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“Addie! Enough.” Dad warns with a resounding boom in his voice he’d only ever used once on us when we were kids and crashed and sunk his brand-new jet skis.
Addie immediately snaps her lips closed.
Dad turns back to his sister. “You should go, Iris. This is a family matter and does not concern you.”
“But ... I am family, Oz.”
Dad’s features soften. “You have your own family,la hermana.This is mine.”
For a second, a pinprick of a second, I almost feel bad for the woman. She could have been told her dog died the way her whole presence shrunk before us. Defeat bows her back, pulls her shoulders to her ears. She looks up at her brother, the only person who ever stuck by her and her chin wobbles once before it all vanishes in the blink of an eye and the Iris we all know and hate returns.
“If this is how you want to run your family, Oz, fine. You can take it up with God. But there is only one place these two will be going. Vile, shameful acts with your own brother—”
“What shame?” Paloma steps forward, brows dark slashes pulled low over heated eyes. “They’re not related, Iris. You know that. Oz never adopted Addie, and I never adopted Rhys. Addie was ten when Oz and I married. Rhys was twelve. Both of themwere old enough to know they’re not actually brother and sister. The fact that you keep throwing that out there is just you trying to shame them.”
“They should be shamed!” Iris cries. “They grew up together. They lived in the same house their entire lives. Just how long have they been disrespecting your home?”
“That is none of your business. My children are none of your business. You’re welcome to be in their lives if you’ll be a loving, caring aunt to them, but if you can’t, they’re better off without you.”
“Are you giving me an ultimatum?”
“Friendly advice,” Paloma counters smoothly as she takes a step closer into Iris’s space. No one sees the sweep of her arm slicing back or the launch until the crack of her palm colliding across Iris’s face shatters the silence.
“Holy fuck!” Addie yelps, hands flying up to cover her mouth.
But Paloma is a looming angel of fury towering over the stunned woman clutching her scarlet cheek.
“If you ever call my daughter a whore again, I will tie you to the back of my car and drag your ass back to whatever hole you crawled out of. Now, get the fuck out of my house.”
Iris sprints from the kitchen and out onto the back deck. No one watches her go. No one can stop staring at the tiny brunette cradling her hand, blinking at it like it belongs to someone else.
“Oh, I hit her,” she gasps at last, spinning to face Dad. “Oz, I am so sorry.”
He barely lets her finish. His hand is a fist in her hair, dragging her in for a kiss that is much too personal for my delicate eyes.
I glance at Addie to find her studying her sandals. I touch her cheek gently, pulling her gaze to mine.
“You okay?”
“About to find out, I guess,” she whispers back.
I dare a peek at the two adults finally breaking the kiss only to stare into the other’s eyes like they’re about to finish acts I’m unwilling to witness.
I clear my throat.
Both blink as if only just remembering us.
Dad straightens, cheeks nearly as red as Paloma’s. “You two in my office.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ADDIE
––––––––
It’s not exactly outrage in Oz’s face when we follow him into the black and gold office. If I have to put a name to his pursed lips and furrowed brows — resignation. Maybe annoyance. But anything is better than disappointment.
The room with the black walls and enormous, black desk is too silent considering the four people occupying the space.
