Chapter 14

“We’ve got a white male patient with multiple stab wounds to the abdomen. He’s conscious but in severe pain. Pulse is weak. Blood pressure at 110/70 and dropping.”

Spotting the EMT rushing toward me with a stretcher in tow, I meet him halfway, listening to him rattle off the patient’s condition and vital signs. I’m already mentally running through what I need to do next when I swing my gaze to the man lying on the stretcher and suck in a big breath.

The world spins off its axis when I see Alec, his face pale, his eyes closed.

I struggle to process what I’m seeing. The sight of him in the ER fills me with a sense of dread unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. I’ve been working as an ER nurse for years, and nothing fazes me.

Yet, panic descends on me and settles on my chest like a heavy weight. It squeezes the air from my lungs, my thoughts spiraling into a frenzy of fear and uncertainty.

Alyssa, sensing something off, pulls me aside and looks me up and down. “Zara, what’s wrong? You’re white as a sheet. Let me take care of this.”

“O-okay.” I can only nod because seeing Alec like that has somehow rendered me unable to function.

I slump on the nearest seat, unable to move or speak, and watch helplessly from the sidelines. Tears sting the backs of my eyes, and I faintly hear the doctors and my fellow nurses working to prep him for an emergency laparotomy.

It all feels unreal, like I’m a spectator watching this unfold.

But it is Alec. And someone stabbed him.

Who? Why?

It’s been weeks since I saw him last, and every day has been hell. The yearning for him, his touch, his smile. It’s driving me crazy, and I often find myself clinging desperately to the fraying edges of my sanity.

Now, this.

The realization that I don’t want to lose him grips me. The thought of a life without him is unthinkable, unbearable, unacceptable. What was I thinking leaving him because I didn’t want a reminder of my past?

Oh God.

All he ever did was save me, risk himself for me, and what did I do in return? Hurt him.

I can’t hear anything else except the pounding of my heart.

I want to scream and rage because why must we suffer again after all these years? It’s not fair how that evil man continues to win, how he hasn’t suffered his karma, and how he continues to find us and crush us.

I stopped praying years ago when I realized no one was listening. But I pray now. I pray with desperation. I beg whatever higher power there is to spare Alec from harm and bring him back to me.

If he makes it, I will never ever leave him again. I will stay with him, and we will go through this together. I’ve never shared my past fully with anyone. My parents know something bad happened, know the basics—me taken from my family and brought to a cell in a basement, where a boy helped me escape—but they have no idea about so many things.

Alec does.

I was so selfish and so consumed by my own pain that I ignored his. He was the one who walked away with more than mental scars. He sees a reminder of his past every single day, touch it, feel it.

I can walk around and pretend none of those things happened. He can’t.

I should’ve thanked him with my life. It would’ve strengthened whatever we had. Instead, I chose the quick way out. Escaped. Ran away. All because I haven’t fully healed. I thought I had.

It’s not fair to him. It’s not fair to us.

“Zara?”

The voice pierces through the fog of my anguish, and I try to find who it belongs to.

Jasper rushes to me, sinks to his knees, and wraps his strong arms around me.

The dam breaks, and I release all the pent-up emotions I’ve buried for so long, tears streaming down my cheeks. I’m sobbing and probably soaking his suit, but I don’t care. Here’s another person who’ll understand.

I cling to him with all my strength, sobs racking my body. When at last, the tears begin to subside, embarrassment creeps in.

Does he know what I did to his brother? Do they all know how we’re connected?

With a deep breath, I pull back from him and wipe my face, not caring anymore that I look like a mess. I take another breath and glance up at him. “Alec’s in surgery. He won’t be out in a couple of hours.”

“How are you?”

I don’t deserve this kindness, especially not after what I did to their brother. “Don’t worry about me.”

He rests a hand on my shoulder, not an ounce of anger in his eyes. “I don’t know what happened between you and Alec, but I’m telling you as an outsider, you’re both all the worse for it. I hope you manage to fix whatever it is because I’ve never seen my brother as happy as he was with you.”

Affection crashes through me, but I shake it off. He should know. When I look at the two figures behind him, they don’t say anything, but they have the same look as Jasper. No judgment. No anger. Just kindness. “You don”t know what happened.”

“No, I don’t. It’s fine, Zara. You don’t have to?—”

“I’m the reason why Alec was burned.”

If I told them I was actually a mermaid, I wouldn’t have gotten a better reaction.

The sounds and chaos of the ER are distant. The silence from them is deafening and stretches on for what feels like eternity.

All I find are three stunned faces.

The truth is out, and there’s no going back.

If they’re gonna treat me differently, then so be it. We all remain suspended in this moment of silence until Jameson moves forward to sit on his haunches beside Jasper. “What do you mean, Zara? You’re Daisy? The girl he saved?”

I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. Gripping my fingers together, I nod.

Justin’s wide eyes stare unblinkingly, Jameson’s eyebrows furrow, and Jasper’s mouth hangs agape.

Justin clears his throat, eyes darting to the nurses, doctors, and patients. “Can you take a quick break, Zara? Let’s head to the coffee shop.”

Hearing him speak is always jarring to me. “Yes. My shift’s about to end. I’ll just go change. I’ll see you there. It’s by the main entrance.”

I rush away from them and sprint to the nurses’ room. Locking the door, I lean against it and slide to the floor, running my hands across my face.

What’s going on? My mind is going a thousand miles per minute, and my heart is trying to keep up. There are still a few more hours before the surgery’s finished, and we won’t know how Alec is until then.

Trying to force myself to keep it together, I head to my locker and pull out clean clothes. A quick look in the mirror shows someone who’s clearly not okay—swollen eyes, red nose, puffy face.

Perfect.

The entire walk to the coffee shop, I think about what to say to them. I don’t know if they’ve gotten over their initial shock, but I hope so. I can’t bear to have them look at me like I betrayed them because I kind of did when I hurt Alec.

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee mixed with an antiseptic scent greets me when I slip inside the glass door. I scan the room, and my eyes quickly find them in one corner, each of them busy with their own thoughts.

A knot forms in my belly as I approach them and slide into the empty seat beside Jameson, a cup of steaming coffee in front of me, busying myself with staring at the thin plume of smoke rising.

Jasper reaches from across the table and covers my hand with his. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

How can these guys be related to that monster? “It’s fine. We both had no idea. I just saw my old hair clip on his desk a few weeks ago.”

These brothers must share everything because understanding dawns on their faces, and they nod.

“You got out okay, right? No one hurt you when you left the island?” Jameson asks softly.

Shaking my head, I feel the familiar trickle of fear down my spine. “No. I found a good family. They took care of me.”

“That’s good. That’s good,” Jameson mumbles, absentmindedly tracing the rim of his cup with a finger.

Jasper squeezes my hand. “Go home and rest, Zara. You said it would still be hours before we hear anything. You just got off work. We’ll call you the moment we get news.”

“No. I’m staying here.”

He gives me a soft smile. “Zara, please don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like you’ve been mourning my brother. You can sleep for a few hours and come back here. We already reserved the suite room.”

“But … but what if?—”

“He’ll make it. Trust him. He’s been through worse. Stab wounds are nothing.”

I want to believe them. I really do. After all, they’re his brothers. But I don’t have it in me to walk away from Alec anymore. I did it once, and it made us both suffer needlessly.

Jameson bumps his elbow to mine. “Go home and think about what you wanna tell him when he wakes up from the anesthesia. I’m guessing things didn’t end well the last time.”

“No. No, it didn’t.” The look of pain on Alec still gives me nightmares.

“We promise we’ll call you the very second we get to speak to his surgeon. Your place isn’t too far from here. Do you need me to drive you? Or… wait, have you eaten lunch?”

“I have. Don’t worry, I can drive myself.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Man, despite everything, I wonder if this is really how it feels to have siblings—older brothers to be specific.

Jasper’s face lights up. “You know, if you can’t sleep, you can always just bake those cupcakes to get your mind off things even for just a few hours.”

“Is this your indirect way of asking me to make them for you?”

The side of his mouth curls upward. “Maybe. Now go. You have some cupcakes to bake.”

* * *

Jasper was right.I couldn’t sleep. I kept on running through those times I spent with Alec. Meeting him in the lobby. Knocking on his door. The breakfast date. The dinner date.

I was so stupid, but there’s nothing I can do about that now. What’s done is done. I just have to show him that I’m sorry and I don’t want a life without him. I need him. I … God, I love him.

It has taken me this long to realize it.

As I watch the cupcakes cool on the counter, I dial Mom’s number.

“Honey! What’s up? You know, I just met Jenny after tennis and she asked me why my skin looked dull. I thought, ‘Of course, it’s gonna look different from someone who has Botox as often as I get my facials.’”

My earlier worries lift, even for just a few moments. Talking to Mom always does that to me. She helps lighten my load even if all she does is gossip about her love-hate relationship with our next-door neighbor. “You should’ve told her.”

“I should have, but then we won’t get invited to those fancy yacht parties anymore.”

“You never go.”

“Yeah, but we get invites. That’s all that matters.” Mom’s spidey senses must be tingling because her tone changes. “Honey, is something wrong? Do you miss Alec?”

“Oh, Mom.” I promised myself earlier that I’d stop crying. But it takes Mom approximately two minutes to make me start bawling my eyes out again.

“Honey, what happened?”

“M-mom, someone stabbed him,” I choke out between sniffles.

“What?! Oh God. Where is he? What?—”

“He’s still in surgery. His brothers asked me to rest, so I’m at home. I’m heading back to the hospital in an hour.”

“Honey…”

“I can’t lose him, Mom.”

“Do you need us there with you?”

“No, no. It’s okay. I’ll be with his brothers when I get to the hospital. I just needed someone to talk to right now.”

“Honey, you know what I think? That for some people, there are invisible threads connecting them, so wherever they are, whatever they do, they will end up finding each other.” She sighs. “You associate him with that traumatic event in your life, but even if none of you actively searched for the other, you found each other, fell in love. That’s not a bad thing.”

“I thought … I thought I wanted to stay away because I didn’t need the reminder, but Mom. If something happens to him, I don’t know if I can take it. It’s so stupid that it took something like this to make me realize that.”

“Don’t be too harsh on yourself, honey. I’m sure Alec understands. The important thing is you now know where he stands in your life.”

“I’m not even sure he’s gonna forgive me when he wakes up.”

“He doesn’t have anything to forgive, honey. It’s a normal reaction. You had a normal reaction. I believe he thinks the same way.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

“Remember what your therapist told you about things beyond your control?”

“Yes. How people react, how people think, what people would do.”

“Hmm.”

“Guess I better go, then.”

“You call me and tell me how he is, okay? Love you, honey. We’re always here for you.”

“Love you, Mom.”

I’ve just ended the call when an unregistered number calls me. Without hesitation, I answer, “Hello?”

“Zara? It’s Jasper. He’s awake.”

It takes me no more than fifteen minutes to end the call, stuff the cupcakes in the box sans icing, and hurry to the hospital. By the time I get there, Alec is out of the post-anesthesia care unit and in his suite.

I open the door a fraction when I hear their voices. I’m not sure if I should barge in because their voices are low and serious. Maybe this isn’t a conversation I should be a part of.

“What happened? Did you see who it was?” Justin asks, sounding dangerously menacing.

“Someone just came at me,” Alec answers, his voice weak.

“You didn’t see the face?”

“No. I was barely watching where I was going.”

“Wait, the Chief texted. They found a note in your jacket pocket,” Jameson says.

“What does it say?” Jasper asks.

“That fucker. That fucker. I swear I’d kill him with my bare hands.” Jameson’s voice shakes with fury. I have never heard him like this. He’s always soft-spoken and polite.

“What does it say, Jameson?” Justin’s voice is sharp.

“Mind your own business, nephews.”

Jameson’s answer is met with silence, but it’s broken by a palm slamming against the wall.

Justin snarls, “If I get my hands on that bastard…”

“Let’s all calm down. This is good news, right? It means we’ve hit something critical in his operation. Maybe the last warehouse? We’re closer. I can tell. We just need to find him before he strikes us again,” Jasper says.

My heart drums hard enough to hurt as I make my presence known. Alec lies on the bed, pale beneath the white sheets. His eyes flicker with something before he wipes the expression on his face.

I cross the room and square my shoulders. I can’t bury my past anymore. “I think I can help you with that. I think I know where the chateau is.”

Justin offers his seat to me, which is closest to Alec. I still can’t look him right in the eye, but I let my fingers brush his and he responds by hooking his pinkie with mine. The relief is instantaneous.

I take a deep, calming breath because I know I’m gonna need all the ‘grounding’ I can get. I have never talked about it to anyone except my parents. My therapist only knows the general stuff, nothing too specific. “I asked my parents where they found me … or more accurately, where I found them. I remember a small town filled with tourists. They said it was in Lundy.”

“Lundy?” everyone asks in unison.

“That’s like more than a thousand miles from here. Wait, let me check.” Jasper takes out his phone and types on it, scrolling before showing us the screen. “It is a small tourist town, but the problem is, there are a hundred plus islands and islets surrounding it.”

Jameson doesn’t take his eyes off the screen. He sits beside me, his fingers white-knuckling the sheets. “At least we can now narrow down our search. Once we find it, it might help lead us to him. Or not. But I’m more than 90% sure he left something there that can give us clues to his whereabouts.”

“I’ll send my men to scout the area.” Justin stands and squeezes Alec’s shin over the sheet. “I’m gonna find that fucker for you, Alec.” He turns to me. “And for you too, Zara.”

Jasper follows, but he has a sheepish look on his face. “This is gonna be weird, but is there any chance that the box you’re holding has cupcakes?”

“Oh, yes! Sorry. I forgot. Here. You have all of them. I was about to add icing when you called, but I came here as soon as I could.” I push the box into his hands.

“By all of them, she means you have to share it with us, Jasper.” Jameson smacks Jasper’s back lightly.

One by one, his brothers leave. The moment Jameson closes the door behind him, tense, awkward silence fills the room.

Alec lifts his hand and grazes his knuckle along my jaw. “Hey.”

Tears fill my eyes, and I blink them away. “Hey.”

“You’re really here. I thought Jasper was pulling my leg when he said he found you crying in the ER.”

“Yeah, well … I leave you alone for a few weeks and you get yourself stabbed. Was this your way of grabbing my attention?”

He starts to laugh but winces, his hand going to his stomach. Panic seizes me, and I go into nurse mode. “On a scale of 1-10, how painful is it?”

Alec just waves me off. “I’m fine, Zara … all things considered at least.”

“You’re still pale.”

“Yes, well. I can’t be handsome 24/7.”

This makes me smile. If he can crack jokes, then he’s not feeling as bad as I think. “I’m sorry, Alec. What I did, that wasn’t fair to you.”

“Zara, stop. There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”

“No. I wanted to stay away from you because you don’t deserve me. I caused you pain.”

“Zara, please. I deserve you. You deserve me. We deserve each other. A wise woman once ordered me to keep repeating that.”

“She’s probably not so wise. Besides, I didn’t realize how much you suffered because of me. I was too wrapped up in my own pain.”

He tries to sit up, but I push him back down. Instead, he takes my hand and kisses my palm, making the butterflies in my belly come alive again. Making me feel alive for the first time in weeks. “I didn’t suffer because of you. It’s all because of my uncle. I suffered way before you came along. And helping you escape? That’s the only good thing that happened to me in that Godforsaken place.”

“Thank you, Alec. I really can’t thank you enough.”

“I should also thank you, Zara. That night I sent you away was the first time in years I felt human.”

I run a finger along his palm. “Are you tired, Alec? Because I want you to tell me everything … if you don’t mind, of course.”

“Yes, but you have to eat first. Then, I’ll tell you.”

“Are you okay with me eating in front of you? You know you still can’t have solid foods, right?”

“Zara, the only thing I want to eat is your pussy, but I can’t do that right now. So go.”

Blushing furiously, I head out to grab something to eat.

After buying pasta and orange juice from the cafeteria as quickly as I can, I settle back on my seat in the suite room and listen to Alec. He has a faraway look in his eyes, looking like he’s psyching himself up to revisit such awful memories.

“I was six when we became orphans. The twins were eight, and Jameson was eleven,” he starts. “When my parents died from a boating incident, Jackson became our guardian. At the time, we rarely saw him. He came home on Christmas and brought us gifts, but that was it. After my parents’ death, he was going to inherit 15 million dollars, but on the condition that he take us under his wing until we were 12. Then, he could ship us to boarding school. He got a monthly allowance, but he would only receive the 15 million once I arrived in the boarding school—the last of the bunch.”

Alec leans back and closes his eyes, his hand finding mine. “It should’ve been the first red flag when we were blindfolded and whisked off to an island. But we all thought it was exciting. An adventure. We were like pirates, exploring the sea and islands.”

He sighs and lets out a shaky breath. “At first, it was okay. We were left on our own. Jackson only had one rule. We weren’t allowed to wander beyond the wooden gates of the chateau, but we were kids. Pretty soon, we got bored of running up and down the floors.

“But that wasn’t the only thing that piqued our interest. At odd times, helicopters, ships, and trucks arrived somewhere on the island. We tried finding out what those were, but we got caught. The first time it happened, Jackson asked one of his men to beat us with his belt buckle. The second time, Jackson did it himself.”

With his eyes still closed, I cup the side of his face. “Alec, maybe that’s enough for now. You don’t need to do this anymore. I’m sorry I asked. We can talk next time.”

When he opens his eyes, there’s a firm resolve behind those baby blues. “No, Zara. You need to know everything.”

“I don’t want to force you.”

“You’re not. I have to do this.”

“Okay.”

“After the first beating, the lesson still didn’t land. We continued to follow the sounds of helicopters, trails, even Jackson’s men. Of course, we got caught again. And again. And again. All the time, we received beatings that would make even grown men cry.” Alec’s handsome features harden. “Jackson eventually abandoned all pretense of punishing us. It became clear that he enjoyed it. There was this almost manic glee on his face when he saw welts, bruises, cuts, or bleeding. He didn’t stop until we begged, which was why Justin received the worst of it.”

“Justin?”

“He refused to cry or beg. He’d continue to glare at Jackson even as his skin turned black and blue and his mouth bled. He wasn’t the biggest among us at the time, but he had always been the strongest and fiercest.”

“Oh, God.”

“When Jameson turned 12, he was sent to boarding school. Jameson’s plan was to contact our parents’ solicitor and go to the authorities. But Jackson was one step ahead of us. He said if Jameson did any of that, he would never see the rest of us again. That was his threat. When Jasper and Justin turned 12, he threatened they wouldn’t see me too.”

“No one else looked out for you? How about other relatives? Your parents’ friends?”

“Jackson could bring out the charm when he wanted to. His lies always sounded convincing, and he was our only living relative.”

“How about the boarding school headmaster? Didn’t Jameson or anyone try to tell him what your uncle’s been doing to all of you?”

Alec grits his teeth. “They did. The next day, Jackson showed up to chat with the headmaster and hand him a cheque.” He pauses and closes his eyes. “Every single person we told either didn’t believe us or were too afraid to go against Jackson. None of them wanted to make an enemy of him. My brothers and I were rich, but we were still kids. No one else was on our side.”

“But your brothers tried to find the island?”

“They did, and whenever Jackson found out what they were busy with, he’d magically show up in their rooms in the middle of the night and drag them somewhere where he could remind everyone of his cruelty.”

“Those adults failed all of you. What else did your brothers do while you were alone on the island?”

“They were busy dealing with their own issues. We all had some, Zara. After living with Jackson, no one slept peacefully.”

Fuck Jackson. He really deserves to spend an eternity in hell.

“But what happened after you left the island?”

“By that time, Jameson was already seventeen, just a few months before his eighteenth birthday. He was about to inherit a hefty amount. He already had a well-thought-out plan. Jackson couldn’t threaten us anymore because we were already together. But, all the paper trail for the island was gone. Anyone who ever knew it existed conveniently died. It’s only been eleven years since we made it a full-time job to find him.”

“A full-time job? What have you been doing?”

“Tracking whatever evidence that links to him. We found out he was the head of a massive human trafficking operation. He had politicians and other influential people in his pocket.”

“Jesus. What a monster.”

“You don’t know half of it. We suspect that he was behind my parents’ deaths, too, because he needed that 15 million. He somehow found out Mom planned to give him some money, so he wanted to speed up the process.”

“Did this stabbing mean you’re getting close?”

Alec lets out a genuine smile. “Yes. The last rescue operation we had, we found photos of the chateau basement.”

“Rescue operation?”

“We don’t just look for him, Zara. We rescue his victims and either return them to their families or make sure they end up in a safe place, far from his clutches.”

“Safe? You mean send them to an orphanage?”

“Sometimes. Or sometimes, we house them temporarily in one of our hotels.”

My mouth falls open. “What?”

“Every hotel we own, we have one floor specifically for victims who don’t have anywhere else to go.”

My heart swells. “Alec, that’s such a heroic thing to do.”

“Not really. We sometimes resort to, uh, less-than-legal means to find the victims and rescue them.”

“So what? At the end of the day, what matters is you saved them from something horrible.”

He turns to me, his grin getting wider. “I’m glad we think the same way.”

I’m about to burst with things I want to tell him, and I tap my feet impatiently. “Is it my turn to tell you what happened?”

“Only if you’re ready.”

“I am.”

And so we spend the next few hours telling each other how our lives were before we met and after he helped me escape. I thought it would be so difficult for me to speak to him about it, but his face, his voice, his touch—I drew strength from them.

I don’t know where we’re going from here, but we both agree on one thing—we’re never letting each other go. We’ll face Jackson head-on, make him pay, and ensure he gets what he deserves. That’s the way it should be.