with my daughter.”
Max didn’t really understand her father’s words. She continued to stare at him, her mind trying to wrap itself around this new lie. But then Stevie tackled him to the ground and began pummeling him in the face.
Acting on instinct, Max wrapped her arms around her sister and carried her away from their father while Stevie continued to kick and scream and basically lose her mind.
“Youmotherfuckingcocksuckingspunkbubblebastardcuntwhoreofa-motherfucker!”
As she moved, praying her sister didn’t take this moment to shift into her two-ton self, Max didn’t even look at their father. There was no point.
She got Stevie back to the house but was unable to open the security door. She kicked the door with her foot and Zé opened it.
“What the hell’s going on?” he asked, taking a still hysterical Stevie from her arms.
“Just hold her,” Max ordered as Charlie returned to the sunroom.
“What’s going on?” she asked, staring at Max.
“If I tell you,” Max explained, relieved that Stevie had finally calmed down enough for Zé to put her on the ground, “it’s just going to make you mad.”
“Are you fucking kidding right now?” Charlie snapped.
Max looked at Natalie. “You already know, don’t you?”
One side of her mouth lifted and all Max could say to her was, “I’m so sorry, kid. I’m so sorry.”
She shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
“You’re so sorry about what?” Charlie looked around the room. No one would look at her except Max. Even the Malones had their gazes fixed on the floor. “Tell me. So sorry about what?”
Her rage gone, Stevie simply burst into tears at Charlie’s questions.
That’s when understanding sank into Charlie’s brain and she slowly faced Natalie. Gently, she asked, “You’re our sister, aren’t you?”
Natalie nodded.
Charlie moved closer, stood over her. Max doubted her big sister knew how terrifying she must have appeared to the kid. When she was thinking and concerned, Charlie got such a look. To this day, just the thought of that expression still freaked out her teammates.
Max could tell that everyone was waiting to see Charlie’s reaction. What she would say to Natalie. What she’d say to everyone. But Max knew her sister really well. Maybe too well.
So she wasn’t surprised when Charlie spun around and walked out of the sunroom, pushed past the triplets, and kept going until they heard the back door slam open.
Then the scream came. Just one long, anguished scream. A scream Charlie only seemed to use when her father had done something particularly fucked up.
It went on for a long time and shook the house windows.
It was such a strong scream that eventually their deaf sister tapped Max’s arm and asked, “Is she screaming?”
Max nodded. “Yes.”
“So I’m not the only one he makes do that?”
Max laughed. “Nah, kid. You’re not the only one.”
chapter THIRTY-ONE
They all stood in the sunroom, staring through the big windows. Together, they watched Charlie sit on the porch and seethe. No one seethed quite like Max’s big sister. She did it silently but Charlie didn’t need words when the very air around her pulsed with her anger.
“She hates me, doesn’t she?”
Before Max could reply to Natalie Malone’s question, Stevie did.
“No! Of course not. She just feels so bad for you.”
“Why?”
Max finally looked away from Charlie to see Stevie give the saddest shrug. “Because you’re a MacKilligan,” Stevie said, wiping a tear. “That’s so horrible for you.”
“She’s a Malone,” Keane growled, still glaring out the window.
“Oh, of course! Of course!” Stevie nodded, but then she scrunched up her face and asked, “But is she? Really? Because your mother’s not a Malone, right? It was your father.”
Damn! Max couldn’t believe her sister had gone there.
The Malone brothers faced her, and the triplets quickly moved behind Stevie while Shen stepped in front of her; all of them were ready to protect her with their very lives.
“Cool,” Zé whispered to Max. “Fight.”
“No, no, no!” Stevie jumped in front of Shen. “There’s no need to fight. We can all get along.”
Max studied the bears and the cats before asking her sister, “Are you fucking kidding?”
Stevie’s little hands balled into fists. “I am trying to do something,” she growled.
“What, exactly?” Max asked, laughing. “Because so far you’ve managed to fuck this up spectacularly!”
Stevie didn’t reply; instead her eyes narrowed.
“What?” Max pushed. “What are you going to do?”
Britta shook her head and ordered, “You two, don’t start this—”
But it was already too late. They were in mutual headlocks, both of them screaming at each other. Max could feel hands on her, attempting to pry her away from