The Revenge (The Insiders Trilogy #3)(55)

Got it. What place did I have in questioning her? The whole “being hurt” was a ruse. That was her shot at me.

I smirked at her, sliding off my barstool. “You’re right, Payton. I do know you.” My head went to the side. “I know that your father worked for my grandfather. He was in business with Griogos as well. And I know that before your father died, you and Quinn stayed at my grandfather’s home for a summer.”

Payton’s pallor was getting noticeably whiter. “Everyone knows that.”

Matt raised his hand. “Uh, I didn’t. You stayed there? With him?”

She gave him a look. “He wasn’t there, and that was before everything.”

“Dad? Did you know that?” Matt asked.

Payton was looking at Peter, too, a deeper look being shared between the two. His hold tightened around his pool stick before he cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. It’s actually how Quinn and I got to know each other. She knew I was partners with Kashton’s parents by then, and said we had an acquaintance in common.”

“An acquaintance,” Matt scoffed. “This is hilarious, and I mean that it’s not at all.” His words were biting. “What the hell, Dad?”

“Matthew.” Peter indicated Cyclone and Seraphina.

“Then maybe they should go to their rooms, because apparently there’s some real adult stuff that needs to be dealt with, like the fact that Payton and Quinn knew Calhoun Bastian?”

“You knew that Quinn knew Kashton’s grandfather.”

Matt scowled back at his father. “Not to that extent. What the hell, man? Quinn stayed at your grandfather’s house? You knew that?” The last questions were directed to me.

I nodded, everything in me growing cold. “It was when they were younger. I was told about it before my parents were killed. And when Quinn married Peter, she swore that she had no contact with my grandfather since.” I turned to Payton. “Is that true? Is it the same for you as well?”

Did they know about my brother?

I looked at Bailey. Meeting her gaze, I felt punched by the look coming from her. I wasn’t sure if it was a good punch or not. She was looking at me with this sudden new understanding. Her head tilted the other way.

“What is it?”

“I—you see all of me, and sometimes I don’t want to feel all of me.”

I suddenly knew exactly how she felt.

I rubbed at my chest, feeling her in there. It was a different sensation.

Whatever she saw in me, it got her moving. Whispering something to Cyclone and Seraphina before both ran upstairs, she began to walk my way. I ceased paying attention to the room. Payton was not my business to handle, but Matt and Bailey needed to know the extent of her connection. They did now. I hadn’t intended to put Payton on blast. She really was not a problem for me to handle, and I could’ve mentioned it to them behind closed doors, but I was glad it got handled this way. It was in front of Payton. It was in front of everyone, and Payton got the message.

Stand on your own if you want to stay.

For as long as I’d known Payton and Quinn, Payton came only a few times. She never stayed long. She talked to Peter a little, to Quinn a little, and to Cyclone and Seraphina most of the time. She doted on both of them. It’d been Cyclone who took to her the most in the beginning, but that seemed like it was changing since Bailey was in the picture and Seraphina was getting older.

Then Bailey was in front of me, and she touched my chest. “You okay?”

Oh yeah. She saw right through me.

I moved away from the bar, ignoring anyone paying us attention, and drew her to me. An arm around her waist, I pulled her in. She fit perfectly, just how she was supposed to. I bent down, my lips resting just above hers. “Always.” I felt her heart speeding up, it was in sync with mine, and damn I loved this girl.

Woman, I corrected myself.

I loved this woman.

She’d been through too much, dealt with too much. There was no more innocence in her. That’d been taken from her, and lifting my head, I peered at her. I touched her lip. “Could do with more time with you, though.”

My hand slid around to the back of her neck.

I felt her whole body shiver, and her lips parted. Her eyes were dilating, darkening with lust.

“How about…” Two arms came around us both.

Bailey and I went rigid, but then Matt’s head was forcing ours apart and he was smiling wide at both of us. Looking from one to the other. His arms tightened around us.

“… we all have a night together? I think we’re due. How about it, Kash? A night at Naveah? It’s been a while since we all hung out together. ”

I frowned at him. “You’re interrupting some Kailey time.”

He stiffened.

Bailey tensed, and then a wide smile lit up her whole face. “I love it!” She moved even closer to me, almost letting me have her whole weight. “Yes, please.”

“What? No. I want time with you both—” Cutting himself off, Matt took my hand from Bailey. He moved in, turning his back to me and put both his hands on Bailey’s shoulders. He began backing her up, walking with her. “I’m making the decision. You. Me. My sister here. We’re heading to Naveah. I’m making it happen.” He kept walking her out of the room, saying over his shoulders, “I don’t trust both of you being alone to get ready, so I’m walking her up there. She gets the bathroom first.”