Page 17 of His Ruin
Getting into fights constantly, skipping class, and making our parents’ lives a living hell is where my brother excels. With his maturity came the hot-headedness of an angsty teenager, and his friends are no help. Instead of seeking further counseling, as the school therapist suggested, Kaden simply ignored the pleas before helping Saint track down some kid from fourth period who owed him money. That turned into an expulsion for my brother, and Dad had to pay out the ass to get Kaden back into Holy Hearts and keep him out of juvenile detention.
While he doesn’t care what our parents think, he does care about what I think. And I think he’s being stupid.
“I’ll be back for the last hour,” he says with a shrug.
“What if you get expelled again?” I stress, stepping closer to him. “Dad is going to pop a blood vessel at this rate.”
My brother tilts his chin down, giving me an amused expression. “Sunny, the do-good, picture-perfect Wilder kid.”
“Don’t talk to me like that…” I mutter disheartenedly.
He sighs. “Look, I’m not arguing with you over this, Melody.”
I take his hand in mine, intertwining our fingers as I lay on some puppy dog eyes. “Then don’t go, and we won’t have to argue.”
He squeezes my hand in his. “I know what you’re doing, and it won’t work. Not this time.”
“Please,“ I bat my eyelashes.
My brother looks away from me quickly, his teeth grinding. “As hard as it is for me to say no to you, my answer is the same.”
I release his hand, huffing. “Jerk. It’s my birthday.”
“I know,” he says softly. “But Ivan wants to talk about something. He needs me right now.”
“Choosing your friends over your sister—”
“Don’t do that,” Kaden cuts me off sharply. “I’m not choosing them over you. No one is over you, do you understand?”
My heart slams in my chest as my stomach flutters. My reaction is completely platonic and normal for a sister, right?
I nod. “Okay…”
Kaden shakes his head as he scrubs a hand over his mouth. “I’ll see you later.” He turns on his heel in an easy dismissal, but I’m stuck staring at the spot he once resided in.
As if he’ll magically appear again and tell me he was only joking.
But he never does.
Chapter twelve
Kaden
ThemomentI’malonewith my friends, I deck Saint in the arm so hard he almost crumples to the ground. The maniac laughs hysterically, his face turning crimson as he holds his throbbing shoulder.
“Oh!” He guffaws. “You should see your face!”
“Fuck you,” I bite.
Ivan rolls his eyes before taking out a cigarette for each of us. We light them, and I sink to the earthy soil beneath me while Saint attempts to climb the tree at my back. We’re on the other side of the privacy fence of Holy Hearts, where no one can see us as we have our meeting.
My friend takes a long drag, a current flowing through his eyes before the smoke billows around him. “I have to kill my father.”
My brows shoot up as Saint falls from the low-hanging branch onto his back. He groans pitifully, rolling onto his side with his cigarette hanging out of his mouth. “What the fuck? Why?”
The nicotine buzzes through my veins, a settling calm washing over me as I ease back into the tree and spread my legs out in front of me. “Yeah, why?”
Ivan takes another drag, sucking up the smoke as if it’s life-sustaining. “Because if I don’t, he’ll come for me the moment I inherit his title. He doesn’t want to give up his control as Pakhan. I’ll only be an obstacle to him.”
