Unknown
We will take your silence as repayment. Failure to uphold your end will result in reactivation of your targeted status. We WILL be watching.
“I imagine that talk with the Feds is going to come a lot sooner than we were expecting,” Victoria whispers to me as she clings to Elizabeth.
“We’ll figure it out. They’ll have to find you first.” I hand her the phone back. “I think the first thing we should do is get rid of that thing. That text either means theythinkthey know where you are, or they alreadyknowyou’re here, and both are bad options.”
Before Victoria can pocket the phone, Damien plucks it from her hands and turns to Carter simultaneously.
“You got everything off of this?”
“Yeah,” Carter replies. “All the media and text files are downloaded and stored.”
Another cramp hits me out of nowhere, making me shift on my toes. I try to play it off by adjusting my leggings, but Damien’s free hand moves to trace the underside of my belly with comforting pressure.
“Good. Get rid of it.” Damien tosses it to him, then looks at me with a creased forehead. “Come on. Chris should be here with dinner soon, and I want you to relax before the guys pile into the cafeteria.”
He leads us towards the kitchen, but I look back and visually trace my brother’s steps. I don’t see him at the end of the hall, but it’s clear that he and Alex are in a heated argument, given Alex’s flailing hands and red face as he faces another doorway. Whatever they’re saying, they’re sure to be quiet about it. It pisses me off. If something is going on with Zeke, then I want to know about it. I want to help him. Why can’t he just let me? I’m used to his attitude and hateful remarks, but this is different. Heseemed genuinely angry atme, too. Pain explodes through my body just at the thought, because I don’t understand why.
Chapter 36
Damien
One Week Later
‘Mine’ – Sleep Token
The living room feels much warmer than it is outside. I shut the door quickly, not wanting any of the twenty-degree air to make its way in. Daisy runs up to me as I step in further, happier to see me than Zeke apparently is. He's more tense now than he has been in a long time, and he's staring into the kitchen island like it's whispering to him.
I can’t say that I blame him. It’s been a rough week. Avery bolted, somehow vanishing into thin air before the police could bring him in. He’s officially a wanted criminal and has dozens of arrest warrants, his bill has been dismissed, and the federal police are questioning many of his associates. It was the best possible outcome…apart from him escaping.
When we got the news, I thought Zeke was going to combust. He raged through the conference room, throwing anything in his reach. I understand his pain, and fuck, I wish more than anything that I could take it away. We’re looking for Avery, just like the rest of the world is, but so far, we’ve all turned up with nothing.
“Hey, pretty girl.” I kneel down and pet Daisy behind the ear. “Were you the fierce protector today? Or did you spend all day with your belly in the air?” She lays down and rolls over, answering my question by sticking her tongue out of her mouth.
“Please, you know Ashia’s been spoiling that dog rotten. If she was still working, she’d be soft by now, anyway,” Zeke grumbles, clearly in a bad mood. Daisy whines just a little and jerks her head in his direction.
“He didn't mean it,” I whisper to her and stand, then make my way over to Zeke. I’ve got fifteen minutes until midnight, and I'm not missing the opportunity to see my way into the new year inside my wife, so he better make this quick. With her Braxton Hicks contractions getting worse and more frequent, I’ve been careful not to rile her up. But when Ashia texted me about twenty minutes ago and told me she was so horny she could cry, I quickly packed up and headed straight here. “What's going on with you, man?” I step up behind him, noticing the house listing he has pulled up on the computer. “You've been off since last week.”
“Nothing.” He shuts the laptop down—hard—and stands, but I step in front of him before he has the chance to walk off.
“No. We’re not doing that shit anymore, remember? Why are you looking for houses and acting like a dick?”
“So, I'm a dick because I don’t want to live with my best friend and his wife anymore?”
I rear my head back, wondering if I actually heard him correctly.
“Is she back tojustbeing my wife? She’s your sister.” He looks away from me, but I shove my face in the same direction, not allowing him to. “Start talking, Zeke. If you taking over while we're on leave is too much, then I can find another option.” I don’t believe that’s the issue, but something in him snapped last week, and he won’t talk about it. If any of us could get to him, I thought Alex could, but my theory proved to be wrong.
“It’s not that,” he mutters angrily.
“Then what is it?”
He jerks his head back to me in a fiery snap.
“How the fuck am I supposed to sit by and watch everyone else get their happily ever fucking after? Huh?” My heart falls to the floor at his words. “I wasn’t planning on being here for any of this.” He flings his arm out to the side, gesturing to the house. “I didn’t have plans after Tay died. I didn’t want to be here for this. I didn’t want to care! Then you and Ash had to get all soft and drag me down with you. Ican’tmiss any of this, but I can’t be an extra weight holding you down, either. You two are starting your family, you don't want me here.”
That last sentence stings, burning in the back of my throat.
