17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen

CAIRO

Tia's adorable pout tells me that I should have stopped Paval. He even deleted the fucking text from my phone so I have no idea who he spoke to or what he's doing. And while he can usually hold his own, he's injured and still shouldn't be exerting a lot of effort. I join Tia on the couch and drag her into my lap, knowing we only have a few hours before our usual routine.

"Do we need to go after Paval?"

She shakes her head. "Give him ten minutes. He used to always disappear on me and I don't think he's going to do anything too stupid." She wiggles her phone at me. "That tracking app goes both ways. Not that he knows that or cared to turn it off. Or maybe he always wanted me to know where he was."

In a somewhat creepy way, it's kind of cute. She would always know where she would be safe if she needed to. Her face tightens and then she lets out a heavy sigh, curling tighter into my chest.

"What are you thinking, love?"

"That even though everything is fucked up and Paval's going to go and try to save us from the world, there's something between us. It's messy and awkward and hilarious watching Paval confused as he opens his heart but it's there. Please tell me you see it too?" Tia twists to look up at me, the love and adoration in her eyes for the men that have stolen her heart.

"Yeah, I see it. I feel it. Paval is all logic and rules but the way he lets me take what I need—fuck, Tia, I need more."

She starts drawing little circles on my chest. "You think he could silence your demons, don't you? I want this thing between you two to happen but you can't push Paval. He'll be there when he's ready. Whether it's tomorrow or a week from now. He'll be there, Cairo but the rules he's set up for how everything is supposed to go doesn't work anymore. He's overwhelmed and confused and pushing him… I don't know what that will do to him."

"He's not fragile, Tia."

"No, never fragile. He just sees the world a little differently than we do but trust me when I say that you are absolutely now his. You should have seen the texts he sent me, asking permission to think about you too. He wants this but he thought he could only have me."

I chuckle, settling deeper into the cushions. "I told him that he was mine, Tia. He said he liked that. He's so goddamn precious and fierce at the same time. Like there's two warring presences in his head at all times."

"It's what makes him so beautiful and ours . Now, it's your turn to spill. Don't give me that, Cairo." Tia sits up a little. "You rushed into the bathroom earlier, panicked, and it wasn't because I couldn't get Paval to his feet."

I don't want to tell her what I've found but she deserves to know. "I've put feelers out to see if anyone has seen Ada. There's a lot of junk that came through over the last few hours but the twins met me down in the gym and… she was at the registrar's office. No one has seen her since but she's been on campus." Tia shivers in my lap and I hate that we can't just have an easy happy ending.

Between my father and Tia's mother, something is going to go wrong sooner or later. We'll just have to brace ourselves. "Does Paval know?"

"Do you really think he wouldn't have barged out on campus to go looking for her? I didn't say anything to him. I'm not sure I should." Paval's version of protection could get him in more trouble than we could get him out of. If all the rumors are true from the newspapers and tabloids, Ada isn't someone we want on our heels. "But his fathers should know, right? And your uncle?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Fuck. I just wanted a degree, Cairo. A degree and a romance and a life that had nothing to do with Ada Fraser but that fucking nightmare follows me wherever I go."

I vow to change that—to change it for both of us. We both have parents ruining our lives one call at a time. It's time to carve out our own paths. My only problem is that I have absolutely no idea where to start.