Last night’s memory.
In the end, I didn’t manage to tell Ransome. I fell asleep like an idiot and missed Tristan’s deadline.
Oh God. Tristan’s deadline.
I roll over and grab my phone off the nightstand, glancing at the clock as I do. It’s 5 A.M., and Gianni is calling.
Shit.
Not wanting to wake Ransome, I pad out into the living room before I answer the phone.
“G?” I try to sound casual, even though I’m terrified on the inside. “What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you,” he says, clearly more away than me.
“Now?” I frown. “Why? Is everything okay?”
“No.”
That word is a cold shower.
In the next five seconds, endless doomsday scenarios run through my mind.
Tristan, shooting up Eliza’s salon.
Tristan, talking Gianni into a race and making him run over someone.
Tristan, kidnapping Bella.
For some reason, that last one sticks with me most of all. I love all my siblings, but they’re adults. Bella, however? Very muchnotan adult.
“What happened?” Cold sweat breaks at the back of my neck. It’s a miracle I even remember how to speak. “Is it Bella?”
“What? No, it’s not Bella.”
Relief crashes over me.
It’s not Bella. Whatever else, it’s not my baby sister.
“Then what?”
“It’s…” Gianni stops. Hesitates.
It puts me even more on high alert. My brother is usually a pretty hard kid. A tough kid. But right now, he sounds nothing short of panicked.
“Please just come to the house,” he says eventually. “You’re in danger.”
“In danger how?”
“We don’t have time, Amara. Come to the house now.”
The house.For a second, I envision the rundown dump my siblings had been living in until recently. Old habits, I guess. I’ve been so busy, I haven’t even been to see the new house yet.
I slip into a pair of leggings and throw on a hoodie and some sneakers before I slip out the door. The sun is starting to kiss the horizon, though it is still very dark. But I don’t care.
I drive to my siblings’ new place. Gianni comes out of the side door of the garage, waving me over. I am practically running as I walk up to the house with him.
He shuts the door the second we’re inside.
