“I’ve never seen this before,” he murmurs, voice catching. He pinches the bridge of his nose and stares down at the photo of his parents.
“Meera knew about this?” he whispers. His lips quiver, and he bites the bottom one, holding it in place before releasing it slowly. “She never told me anything about it, Noah.”
He looks up at me, eyes glassy, filled with something close to betrayal.
“She never told me aboutyou,” he adds.
When I see the anguish in his eyes, I know it’s time that I tell him the truth.
“She couldn’t tell you,” I say quietly. “She couldn’t tell me about you either. Trust me, Alex—she wanted to. It had been her intention, after all. But if she had, our father would have found you… and he would have killed you too.”
I pause, letting that sink in.
“That’s how I know she loved you. Emilee and Ana too. She stayed silent to keep you all safe—from him.”
Alex’s voice is hoarse, scraped raw, like he’s afraid the answer might finish what the silence started. “Who… who did he kill?”
I reach for the article, but he snatches it back. He clears his throat, but it doesn’t help.
“You said your father would have killed metoo. Who, Noah? Who did your father kill?”
His eyes bore into mine.
I blink. Once. Twice. Take a deep breath, praying it won’t be my last.
And then… I tell him the truth.
“Your parents.”
37
ALEX
I scream—araw, guttural sound tears from my throat as I shoot to my feet. It doesn’t even sound human. It’s monstrous.
Unhinged.
Hysterical.
I stumble backward, like Noah just pulled a knife on me—and honestly, that might’ve been easier to stomach than the words he just said.
“Stay the fuck away from me!” I spit, wiping at my mouth with the back of my hand.
“Alex, please—just calm down.Please.”
But calm isn’t just long gone—it’s been blown out of existence.
“Why? Tell me why, Noah.”
“I don’t know. He was a criminal—a kidnapper, Alex. He had connections from every corner of every country. Somehow, he knew about my adoption and intervened. He arranged for their plane to go down. They made it look like a mechanical failure, but he was behind it, the one who set everything in motion. Iwish I could tell you more, but that’s all I know. It’s all my mother would tell me.”
“Your mother? You’re fucking mother knew about this?” He stares at me, shaken, eyes full of shame and sorrow.
“Where is he?” I roar, my voice breaking under the weight of it. “Where is that motherfucker who murdered my parents?!”
“Alex—”
“Where. The fuck. Is he?!” I’m shaking, chest heaving like I’ve just run for miles. “Goddamn it, Noah!Tell me!”
