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That was harsh but true. Only because he didn’t know everything.
Not yet.
He might feel differently once he did.
“Do you think I don’t appreciate you getting me away from her? But you just left me with some random family, Sig.” Her voice cracked and she shook her head.
Dodge’s hand slid from her back to her hip and he stepped up next to her, pulling her against his side.
Not just supporting her but also a clear message he was protecting what was his.
That gesture made Sig’s lip pull up into a snarl. “Better than goin’ into the system.”
“But was it?”
“She woulda sold you, Syn. First your virginity and then you. And she wouldn’t have waited until you were older but while you were a goddamn baby. Told you that. Maybe you didn’t believe me ‘cause you were too fuckin’ young to truly understand it. But she didn’t give a fuck about you. She didn’t give a fuck about anythin’ but her next fix. Her next bottle. The next fuckin’ man who would pay her for lettin’ him stick his dick in her cunt.” He slapped a hand on his forehead and began to pace from the edge of the kitchen counter to the edge of the hallway and back. “They were already eyeballin’ you when you were days fuckin’ old, Syn. Days!” he screamed. “What kinda sick motherfuckers are attracted to newborns? To any fuckin’ babies at all? For fuck’s sake!”
Both the volume and the unrestrained fury of his rant made Syn wince and she saw Autumn’s face beginning to twist as did her hands that were clasped in front of her. The young redhead also had her bottom lip clamped between her teeth. Syn wouldn’t be surprised if she was tasting blood.
This conversation was affecting her. Deeply.
Hell, it was affecting them all. Dodge seemed to be the only steady ship in the stormy sea.
Before Syn could respond, Sig stopped short in his pacing and growled, “Shoulda just left you there to rot, then, and just saved myself.”
“Sig,” Red whispered sharply as she moved close enough to clamp a hand around his forearm, squeezing it. Sig dropped his eyes to her hand and Syn could see him visibly take a breath. Then another. It took a minute or two, but he didn’t sound as angry when he finally continued. “Did the best I could, Syn.”
She closed her eyes for a second. She shouldn’t say it, but she needed to. She needed to finally have a chance to get it out. Until she did, they wouldn’t be able to clear the turbulent air between them. “You could have taken me with you.”
She would have taken a step back if Dodge wasn’t holding onto her so tightly when Sig yelled, “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me? A fucked in the head thirteen-year-old and an infant livin’ on the damn streets? That wouldn’t have been too fuckin’ smart.”
“If he’d done that, so many things coulda went wrong, Syn. At that age, he did what he thought was best. For you. He thought he was controllin’ the narrative. Doin’ damage control,” Dodge said, his voice too calm, too level, like he had to work at it.
She closed her eyes again and let oxygen fill her lungs, slowly and completely. With her eyes closed, she said, “I know. But the problem was the family he gave me to wasn’t what they seemed.” She opened her eyes and found Sig’s. “You didn’t save me. By giving me to them you only delayed the inevitable. You sacrificed me without even realizing it.”
Chapter Eighteen
The air in that small apartment became so thick and weighed so heavily on her chest, Syn had a difficult time taking a breath.
Sig needed to know. He needed to know everything.
Well, maybe not everything. At least the most important parts.
“You wanna fuckin’ explain that?” Sig growled, breaking free of Autumn’s grip and taking long strides toward Syn.
Dodge’s fingers tightened on her hip and he grumbled a warning, “Yo, brother.”
Sig’s dark eyes landed on the man next to her. “You don’t belong here.”
“The fuck I don’t.”
“Just ‘cause you fucked her once don’t mean you got a say in shit. Or that you’ll get to do it again.”
Dodge stiffened against her. “That ain’t up to you.”
“Sig, stop it,” Autumn hissed and moved to stand behind him. “You’re not making this easy for anyone. Syn’s an adult and can make her own decisions. What she feels for Dodge, if anything, isn’t your business.”
“The fuck it ain’t,” Sig said.
“No,” Syn said, shaking her head. “It isn’t. That’s not why I’m here.”
“If you don’t want me to act like your brother, then why the fuck are you here?”
“I’m here because I want you in my life but I also… need you. And, yes, I want you to act like my brother, but not my father. There’s a difference.”
