My prayers couldn’t have been more different. I didn’t ask God for much. Religion had been a requirement of my mother’s and it maintained a place in my life now thanks to my other family. Still, I hoped He listened when I asked for help to find Mia. People would probably have an easier time believing if He just answered a few more prayers here and there, gave us a miracle or two.
The front door slammed shut, causing us both to jump. “I’m not asking you to do anything more than keep an eye out for her. If you see or hear anything, let me know.” Luc came into the kitchen, talking down the phone. “I’m asking you as a friend… Fine! Forget it!”
“Anything I can help with, boss?” I asked as he threw the phone onto the island. It skittered across the worktop and stopped, balancing precariously at the edge.
“People are starting to show their true colors,” Luc said, staring at the phone, and I wasn’t entirely sure if he was talking to me. “Loyalty means nothing these days.”
“Boss?” I tried again.
Luc’s eyes snapped up to me. Looking at him now was like being transported back five years ago. His eyes were dead and empty, much in the way they had been when Charlie died. The only difference between Luc then and now was that back then, he had withdrawn from the family, and now, he was full steam ahead to prove a point. And Xavier’s crooked hand was guiding him in an integral decision. “Don’t you have a home to go to?” he asked, eyes narrowed.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Dom leaving the room. Ever since Luc had fired Lydia, after she’d told him without fear exactly what she thought of his behavior, Dom floated around the house like a spirit trying not to wake the beast. I didn’t blame him after the state Luc had left him in following his interrogation.
“I thought this would always be my home,” I said. Those were the words Charlie had once told me and after he had died, Luc repeated them. He wanted me to know that my ties with the Foster family didn’t end just because Charlie was no longer here, but there had never been any doubt in my mind. “Who were you on the phone to?”
Luc crossed the room and pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge. For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer my question. It wasn’t unusual for him to ignore me, only answering when his mood teetered on the edge rather than swung into full blown psychotic. There was a beat of silence before he said, “Emilio Diaz.”
I tensed at the name, hoping he didn’t notice. “What did you need Emilio for?”
Everything I did these days was scrutinised by Luc. Every movement, every breath raised a suspicion in him. He closed the fridge, surveying me as he uncapped the bottle of water and took a drink. “I wanted to see if he could lend a hand in helping to find her,” he responded coldly.
“I take it he said no.” The way my heart hammered in my chest made me think I should book myself in for a medical. That it might burst out and mimic the way Luc’s phone had hopped across the worktop before unveiling all my secrets.
A muscle near Luc’s jaw jumped as he clenched his teeth. “No,” he snarled. “Apparently, Emilio has enough on his plate at the moment.”
“Understandable,” I answered, maybe a little too quickly, but Luc didn’t say anything about it. “He and Carmen have a newborn,” I reminded him. The golden Diaz couple had welcomed their newest addition, Javier, three months ago.
Obviously, I had said the wrong thing. Luc took no joy in the news of the birth, in the fact that life went on even when all of ours, and particularly Luc’s, had stuttered and stalled in unimaginable ways. To him, it was unfair that joy still existed when he had been robbed of his. “I’m not in the mood for company,” Luc told me, pushing away from the counter and making a move toward the door.
Our relationship had deteriorated so severely that I felt like a leper rather than his brother. I had always believed there was an unbreakable bond between us, cemented after we lost Isa and Charlie, two events that should have torn us apart, but made us grow stronger. Now, I worked with a stranger. I no longer recognised Luc as the man I’d been raised alongside in blood and honor. “No,” I said, following him out of the room. “Not unless it’s Xavier’s.”
There were times when I couldn’t hold my tongue. Usually, the offhand comments weren’t worth the response, but Luc turned on his heel. “What is your problem?”
The past few months had seen me work overtime cleaning up the aftermath of what I had termed affectionately as Hurricane Luc. Every decision made in anger meant a rapid cover up, and although I would do it without question, it was becoming tiring and I missed the days my boss, my brother, let the sliver of humanity he possessed guide his actions.
“I never had you down as a puppet, Luc.” It was a low blow. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that Xavier had taken an uncomfortable shine to Luc. He’d hovered after Mia left, but Luc’s grief at the unexpected loss saw him turn everyone away. It was only when it had transformed fully into rage and Luc began to settle back into the family business that Xavier lurked again, dripping poison into his ear.
There was a beat of silence before Luc spoke. His words were low and dangerous. “Do you want to say that again?”
May as well go all in. The worst he could do was kill me and death was an inevitability, so that fate had never scared me. “I’m all for following the family hierarchy but it’s gone a little too far now, don’t you think?” Luc had become so desperate to right his reputation that he had taken Xavier’s word on this matter as gospel, the ridiculous notion of putting a hit out for Mia. Luc would never have come up with something like that on his own. “I didn’t expect you to become a lapdog who fell into line because Xavier clapped his hands. Charlie would be mortified to see how you’re dealing with this.”
A step too far. I’d taken it a step too far. Charlie had been our idol and raised us to be part of the family business. Luc had always wanted to take the best of his Dad and cultivate it in his own personality, but I could never imagine Charlie behaving the way Luc had lately. He may have been Xavier’s closest confidant, but Charlie was still his own man, conducting his own business with his own morals. Nothing could have swayed him from his beliefs.
“Get out.” Luc grasped the bottle tight and water threatened to slosh out over the lip.
“Luc…”
“GET OUT!” The veins at his temple and neck protruded from anger and turned him red in the face. I didn’t risk another word before I slipped past him, lucky to have gotten away with nothing more than a verbal response. Just as I opened the front door, I heard a crash and the splatter of water as Luc took his anger on yet another inanimate object. Slamming the door shut behind me, I stumbled down the stairs hastily and slid into my car. Dragging in deep breaths, I rested my head against the steering wheel.
A vibration from my pocket caused me to raise my head and fish out my phone out. Emilio’s name was displayed across the screen and I swiped to answer the call. “Emilio?”
“Can you talk?” he asked, not bothering with the usual pleasantries.
“Yes.”
“Is Luc with you?”
“No,” I said, looking at the house in front of me where Luc was likely to be destroying anything in sight. “No, I’m good. We can talk.” The adrenaline flooded my body and I felt lightheaded with anticipation. I had been waiting impatiently for the last week to hear back from Emilio. A mixture of excitement and fear rolled in my stomach until I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, calming myself as I waited for him to break the silence. When he did, he said the words I had prayed for.
