Chapter 48

FORTY-EIGHT

As I sit at the table, my eyes once more go to the empty chair left for Ana. I love this house and the memories I have here, but in the few days since we have been back, I haven’t been able to relax. I wake up with my heart hurting, and I look in every room for her. It almost feels like I’m trapped in the past once more.

Maybe I am.

Maybe I have always been trapped here in one way or another.

As a child, it was my father who kept me here, but as an adult, it was my duty and love for my sister.

Now that both are gone, I’m left in the empty shell and surrounded by ghosts, but the living must live. I don’t think I can do that here. I left once, but I was running, knowing the rubber band between me and this place would snap me back one day. This time, I know it won’t be a forever goodbye, but it will be an ending. I’ll finally be putting my past to rest, which will allow me to move on.

At the moment, we linger in purgatory, but it’s time to rejoin the world.

Louis is talking with the guys as they debate house options for the children. Dimitri has found that they are all orphans, either stolen from bad situations, the street, or from a broken system. Nobody misses them, and nobody is looking for them. They have nothing to go back to. We are determined to leave them better off than we found them. Since my father’s death, I’ve become extremely wealthy, not that I give a shit, but now that Ana is . . . Yeah, I’m the sole benefactor of the Davis estate and everything that entails.

Well, fuck him and fuck his money.

An idea comes to me, one that instantly makes me grin and lifts my heart. “I can’t stay here.” Every eye turns to me, but my focus is on the chair where my sister should sit. “I can’t. I can’t be trapped here anymore. I have been tied to this house in one way or another since birth. It’s time to let go of the ghosts and truly live like you keep telling me.” I meet their gazes, seeing their confusion. “I can’t stay, but I refuse to leave Annie here alone. If she wasn’t here, I’d let this place rot for everything he did, but it’s just a house, a house my sister loved and grew up in. A house we became a family in.”

I reach over and take Bert’s hand. “A house where I learned what love really is. I can’t stay, and she can’t leave.” I look at the maps of choices. “But they can. Let’s give him one last fuck you and make this their house. There are enough rooms, and we can get staff for them and fund it with his blood money. He owes them that. Give them a better chance at life and give Annie some company. Let it be filled with laughter and love once more.”

“Miss Nova, are you sure?” Bert whispers.

“I want nothing from him. Not this house, not a pound of his money. I’ve always made my own way, and I always will, but it should be used for good and to make up for what he’s done. He’d turn in his grave if he knew, so yeah, I’m sure. Let’s bring this old, haunted house back to life. Let’s give it a purpose.” I smile sadly at Bert. “I know you love this place despite everything. You are always welcome to stay and work—”

“My home is where you are,” he says. “I only ever stayed for you and Miss Ana. It was never the job or the house; it was you. If you will have me, I will go with you.” He looks at my men. “I like to take care of you. You are my family now as much as Miss Nova, as long as it’s okay with you.”

“You are always welcome wherever we go,” I tell him as the others nod.

“You always have a place with us.” Louis smiles. “Wherever that is. Nova?”

“I don’t know. I just know that there has to be something for us out there. A place where we can learn to live again and heal from the horrors in our pasts. Where we can just . . . thrive.” Smiling at them, I reach out and lay my hand on the table. “When I was down in the bunker, it’s all I thought about—a place of our own, a place for a family.”

“Then we will find it,” Louis murmurs.

“We can still . . . work on the side, right?” Jonas asks worriedly.

Laughing, I wink at him. “I think we will need to in order to stop us all from going completely insane. We can’t change who we are, but I think we can afford a little slice of peace, don’t you? Besides, it’s now our mission to protect that research.”

“I’m in.” Dimitri shrugs. “Where you go, I go.”

“I agree. I think I’d like somewhere warm for a change.” Isaac grins.

“Fuck it, I’m in. I’d just stalk you anyways.” Jonas chuckles.

I look at Nico, who rolls his eyes like he can’t believe I have to ask. “We’re a family.”

“Louis?” I query.

“I agree. Where you go, we go. I think you’re right though. We deserve a slice of peace. We have spent so much time tracking your father and getting our revenge, we never truly got to live, not even as kids. We deserve it, and you deserve it as well, Nova. Let’s go find our home together.”

Their hands cover mine until we are one.

One family.

My eyes go back to the chair, and I know she would like this decision. I know she would be happy with me finally letting go and moving on. It doesn’t mean I’ll forget her. It just means I’ll carry her with me on my adventures, wherever they may take us.

* * *

It didn’t take us long to pack up our stuff. We are so used to being on the go, everything is already packed and we travel light. Bert, on the other hand, took longer, and we had to help him pack everything, but after Jonas threw his clothes in a bag, he kicked him out, refolding everything and tightly packing it in little cubes that blew my mind. We’ve set plans into motion for the house. Bert was the one to interview his replacement, and he was happy with the lady he chose. She will help maintain the house and care for the children and report back to us. There will also be other staff on hand, such as teachers and everything they could ever need. They will all turn up tomorrow, and we want to be gone before then.

I leave the guys to pack the car under Bert’s watchful gaze and head to the tree, my hands twisting before me. “I can’t leave without saying goodbye, though it’s not goodbye forever. I’ll come back and visit and check on the house . . . and you, but I can’t stay here forever, not even for you. I know you’d be happy that I’m putting myself first for once and giving life a go, as you used to say. And of course, they are by my side. I love them, Annie. I really do. I’m glad you got to know that before . . .” Swallowing hard, I close my eyes for a moment and feel the sun on my face. “I’m going to miss you so much. I don’t think it will ever stop hurting, but I’m taking you with me. Wherever we wander, wherever we go, you’ll be there. I’ll live enough for both of us, and when the time comes, I’ll meet you beyond.” Leaning down, I brush away some dirt from the headstone and smile sadly, tears once more filling my eyes, but I don’t let them fall.

“I love you, Annie. I always have. Thank you for being my little sister. Thank you for teaching me that it’s okay to love again.” Standing, I wipe off my hands and glance over to see them all waiting. Nico is perched at the open door with his shades on. “I promise to show you one hell of a life, and maybe a few more missions.” I chuckle. “Watch over them for me, Annie.” I glance back down at her. “Take care of Sam. Bye.”

I force my feet to the car, each step lighter than the last, and when a light breeze brushes over me, pushing me towards it, I smile, knowing she’s there. Nico slides inside, and before I follow, I glance back at the house. I’ll come back to check on the kids, but I’ll never live here again.

This manor holds so much pain and so many ghosts for me—both good and bad. It’s where I lived. It’s where I hurt, grieved, and loved. It’s where I learned I was unbreakable and where I learned I could be unstoppable. It will always be where I grew up, but now it’s time to find a home, not just a house.

It’s time to find my forever with them.

With my family.