I remained silent.
Jaz looked up, her eyes wet with tears. “You’re scaring me, Jethro. I miss my brother. I want him back. Tell me what happened, so I know how to find him again.”
Poor deluded sister.
Standing, I bent and kissed the top of her head. “Nothing happened. And I don’t want to be found. If you love me like you say you do, then be happy for me. I’ve finally found something that works and will never go back.”
Tapping my pocket, the gentle rattle of my pills said hello. I relaxed knowing if life ever got too much, if the tears of another drove me to breaking point, all I had to do was swallow a tiny friend and I would be fine.
“Goodbye, Jaz.”
Without waiting for her reply, I strode out the door and left my sister behind.
My phone vibrated its way across my bedside table at three in the morning.
I didn’t jump or tense.
In a way, I’d been expecting this to happen for days.
Picking up the device, I swiped the screen and read the blinking message.
I’d wondered how long she would stay away. She’d lasted longer than I anticipated, but I had no doubt that was down to the circus of stories and endless hounding by reporters—not to mention, her brother would’ve done everything in his power to keep her from contacting me.
But just like my father had said, Nila had reached out.
Unknowingly, she’d just begun the next stage and walked right into a perfect trap.
Needle&Thread: I’ve been staring at this phone for over a week, wondering what to say. I still can’t find the words, so I’ll stick with simple ones. Kite, I love you. I miss you. I’m here for you. I’ve become a prisoner in my own family. They watch me, guard me. I’ve traded one captivity for another. I need you to come claim me. If we work together, this can all be over. Please…I need you to fight for me like I’ve fought for you. I need to know you’re alive and uninjured. Jethro, I want you to take me from this place. Let’s leave. Let’s runaway where no one will find us.
This was the true test. The ultimate trial on the numbing fog I’d ingested for the past ten days. I waited to see if her words would make me step outside the comforting blankness I now embraced.
They didn’t.
I was empty. Nothing could make me go back to the way I was. Not Nila. Not my sister. Nothing.
This game had turned into a fishing expedition, and as all good fishermen know, you have to let the fish nibble the bait before they swallowed the hook and sealed their own fate.
Swallow away, Nila Weaver.
Let me catch you.
Tossing the phone to the floor, I left her message unanswered.
I’D MANAGED TO last over a week before I sent him a message.
But once that boundary had been crossed, I couldn’t stop myself from crossing it every day.
I lived only to send more messages, hoping that one day, he would reply.
Monday…
Needle&Thread: Please, Jethro. I’m begging you. Don’t throw me away like this.
Tuesday…
Needle&Thread: Are you okay? Did Cut hurt you? Please…I’m going out of my mind with worry.
Wednesday…
Needle&Thread: Message me, Kite. Please tell me this doesn’t change what happened between us.
Thursday…
Needle&Thread: I tried to ditch my security detail today to come save you. But they chased me down the motorway. I can’t get free. I need you to come get me if I mean anything to you at all.
Friday…
Needle&Thread: What did they do to you? Why won’t you reply?
Saturday…
Needle&Thread: Answer me, Jethro! Just a simple message to let me know you’re still alive. You owe me that at least.
Sunday…
Needle&Thread: The world thinks we’re certifiably crazy. I agree with them. What your family has done is wicked. But you aren’t. Don’t let them take you away from me…
No matter how many messages I sent, no matter how much I poured my heart into them, Jethro ignored me.
He’d cut me out completely.
Seventeen nights since I’d seen him.
Seventeen days since I’d talked to him.
Eighteen days since he’d loved me, cum inside me, and shown me how much I meant to him.
And now, nothing.
I lay in my queen-sized bed, staring at the ceiling where a purple chandelier glittered from the moonlight streaming in through open curtains.
Anger overrode my self-pity, and for the first time since I’d been home, I cursed Jethro Hawk.
“Damn you!” Staring again at my blank phone, I gave it one more moment to chime. Come on…
It never did.
With a wail, I tossed the device across my room. It clunked against the rug outside my private bathroom, glowing in the dark.
My room was big, but not nearly as large as my quarters at Hawksridge, and despite the strange blend of comfort and stress of being home, I couldn’t find peace.
My eyes drifted over my top-of-the-line treadmill in the corner, to my overflowing walk-in closet.
This room was a part of me.
But now it was an enemy.
Everyone was an enemy. From work to strangers to family. I didn’t fit in anywhere. I didn’t even fit into my own thoughts.
Why was I grieving for a man destined to kill me?
Why was I so determined to return to a household of murderers?
Why did I panic every time nausea took me hostage?
I know why.
Because you’re more in love than afraid.
Because you can’t stand the way Tex looks at you.
And because you’re afraid you might be pregnant…
My father tore apart my heart every damn second we were together.
We couldn’t talk anymore—not about trivial things or important things. Our awkward conversations were stilted and fake. He couldn’t take his eyes off me, even though they were exhausted and ringed with shadows as deep as darkness itself. He shrunk beneath a lifetime of regret over me, over my mother.
And I hated that I couldn’t console him.
Why hadn’t he gone after her?
Why had he let them come for me?
Those questions were never voiced, but I knew he felt them, lashing the air with contamination.
My family were adrift, and I had no clue how to fix it.
I dug my tattooed fingertips into my eyes, banishing the thoughts of my father and pressing back the tears that never seemed to leave.
I huffed, the silence rejecting any noise and swallowing my sadness. I couldn’t stomach the quietness—the lifeless darkness.
I was safe here.
No one to hurt me, fuck me, or transform my soul with wings.
I am safe here.
And I didn’t know how to cope with that anymore.
My ruby-encrusted dirk lay beside me on the silver and lace bedspread. It belonged to the Hawks…yet it was the only thing I’d brought with me. I’d left everything at Hawksridge, including my phone. My father had banned me from getting another—he blamed the press hounding us for constant interviews, but I knew the real reason.
He wanted me to be cut off, untouchable.
But it hadn’t stopped me from commandeering a new one, and, like the love-struck moron I was, I knew every digit of Kite’s number perfectly.
Countless times, I messaged him.
But not once did he reply.
I miss you.
I curse you.
I love you.
He left me empty and all alone.
“JETHRO.”
I looked up from a small pile of diamonds on my desk and brushed overgrown hair from my eyes. My father stood in the doorway to my study; his stance was relaxed and open, a camaraderie between us evident after the past few weeks of my impeccable behaviour.
Placing the loupe onto a velvet case in front of me, I smiled. “Need something?”
Cut cocked his head toward the corridor. “Only a word. We’ve all been busy with preparations this last week. I think a debrief is in order, don’t you?”
My mind prodded at the plans we’d made. The strict timeline when Nila would be ours again. The retaliation we’d lined up to dismiss the fading interest in my family’s name. Vaughn was losing power as each day passed. Social media was a feral beast baying for blood, but it was short-lived, quickly moving onto juicier gossip.
The longer we waited, the less power the Weavers had. We’d also fortified our alliances with the local police, who ensured they would stay out of our way this time—otherwise…well, they knew what would fucking happen.
Scooping the diamonds into a soft pouch and storing them in my top drawer, I didn’t worry that there were over three hundred thousand pounds worth of stones amongst ballpoint and fountain pens.
Strolling over to Cut, I tapped my pocket to make sure I had my vial of friends with me. The comforting rattle sounded, and with another smile, my father and I walked side by side through the bachelor wing, up the stone staircase, and to his office on the second floor.
My eyes flickered to Jasmine’s door. I hadn’t seen my sister again. I didn’t like being estranged from her, but I was above silly dramatics now. I had no feelings to spare. It was her problem not mine. I wouldn’t dwell on it.
The moment we were locked and secluded in his chambers, he motioned to his private stash of rare Rémy Martin cognac. “Please, help yourself to a drink.”
“Want one?” I asked, moving to the small bar and uncorking the decanter. My mouth watered as a generous amount splashed into a crystal goblet.