You Are Mine Little Sister (by Syra Tucker) novel Chapter 123

He turned to face me and took my hand, threading our fingers like he was filing me under proof. My heart went off like a fist on a locked door. I couldn't look anywhere but at him.

"This whole time," I swallowed. "They've been about me."

His finger traced my collarbone, slid down and circled my nipple. Heat flared, causing my breath to lose its footing. "Everything has been about you since I was twelve."

He rolled his thumb and gave the nipple a careful pull that sent a bright ache through my chest, then he slid that hand into my hair like he was shelving me where I belonged.

"Don't leave me again, Rali Hayes," he said, softer than he ever let himself be, and somehow more dangerous for it. "Not for any reason."

My eyes closed on their own. "I won't."

I didn't say it because he wanted it. I said it because something that had been running in me for months finally sat down, folded its legs, and decided to stay.

*****†

RALI

"I know, mum. I'm sorry I had to leave. There was an emergency at work."

A sharp smack landed on my backside, punctuation for the lie. I mouthed 'ouch' over my shoulder, glaring at him. I hadn't even heard him step onto the balcony.

"I knew you could never be trusted," mum went on grumbling. "So, what about the anniversary? It's this weekend. You promised you'd be here this year."

I switched the phone to my other hand as Void slid in behind me, kissing the hollow of my neck.

"About that, I'm definitely going to be there. Veronica and I."

"And you expect me to believe you? You said the same thing last year."

"No, no. Last year was—" My voice hiccupped into a near-gasp when he bit the same spot he'd just kissed. What the hell?

I tried to nudge him off with an elbow, his arm cinched my waist instead. His tongue soothed lazy circles over the spot he'd just bitten.

"I—I'm definitely going to be there, mum. Don't worry."

The asshole kneaded my ass like dough. Fine. Maybe showing up in a G-string and a net jacket at eight a.m. had been an invitation I didn't mean to mail.

Mum went on dishing out threats on what would happen if I missed she and Dad's anniversary this year, and I let her, equally enjoying the morning sun pressing warm on my thighs, the balcony rail cooling my palms, and of course, Void's mouth writing his own agenda at my throat.

"I have to go, mum. Let me call you back. Love you, bye." I hung up just as his mannerless fingers found my sex through the whisper-thin strip of fabric.

I spun in his arms and shoved him with both hands. "Dude, wear a shirt."

He laughed, tipping his head to shake a few wavy strands off his brow stud. "Get used to it, Green. Not my fault I'm sexier than all your exes."

I cocked a brow at him, right before he added with a sheepish grin, "Oh, that's right. You don't have an ex."

I rolled my eyes, folded my arms, and turned back to the view. "Get away from me."

"Sure." His lips returned to my neck as his arms locked my waist. "Is this far enough?"

I gave my head a shake as I laughed. God, the guy was getting hard against my ass.

"I'll be going to the anniversary."

I hadn't said that—he did.

My brows knit as I turned to him. "I... don't understand."

He tipped his head to the side like he was studying my profile. "You didn't think I'd let you stroll back to the very place you ran to, did you?"

"Dude, that's my family house."

I cut him off at the threshold, meeting coals with green. I didn't let him intimidate me.

"We had a deal. I kept my side, even when it hurt. Keep yours."

The quiet that followed had teeth. It chewed my anger down to something rawer.

"Please," I said, softer now. "If you know something, tell me. This is my life. My family. Please."

I knew I had to be gentle with him, because if he told me right now that he didn't want to tell me, there was nothing I could do to get it from him.

He looked past me, then through me, and finally at me. When he spoke, his voice was surgical. "The bid was worn by a woman named Gretchen Stone."

My heart stuttered at his first answer. Nervous heat climbed my neck, my ears hunting the next sentence.

"She was married to a man named Alec Stone. They both had a daughter named Lilith—"

A lump rose hard and sudden.

"—who went missing at three. Presumed dead."

Oh, my God.

"They did all they could to find her, but she was never found."

My throat cinched, impossible to swallow around. He found them. He found my family.

"Where are they?" The words left me as a whisper, tears burning my eyes.

"Dead." His winter gaze didn't betray any emotion. "Car accident."