Chapter 51

"Xavier, I need to get out of here. Tell me this is going to go our way?" I ask him.

"I think we have this one, Gabe," he says.

I nod my head. I have to get out. I haven't seen or spoken to Daisy since the day I was sentenced. A full fucking year ago. She hasn't tried to reach out. No more letters came, no more demands for me to put her back on the visiting list. Nothing.

And whenever I've asked my brothers about her, they're all tight-lipped, giving me the usual: She's fine. She's doing okay. She misses you.

But I know there's something they aren't telling me.

I also know I shouldn't expect her to be sitting out there waiting for me, but I don't know what I'd do if she's moved on. If she's dating someone else… I can't… It'd be my own fault if she were.

What I do know is she hasn't touched a single cent of the money I've given her. Xavier has been tracking the accounts for me, and he says nothing has been taken out. He's also told me she's not living in the house I bought her. Which leaves me to wonder where the fuck she is.

Is she still living with my brothers?

I fucking hope so. I should never have taken her off the visiting list, but I couldn't handle seeing her in that fucking room. Tears in her eyes because of me. Because of what I did to her and us.

"Come on, let's get this done." I step forward before pausing in my tracks. "If it gets approved, how long do I have to wait to get released?"

"It could take up to a week," Xavier says.

We walk into the little courtroom. I look around and see all four of my brothers and El. She's not here, though. My heart sinks. Daisy's not fucking here. She's not waiting for me. I know I told her not to. But fuck…

I turn around and sit in the chair next to Xavier. He does all the talking and, eventually, the ruling comes in. I'm granted fucking parole.

I pull him into a hug. "Thank you," I whisper, my voice hoarse with emotion. Then I pivot, look at my brother, and grin. "Tell Daisy I'm coming home."

Gio's mouth pulls into a tight-lipped smile as he nods at me. There's something he's not telling me. I want to ask him what's going on, but I'm tugged back and led in the opposite direction by the guards.

In a few days, I'll be out and I'll be able to see her. I tell myself I just need to see that she's okay. Even if she doesn't want anything to do with me. It's fine as long as she's okay.

After the parole hearing went in our favour, I thought: What's another week?

I've been in this joint for just over a year now. I can wait another week.

I was wrong. This has to have been the longest fucking week of my life. So much worse than the entire year prior. Knowing I'm going home, knowing I'll be seeing my wife again, it's made each minute drag by as I counted down the seconds. Almost as if time has slowed or stopped entirely.

It's finally here, though. I'm standing in the same suit I was wearing the day I got arrested. I could have had Gio or one of the boys bring me something else, but I didn't bother. I'm not planning on going anywhere but home.

The gates open and I walk out. Into freedom. One step closer to her. I can't lie and say I'm not disappointed that she's not the one waiting for me by the SUV. Instead, I'm greeted by Gio, Santo, and Marcel. All wearing huge-ass fucking smiles on their faces as I walk towards them.

"Welcome home, brother," Gio says, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into a tight hug. It's the most emotion I've seen from him in a long time. But the guy is an expert when it comes to bottling up his feelings. He doesn't have to say the words for me to know how much I mean to him. It shines through everything he's done for us growing up. Every beating he took from the old man in our stead.

Santo and Marcel follow suit, taking turns tugging me into their embrace.

"Get me the fuck away from this place," I tell them before sliding into the back of the car.

Marcel jumps in after me and pulls out a flask, twisting the cap off and handing it to me.

"Cinque?" I ask him.

"Of course, what else would it be?" he counters.

I take a swig of the whiskey, welcoming the burn as it warms my throat like a long-lost friend. "Where's Vin?" I want to ask where is Daisy too, but I don't. Part of me doesn't want to know the answer to that. I want to hang on to the hope a bit longer.

"He had an errand to run. He'll be home later tonight," Gio says.

An awkward silence falls over the car until I can't take it anymore. "Okay, what the fuck aren't you all telling me? Where's Daisy? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She's just… not home," Gio tells me.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know," he admits, the lines in his forehead somehow deepened by stress. "She never came back after your sentencing."

"She's been gone for a whole fucking year, and you're only just telling me now?"

"What good would that knowledge have done you in there, Gabe?" Gio grunts. "She left. Maybe she's not cut out for this life."

"Fuck off," I hiss. "This mess isn't her fucking fault."

"No, it's fucking mine," he says.

"It's not." I don't blame my brother for me getting arrested. I knew what I was doing. I knew the risks every time I walked out the front door and headed out to do something illegal. We were raised knowing what could happen to us. Prepared to deal with the aftermath of our decisions. I'm not na?ve, wasn't so dumb to think I'd never get caught.

Did I believe Xavier would get me out sooner? Yes. But shit happens.

As soon as Gio pulls up to the house, I run upstairs and into my bedroom. I don't know what I was expecting, but my heart sinks all over again when I see she's not here.

Where the fuck are you, Daisy?

When I walk out again, Gio is waiting in the hall for me. "I need a phone," I tell him. "And my laptop. Where is it?"

He pulls a phone out of his pocket. I tossed the one that was handed back to me when I was released. Again, I'm not fucking stupid. Those fuckers could have planted all sorts of trackers or listening devices on it.

"Thanks." I don't have Daisy's number memorised, if it's even the same, but there's someone I know who will have it. "Where's El?"

"Right here." El walks up the stairs, and my eyes bug out of my head when I see her. My sister-in-law is… pregnant.

"Anything you want to tell me, you two? Like… oh, by the way, you're going to be an uncle?" I wrap my arms around her and press my lips to her ear. "It's good to see you, El. I need Daisy's number."

"I'm sorry, Gabe." El shakes her head. "I don't have it. I haven't seen or heard from her since your trial." She peers up at Gio before looking back to me. "None of us have."

"Where the fuck is she?" I yell out and slam a fist against the closest wall. "You're supposed to be her best friend, El. So where the hell is she?" I run my hands through my hair.

"Gabrielle, sort yourself out before I do it for you. I know you're going through a lot right now, but don't you ever raise your voice at my wife again," Gio warns, then his voice softens. "We haven't heard from her. If we knew where she was, I'd fucking tell you. You know that."

"Forget it. I'll find her myself." I walk back into my room, dig through my shit until I locate one of my old laptops in my closet, and plug it into a charger. While I wait for it to turn on, I dial a number I've had to call more than once over the last year.

"Xavier Christianson," he answers on the first ring.

"Do you have any idea where the fuck my wife is?" I ask him.

"Gabe, good to see you're out," he says. "I was just about to call…"

"Where is she, Xavier." It's a demand, not a question.

"I'm working on finding her. I have three PIs on the job, Gabe. She hasn't touched any of her accounts. Nothing. There are no phone records, no emails. It's like she's vanished."

"She wouldn't be able to do that on her own. Someone has to be helping her," I tell him.

"I agree. Your best bet is to look close to home, Gabe."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, one of your brothers has to be helping her. Who else has the resources?"

"They wouldn't lie to me," I bark through the phone. It's second nature to defend my brothers. But part of me knows he's right. Someone's helped Daisy disappear, and all of them have been keeping secrets from me this past year.

Then it dawns on me.

"Vin," I say aloud.

He wasn't there when I was released. He barely dropped in to visit me either, and he's the one who was closest to Daisy before my sentencing.

"I gotta go. Thanks for getting me out," I tell Xavier.

"Remember the terms of your parole, Gabe. Unless you want to find yourself back inside, don't fucking do something stupid," he warns.

"Yep, got it."

I fire up the laptop, open one of my old tracking programs, and plug in Vin's cell phone number. I don't know if he does in fact know where she is, but if he does, I'm going to find out. I call him and watch as the software starts zeroing in on his location when he answers me.

"Hello…?"

"Vin, where are you? I thought you'd be home to greet me," I tell him.

"Sorry, bro. Something came up," he says.

"Something more important than seeing your brother after a year?" I counter.

"Yes," he says.

The location locks in on an address in Adelaide. "Vin, what are you doing in Adelaide?"

"Fuck!" he hisses under his breath. "Gabe, don't do anything stupid. I'll be home with what you're looking for, okay? Soon. Just give me time."

What's with everyone thinking I'm going to do something stupid?I used to be the one they all turned to whenever they did something stupid.

"Where is she, Vin?" I ask.

"She's here, but I'm bringing her back. Just… stay there. Don't break the terms of your parole and land your ass in jail again." He hangs up before I can argue with him.

"Fuck!" I throw the phone against the wall. Walk out of the room and head downstairs in search of Gio. I find him in the kitchen. "I need the jet."

"No, you don't," he says. "You can't leave Melbourne."

"Daisy's in Adelaide. I need to go and get her."

"She's in Adelaide?" he asks.

"Did you know? Because Vin's with her right now. How the fuck does our teenage brother know where my wife is and you couldn't fucking find her?" I yell at him.

"Your what?" Gio straightens his shoulders and pins me with a glare.

"My wife," I hiss through clenched teeth. "Daisy and I got married the day before I was locked up."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because we were waiting to tell everyone together. It just took a little longer than we planned for that to happen," I grind out.

"And it didn't occur to you that getting locked up should have changed those plans?"

"What difference does it make?"

"It doesn't. It'd just be nice to fucking know my brother got married," he grunts. "I'll go and get her. You're staying here." Gio points a finger at me.

Then the sound of his phone ringing in his pocket interrupts us right when I was about to tell him where he could shove that finger. If anyone is going to fetch my wife, it'll be me.

"Vin?" Gio answers the call. I don't hear what Vin says on the other line, but Gio nods his head and mutters, "Okay," before hanging up. He tucks his phone back into his pocket and looks at me. "She's coming home. No one is going anywhere. Besides, the kid took the fucking jet."

She's coming home. The rest of it is all white noise. Because my wife is coming home.