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Out of the guys and me, I am the least violent because of my moral compass. That's not to say Zach, Wyatt, and Julian don't have morals, but their life has left their directions a little damaged.
I can feel the webbing cracks in the glass - the irrevocable shattering of my principles.
My voice is deadly calm. "From here on out, you are no longer my parents. If spoken to or about, you are only the people who gave me life. And don't go thinking you deserve something from me for having sex. I owe you nothing. You are, from now on, Penelope, the nasty woman who shunned her daughter and left her to an abusive man." I whirl on my father, my voice monotone. "And you are just Arthur. The father who didn't protect his little girl."
They both start talking, making my rage boil under my skin. I snap. "Am I wrong? Or did your daughter not get pregnant by that asshole, and you kicked her to the curb because you are rich assholes who care more about image than your own children?!"
The silence isn't one of remorse. No. The silence means they feel they don't need to defend themselves.
I allow the fury in my eyes to trail over them before I grab my dinner jacket in my white-knuckled grip. "Consider yourselves disowned."
Just like my big sister was.
* * *
I'm not sure how long I sit on the wooden steps of the guys' front porch. It's long enough for the crickets to become background noise to the inner torment of my mind.
I thought about busting down their door in my fit of rage and confusion. They don't need that, though. So here I am, trying to calm myself down before going inside. I don’t want to taint their home with my rage. Or, I suppose it’s my home now, too.
"Tate?" Julian's gentle voice runs over my skin like a balm to my fiery anger. "What are you doing out here?"
I admit that I didn't hear him open the front door, but I don't care. This is one of the few places we can let our guard down. "Thinking."
His toned body settles beside me, our legs and arms pressed together, further settling my nerves. "What happened?"
I snort a humorless laugh. "Where do I even begin?"
"How 'bout the most important part?" My muscles loosen when his hand grips mine and drops a kiss to my knuckles.
Sighing, I rest my head on his shoulder. "I know what happened to my sister." My voice might as well be a whisper.
Beside me, Julian jolts out a gasp. "What?" he breathes out. Shock, excitement, and fear for what I might say are clear in the way he holds me tighter. Each of them knows how important finding Rylee has been to me since long before we met.
I close my eyes. "Ry was pregnant, and my parents kicked her out."
"No..." The trembling voice comes from behind me. Both Julian and I look back to see Zachary and Wyatt watching us with matching looks of horror.
Shifting, I keep Julian's hand in mine as I lean my back against the railing in order to see each of my guys.
"Based on the abusive ex that looks almost old enough to be thirty, she left before she was eighteen. Which probably means that Mason knocked up a fucking minor. My parents admitted they kicked her out, and she was never welcome home again. Bad for their image."
"Wait, back up! You said her ex and baby-daddy's name is Mason?" I didn't think Wyatt's eyes could have gotten any larger, but he's looking at me like I could blow up the entire world.
"Yeah. Big guy, buzzed head, clean beard, anger issues for fucking days. Why?" My heart thunders in my chest when Zach sucks in a sharp breath as well.
Steeling himself, Wyatt offers me a hand, which I take without hesitation. "You have to come see this."
ChapterTwenty-Five
MARCUS
"She asked for all of us?" My smile is wide as I look expectantly at Leo in the passenger seat up front.
Leo nods without looking back at me, his cheeks tinted pink. Jackson's soft lips are tilted up in a smirk in the driver's seat, and Jude is about to bounce out of the car. I think it's safe to say we are so freaking excited that our little Layla invited us over. I hope her momma isn't salty about it.
"Are we there yet?" I can't contain myself.
Neither can Jude. "What he said!"
