, to follow you and report back to Kairo.”
“Kairo told me he’s been watching me for years. That isn’t new news,” I tell him.
Storm seems surprised by this, but it doesn’t stop him from saying what he’s about to say. “Did you know he killed him because of you.” His words land with pinpoint accuracy.
“What did you say?”
“Storm.” Kairo says his name in warning, low and dangerous.
“Ahh, I see, your husband didn’t tell you about the part where he killed one of his own men because you lost your virginity,” my brother states.
What is he talking about? I turn and look up at Kairo, and he can’t meet my eyes.No. That can’t be true. He would never.
"A man is dead, Summer, because of you. Your husband killed him." My brother is smiling now, knowing he has delivered a bomb right into my marriage. "Ask him." Storm points at Kairo. "Ask him what happened to the man who was supposed to be watching you the night you went to that party. The night you fucked some random dude because you wanted to lose your virginity.”
How does my brother know this? Of course, I remember that night. I was twenty-one, and my friend dragged me out. I drank too much that night and got angry that no one wanted me, that I was the last person in college who hadn’t lost their virginity. I didn’t understand what was wrong with me, why no one wanted me.I now know why.But back then, I didn’t. The first boy whoshowed me attention that night … I let it happen with. It was sloppy and disappointing, and I wondered what all the fuss was about.
I turn to Kairo. "Is that true?" I ask quietly, hoping it’s just my brother’s elaborate plan to get me to go home with him.
He looks at me, those amber eyes, steady, dark, and unflinching. "Yes," he confesses.
I want to throw up. This can’t be true. I can’t be the reason someone lost their life. No. No. No.
"You killed him."
Kairo turns and shoots my brother a lethal look. “He had one job, Summer. And that was to protect you. He was supposed to have watched over you and kept you safe. He got lazy and careless, and because of that, someone else touched you. So yes, I killed him."
My eyes widen as I can’t believe what I am hearing. "He didn't let anything happen." My voice is rising. "I made a choice, and I went to a party to sleep with someone. That was my decision. Mine," I say, hitting myself in the chest.
"And his job was to make sure that decision never happened." His tone is murderous.
"So, you murdered someone because I had sex." Am I hearing this correctly?
“It wasn’t the only reason, he had a long list of other felonies that I couldn’t tolerate any longer, and this was the last one,” he explains. "I killed someone because they failed to do their job. In my world, failure has consequences, you know that."
Tears start to fall down my cheeks. “I’ve assumed you’ve killed people, bad people, but hearing you actually have …”
“See, I told you, Summer, he’s a monster,” Storm adds.
Kairo loses it at my brother. He rushes over and punches him hard in the face. “Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit.”
Storm's head snaps to the side, and blood sprays from his mouth onto the stone path. He staggers but doesn't go down, then spits a mouthful of blood onto the tiles and laughs.
"There he is," Storm says, wiping his mouth. "There's the real Kairo Saint. Not the honorable husband act.This.A man who solves every problem with his fists."
"Kairo, stop." I grab his arm before he can swing again. His muscles are rigid under my grip, his whole body vibrating with rage. I can feel the violence coiled in him, waiting.
