“Tell me everything,” I demand, bracing for words I know will undoubtedly change my life.
“First thing I need you to know is that I love you, Skye—Isabella. I have loved you from the moment I met you.” My brows furrow, noting the odd statement. She gives me a sad look and nods. “You were a week old the first time I laid eyes on you.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Hunter snaps, voicing my thoughts exactly.
Madeline grows tense, and the sight of her doing all she possibly can to hold herself together has my heart racing at a chaotic pace.
“As I said earlier, twenty-three years ago, I was nothing more than a college drop-out with an estranged family who hadn’t heard from me in years. I was living in Florida. I’d gotten myself into some…” She pauses, her nose scrunching up in an all too familiar way. “Unsavory situations.”
Robert tsks in disapproval, but she rolls her eyes, ignoring him. I’d laugh at their dynamic if I wasn’t worried about fainting.
“Anyway, I was desperate, alone, and scared. So when I got a random call from my twin—”
“Miles?” I ask, already knowing the answer. She nods, giving me a sad smile. My palms begin to sweat, something, a memory, tugging distantly in the back of my mind, but before I can examine it, she’s speaking again.
“Yes. Miles and I hadn’t spoken in quite some time. He’d moved to California for college. It’s where he met Charlotte. She was so good for him.” Madeline grins, but it’s there and gone in a second. “Miles was always the twin who had it together. He was confident, brave, and intelligent. That’s why I was so shocked when he calledmeasking formyhelp. Begging for it.” Her voice cracks and she squeezes her eyes shut. “Miles never begged.”
Acid churns in my gut, the newly found memory of watching Miles and Char get murdered swirling through me painfully. I want to tell her that at the end of it all he didn’t beg. He fought. I try, but I can’t get the words past the thick lump growing in my throat.
“He was a good man, Maddie,” the woman with gray hair says quietly. My eyes burn as I watch the two of them share a heart wrenching look I don’t understand but feel in the depths of my soul. “Your brother was a wonderful person, and he’d be damn proud of what you’ve accomplished in his absence.”
Madeline swallows hard. “Thank you, Irene.” Clearing her throat, she quickly wipes away a tear before it can fall. “He said he needed me to come to California as soon as possible. Promised he’d pay my way, take care of me, give me a home and job. The distance between Miles and I had grown so significant after the way he left that I was hesitant, but he was my twin, my best friend, and I…”
Her words trail off as a look of shame washes over her. Robert pulls her closer into his side, murmuring words I can only assume are meant to reassure her. She flicks away another tear and pushes her shoulders back, but it’s too late. Her mask is already falling.
“I was in such a bad place that I accepted his offer without ever truly askingwhy.”
“Why?” I murmur, my eyes narrowed in confusion. “You didn’t ask why he wanted you to come to California?”
“I did,” she quickly says. “I asked him a few times, but he kept insisting it was a conversation we needed to have in person.”
Her brows furrow, her eyes dropping to the table as she falls silent. I watch for a long moment as Madeline traces patterns on the table with her manicured nail, her mind seemingly far away.
“Miles said Charlotte was ill, that he needed his sister. When I asked what was wrong with her and what help I could possibly be, he promised he’d explain when I got there, on one condition.”
“What was it?” I ask before I can stop myself.
“That I did not ask any questions or make assumptions until I heard everything.” Her throat bobs as she shrugs, flicking her gaze back to mine. “It was an odd request, but after Miles moved away, he’d grown distant. There wasn’t much between us beyond secrets and pain. I missed my best friend, and I had nothing but problems waiting for me in Florida, so I packed my things and left the next day.”
“What was wrong with Charlotte?” Hunter asks, leaning forward. There’s a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead, and the urge to force him back to bed twists my gut. He shoots me a glare, no doubt reading my thoughts before muttering, “Enough. I’m fine.”
Stubborn asshole.
Shaking my head, I turn back to my mother, waiting for her to continue.
“This part isn’t so easy,” she mutters, biting her lip as another tear slips free. “When I arrived, I was picked up in a discrete car in the middle of the night. I remember thinking the drive fromthe airport to their house was longer than it should be. Turns out, the driver had been instructed to take a senseless path.”
Hunter’s hand flexes around mine as a sense of doom fills me.
“Why would they do that?”
It doesn’t make any sense. That’s not normal behavior. But nothing has been normal when it comes to Madeline or my life. Hell, even Hunter’s doctor said we’re currently under San Francisco. That’s so beyondnormal, it’s not even funny.
“Was it to prevent you from knowing where you were going?” Hunter asks quietly. “Were you a prisoner?”
I blanch, my gaze snapping to my mothers. A prisoner? Fuck. I hadn’t even thought of that. Was her life just as bad as mine had been? Was she abused like me?
“No, I wasn’t a prisoner. Not in the way you're thinking.” Her eyes move to Hunter’s. “I later learned the driver used a diversion tactic because we were being followed.”
