The Damaged (The Insiders Trilogy #2) - Tijan by Tijan

She swept out, but some of the fierceness had left her.

Cedar and Fleur wavered, glancing at the guys, who were locked down. Their faces were set, their jaws were hard, and each was facing off against them, their feet a shoulder length apart. Their hands were in fists at their sides, and they were heated.

“Cede! Flow!”

Cedar cursed, then went after their friend. She dragged Fleur behind her.

I felt Torie and Tamara at my side.

“You okay?” Torie asked.

I couldn’t answer. I didn’t know.

Tony clipped out, “What the fuck?”

Guy was cringing. “There’s going to be a trickle-down effect. Cedar’s dad is giving mine a shit ton of business this fall. Word gets out and people are seeing who’s on each side, I can see Cedar’s dad pulling out. He’s a pussy when it comes to his daughter.”

“Same with Fleur’s family.”

Tony added after Chester was done, “My own grandfather’s not happy with Kash. He fucked her and tossed her. It pissed her off enough where she flew all the way out here to impale a knife in Bailey and then twist it—yeah. This is going to be bad.”

Matt had had enough. He rounded, his nostrils flaring. “Are you kidding me?” He jabbed a finger in the direction the girls had fled. “One: Kash isn’t a cheat. Two: he hates her guts. Three: I’m the brother, so it’s all gross to me, but I have to say that Kash and Bailey do not have a problem in bed. Four … Do I still need to keep going? Because if that’s not a flyby, trying to hurt someone close to Kash because it’s obvious he did something to hurt her, then I don’t know what is.

“And fifth: Do you all fucking know who you’re talking about? Have you forgotten? It’s Kash, and he’s not in our leagues anymore. Hasn’t been in for a long-ass time. He’s not even in the pros right now. He’s in the hall-of-famers and you all know it. Tony, I highly doubt your grandfather is going to walk away from Kashton Colello when I know he was begging him to be saved just a month ago. Kash’s family defines ‘old money,’ so you all better shut up and start remembering which side of the line you should be on.”

He wasn’t done.

He turned to me, gentling his tone. “Those were bald-faced lies from her. I know you said you knew that. I know you called her on it. But I need to make sure you really know it.”

Her words had hurt, but I nodded. I bit down on my lip. “I know.”

“Wait for Kash.”

Another nod. “I’ll wait for Kash.”

He let out some air, only then looking like he could still breathe. “Good.”

But I had lied to him.

I didn’t know about Kash, and I didn’t know how to process that.

I was feeling all sorts of feelings I shouldn’t have been feeling.

I didn’t shut it down.

That was my second mistake that day.





FORTY-THREE


We sent everyone to fly back, except Matt and I. The two of us alone stayed back.

We were sitting down for dinner when they hit the door running.

Cyclone burst through, full-out sprinting for us. He dropped his bag by the door, and then he was first in Matt’s arms. I was next. His little body was squeezing me tight.

I was melting.

“Bailey!” His arms still around me, he leaned back. “I’ve got so much to tell you. You were right about AI being the next big thing. All the guys in my advanced class worked on a project together and we made an AI rock.”

I stared down at him.

First, I was marveling at how adorable he looked, no matter that he was shooting up in height and his face was beginning to grow more. Second, I had missed my little brother something fierce, and now his arms were around me. And third, an AI rock?

“What?”

He squeezed me before jumping back, his cheeks red and his eyes excited. His hands were waving all around the air. “Yeah. I mean, it can’t talk, but it can move. We tell it to do things and it’ll move there. Like, one guy told him to get him a soda from the fridge and the rock actually went to the fridge.”

Oh my God.

They had possessed a rock.

I just blinked at him, not sure how to respond.

Matt chuckled next to me, but then Seraphina was running through the doorway, too. She went to me first, burying her head into my shoulder and neck. And wow. Cyclone went up an inch, but Seraphina had shot up at least two inches.

No. No. No. They needed to stay little. They couldn’t grow. I wasn’t having it.

But she stepped back, a shy grin now coming over her, and she turned, stepped, and buried her face into Matt’s chest next.

His face softened, and he hugged her before she turned back to me. “I have a lot to tell you.”

“Good.” Good! I still had a mission to hack the mean girls who might be giving her crap. I needed to do an interrogation later, because I had promised Kash last summer that I wouldn’t hack my siblings … again. But I was looking her over, and she looked good.

She looked more than good.

“Ser,” I whispered, feeling all the emotions clogging my throat. “You are beautiful.”

She was stunning!

Her hair was longer, a little lighter, and that made it shine even more in the light. Her face had a natural, healthy glow, and her lips were the cutest shade of soft pink. Her eyes were dancing, and there were no shadows in them. They were clear, focused, and glistening as much as Cyclone’s were.