“I know, okay?I know.” Grey slams his hand on the kitchen counter again, this time the force makes the dishes rattle. “We fucked up.Badly.”
I can’t meet Morgan’s eyes, can’t look at Misha or Grey either.
What more is there to say?
Morgan stops pacing, her face set in a hard glare as if she could physically break us down with her gaze. “Fucked up? That’s putting it mildly.” Then she focuses her hard stare on me, the one that always makes me want to sink into the floor. “It’sher,Oliver.Amelia! The woman you said was your soulmate. How could you?”
She’s right, and that truth guts me more than she could possibly fathom. I run a hand through my hair, frustrated and desperate, pulling at the strands as if trying to tear away the guilt. “I know, I know. We got caught up in it all. The AI, the project,Amelia…it spiraled out of control so fast. Before we knew it, we were in too deep.”
“Out of control? That’s your excuse?” Grandpa’s voice is like a cold slap. “You’re grown men, not teenagers. You should know better.”
Grey’s face is a mask of stoic determination, but the pain in his eyes says more of the turmoil within. “Wedoknow better. That’s why we’re trying to fix this. We have to make it right.”
Misha nods, and I’ve never seen him look so serious. “We want to make it right. We have to find her, explain everything. She deserves that much, at least.”
Morgan’s scoff is sharp, her anger still simmering. “Explain? What’s there to explain? You watched her without her consent. End of story.”
The words tumble out before I can stop them. “It’s not just that. We care about her. We… we love her. And we want to be with her. In a relationship. All three of us do.”
Morgan’s eyes widen, darting between the three of us. Even Grandpa seems at a loss for words, the silence from the speaker deafening.
“You…allof you?” Morgan finally asks, her voice softer now, tinged with disbelief and something else I can’t quite identify.
I nod, feeling a strange mix of relief and anxiety at finally admitting it out loud. My heart is pounding so hard I’m sure everyone can hear it. “Yeah. All of us. It’s complicated, I know, but it’s the truth.”
Misha chimes in, “We know it’s unconventional. And what we did was wrong, so wrong. But our feelings for her are real. That’s not an excuse, but it’s the truth.”
Grey grunts in agreement, his eyes back on his laptop screen, fingers flying over the keys. “That’s why we need to find her. To apologize, to explain. To make it right if we can. If she’ll let us.”
Morgan sighs, rubbing her temples. I see the conflict on her face, anger warring with concern. “This is… a lot. I don’t even know where to begin. You’ve made such a mess of things.”
Grandpa’s calm and measured voice comes through. “Let’s focus on finding Amelia first. We can deal with the rest later. One step at a time, boys.”
I nod, grateful for the direction, for something concrete to focus on. “You’re right. Finding her is the priority. We need to make sure she’s safe. Everything else can wait.” My chest feels tight, like I can’t quite catch my breath.
Morgan’s expression softens as she notices my struggle. Without a word, she crosses the room and wraps her arms around me. I stiffen for a moment, surprised by the sudden comfort, before melting into her embrace. Her familiar scent, a mix of lemon and antiseptic, reminds me of childhood hugs and scraped knees. “We’re going to fix this.”
I nod against her shoulder, unable to speak.
Grey’s voice is thick with emotion as he says softly, “We never meant for this to happen. We just… we got so caught up in her. And now she’s out there, alone and scared.”
“And confused,” Misha adds, running a hand through his curls. “We never got to explain. She probably thinks the worst of us. But we kept watching her because it became obvious how much she needed to be seen.”
Grey’s phone suddenly pings, and he almost lets it fall to the floor when he leans over to get it from the countertop. “Gotcha.” Then, a second later, he follows up with, “Fuck.”
“What is it?” I ask, my heart racing.
Grey looks up, exhaling sharply as his shoulders relax, though his eyes remain tense. “It located her tracker.”
Morgan’s eyes narrow. “Tracker? You put a fucking tracker on her phone without her knowledge? And despite all this, the fact she’s left because of this mess, you’re still fucking stalking her?”
Before Grey can reply, Grandpa’s voice cuts through the room. “Boys, this is getting out of hand. It’s no wonder sheleft.” He takes a deep breath as if trying to keep his composure while talking to toddlers. “You’ve violated not just her trust but the very essence of her privacy. Do you understand what that means? This isn’t just about fixing a mistake. This is about a profound breach of ethics and respect. You’re so caught up in trying to make excuses that you’re losing sight of the gravity of your actions. This isn’t a game, and it’s not something you can simply fix with an apology.”
I feel a surge of frustration.
We don’t have time for this.
“You can lecture us later.” When Morgan looks at me with eyebrows raised, I add, “Please. What does the tracker say, Grey?”
