The Fortunates (Unfortunates #2) by Skyla Madi Page B

onto the huge bed. Exhaling, I crawl to the top and pull back the sheets. As I push myself underneath the blankets, the weight of the problems on my shoulders are almost too dense to carry. It’s as though I haven’t slept in weeks when in reality, I slept all day today. I rest my head against my pillow.
    Parties.
    Wars.
    Surviving.
    What am I going to do?
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Ten
     

     
    Kade
     
    Kade spent the night without her…another night he slept with empty arms to mark on the calendar. Like all the other nights, he couldn’t sleep. At one point, he managed to talk himself into climbing out of bed and walking the long distance to the Milano house, only to pull out at the last second and stroll empty-handed and heavy hearted the whole way home.
    Twice.
    He hated feeling so needy. He detested it to the very core of his being, but he couldn’t shake it. Kade half expected to wake up midway through the night and find Nine in his arms, but it didn’t happen. It wasn’t a surprise. He’d always underestimated her courage and strength. Of course she didn’t come running back to him, begging to sleep in his bed. She’d never stoop so low.
    “Kade?” Vince boomed, pulling Kaden from his thoughts. Kade snapped his head up, focusing his attention on Vincent’s angry face. “Did you hear what I said? At all?”
    Kade tried to recall Vince’s question. He was certain he heard it, but it failed to stick.
    “No, but I’ll bet three virgin Unfortunates it’s the usual boring shit you feel the need to dribble.”
    Vince rolled his broad shoulders and bit back an aggressive sneer. “I said, the moderators I have investigating Dad’s death found his handkerchief by the river bed this morning. I’m having them sweep the lake tomorrow.”
    Hair lifted on the back of Kade’s neck and his stomach quivered. It took every fibre in his being not to react to the news. His first thought was to panic, but then reason kicked in. It had been weeks since Kade dumped his father’s body in the lake and even if they found it, there’d be no evidence to tie Kade or Nine to the murder.
    Kade despised Vince’s investigation. It prevented him from entering the city. If Vince found Michael’s body, Sario house would be under investigation for treason. One by one they’d question the Fortunates and whip the Unfortunates, waiting for someone to slip up. Unfortunate eyes were everywhere—moderators too. What if one of them saw something—anything? Kade would be shot.
    On second thought, maybe the investigation was a good thing. Kade needed time to work out how he was going convince Nine to marry him. It wouldn’t be easy. He knew there was no way she would agree to marry him as long as Vince still breathed. She’d die before calling him family.
    A union between him and Nine would ensure her safety. After they married, he could rest easy for a year before he started to think about having children. Unless Vince found someone who wanted to marry him and birth his devil spawn before Kade’s twenty-fifth birthday in a few years, Kade’s position was safe.
    “Have fun with that,” Kade said, plucking a blueberry from his palm and slipping it between his lips.
    Vince tilted his head, zeroing his espresso stare in on Kade. “You’re colder than I thought.”
    Crushing the berry between his teeth, Kade shifted his weight on to his left leg. “Cold?”
    “Your callousness is a dead giveaway. You murder our father in cold blood and don’t even bat an eyelid when I tell you I’m close to finding his body?”
    Kade shrugged, bored. He had better things to do than stand here and listen to Vince try to get a confession out of him. “I didn’t murder anybody, Vince.”
    “You didn’t murder anybody, huh? The moderator we found in the mud seventy metres south of here. That wasn’t you?”
    Killing a moderator wasn’t illegal. Not when it came to protecting a Fortunate.
    “I did what needed to be done. Jim