Near the front door, Olin spotted the reason. Kat’s parents stood there and Bradley blocked their path. Kat and Dean approached from the side, and the pain on Kat’s face let Olin understand the aggression in Bradley’s voice.
She’d come so far, worked so hard, finally achieved things her parents told her she wasn’t capable of, and here they were to destroy it all.
Over my dead body.
“You need to leave,” Bradley said, trying to keep his voice low not to attract too much attention. After everything Kat had been through, she didn’t need to be humiliated at her own party by the likes of these assholes.
It would have been better for Dean or Olin to deal with them, for the men who had silver tongues and quick wits to smooth things over, but instead it had landed on Bradley’s shoulders since he’d spotted them talking to the security at the front door. He knew damned well they weren’t on the list, hadn’t been invited, so what the fuck were they doing there?
“This is our daughter’s party. Of course we’re here,” Barlow said, playing the part of a loving father.
“You’ve done nothing but hurt her for years. You’ve got no place here, and if you think I’m about to stand here and let you hurt her more, you’ve got another think coming.”
Barlow pulled his shoulders back, the look of a man used to getting what he wanted. “You don’t scare me. You are some useless backwoods hick and hardly worth my time. We aren’t here for you—we’re here for Katherine.”
“Mom, Dad.” Kat’s voice had that soft quality it had every time Kat spoke to her parents, as if she turned into a kid around them, no matter what. All that confidence he’d grown used to from her evaporated in front of them. “Why are you here?”
Elizabeth smiled as if seeing Kat were the best thing, but Bradley easily spotted the fakeness of it. “What do you mean, darling? We’re here to celebrate your accomplishment.”
“You made it clear you don’t support my art,” Kat pressed.
“Oh, Katherine, that’s not true. We’re hard on you sometimes so that you do your best, so you can achieve your dreams, but we’re always proud of you.” Her mother reached out and took Kat’s hand as if they were all better, as if none of the things that had happened had actually happened.
It broke Bradley’s heart, the yearning in Kat’s eyes as if she’d wanted nothing more than that, than the acceptance. Even now, even after everything she’d achieved and suffered and overcome, Kat just wanted her parents to be proud of her.
Kat swallowed hard and pulled her hand away. “Don’t try and change history. I know exactly what you’ve said. You told me I wasn’t even invited to the family reunion.” Her voice wavered at that, as if it hurt just to admit it, especially with so many others watching.
Which made it pretty damned clear what her parents were doing. They hadn’t given a damn about Kat when they thought she wasn’t good enough, but now that she seemed to be the talk of the town with her art, they wanted to claim her again. They wanted to use that success for their own means.
Fucking assholes.
Barlow dropped his voice so it didn’t carry as far. “We are yourparents,Katherine. Are you really going to cause a scene and kick us out? You gallivant around with three men and you think they’ll be there for you? They will get tired of you and leave, and where will you be then? Alone? We are blood, and that’s all you can rely on. Without us, you will be on your own.”
Bradley had had more than enough. “That’s bullshit. Kat’s been alone because of you already. She built herself a life on her own, without your help, so she sure as hell doesn’t need your so-called help now.”
Barlow rolled his eyes. “Whatever twisted love affair you seem to have with Katherine won’t last. She’s never managed to keep anyone around long term, and I am certain whatever it is you’re getting out of it”—Barlow cast a dismissive and vulgar look between Kat, Olin, Dean and Bradley, as if implying sex was all she could give them—“will get old sooner rather than later. When that happens, she’ll regret burning bridges with us.”
Bradley went to close his hand into a fist, ready to hit the fucker for making Kat feel that way, but someone got between them.
Ell walked forward, standing up to Barlow as if she were ten feet tall instead of the thin girl she was. She crossed her arms over her chest, meeting his gaze head-on. “Her name isKat,and she isn’t alone.”
As she said that, Sunny also pushed forward, breaking away from the crowd, along with other submissives from Sanctuary. Behind them stood the others, the Doms and Dommes who all saw Kat as one of their own.
It seemed the two had unknowingly riled up a group they shouldn’t have, and Bradley didn’t bother to hide his grin because Kat’s parents hadnoidea that they’d just messed with the wrong girl.
Kat held her breath as others came to her defense to stand up to her parents. It shocked her the way her friends had stood up, the way they’d backed her even if most of them had no idea if what her parents said was true.
“Who are you?” Kat’s father asked Ell, his look dismissive, as if he couldn’t believe the woman would even speak to him.
“I’m Kat’s friend, and she hasn’t been alone in averylong time.”
“You—”
Sunny spoke up, and despite the fact Sunny tended to be quiet and sweet, Kat knew the woman was tough when it came to protecting others. She pointed her finger at Barlow to silence him. “Quiet. You will not come in here and cause more pain to Kat. She is an amazing, dedicated and loving person who has always deserved so much more than you.”
“You don’t know anything,” Kat’s mother added in, though she lacked some of the confidence she’d had before, as if she hadn’t expected to have anyone stand up to her. “Friendships fall apart. Family is forever.”
“Yeah, family is,” Sunny said. “The thing is, Katisfamily to us. She’s risked herself for those she cares about, has given so much to all of us. You won’t find a better person, someone with a bigger heart.”