Chapter 37
ALEX
I scream—a raw, guttural sound tears from my throat as I shoot to my feet. It doesn’t even sound human. It’s monstrous.
Unhinged.
Hysterical.
I stumble backward, like Noah just pulled a knife on me—and honestly, that might’ve been easier to stomach than the words he just said.
“Stay the fuck away from me!” I spit, wiping at my mouth with the back of my hand.
“Alex, please—just calm down. Please.”
But calm isn’t just long gone—it’s been blown out of existence.
“Why? Tell me why, Noah.”
“I don’t know. He was a criminal—a kidnapper, Alex.
He had connections from every corner of every country.
Somehow, he knew about my adoption and intervened.
He arranged for their plane to go down. They made it look like a mechanical failure, but he was behind it, the one who set everything in motion.
I wish I could tell you more, but that’s all I know. It’s all my mother would tell me.”
“Your mother? You’re fucking mother knew about this?” He stares at me, shaken, eyes full of shame and sorrow.
“Where is he?” I roar, my voice breaking under the weight of it. “Where is that motherfucker who murdered my parents?!”
“Alex—”
“Where. The fuck. Is he?!” I’m shaking, chest heaving like I’ve just run for miles. “Goddamn it, Noah! Tell me!”
“Dead!” he shouts, eyes wild.
I spin around, ears ringing, vision blurred like I’m under water. My lungs can’t keep up. There’s not enough air. Not enough anything.
“How?” I choke out, barely able to push the word past the panic rising in my chest. “How did he die?” I move toward him and yank his hands away from his head.
He stares down at his feet, shaking his head once, as if refusing the truth even as it gathers in his throat. “I-I killed him.”
His hands twist together, fingers knotted like they’re trying to wring the truth out of each other. His face is ghostly white. Even his pretty pink lips have lost their color.
I freeze.
Noah lifts his eyes to mine. “Alex—”
I scream. Again. Louder this time, the sound ripping from my lungs as I clutch my head like it might split open from the pressure.
“Meera was—”
“Fuck Meera!” My voice explodes, splintered by betrayal.
“You don’t mean that!” he yells back. “She loved you! She loves me too!”
His voice chases me as I bolt down the hallway, moving like something wild and unhinged—like I might outrun the truth if I just move fast enough.
My entire fucking life—
Everything—
A lie.
“She’s a good person!” he shouts after me.
His words hit me like a bullet in the back.
But I don’t stop.
He’s fucking delusional. A murderer for Christ’s sake! Just like his father!
I burst through the door and slam it shut behind me. The sound echoes like a gunshot, reverberating through my skull until my vision starts to blur.
Noah’s voice still rings in my head, and it sends me into a full-body rage. I pivot in the hallway and slam my fist into the wall beside his door.
Pain rips through my knuckles, but it barely registers.
Something inside me explodes—cells firing like fireworks, nerves igniting into a full-blown inferno.
I can’t breathe.
My chest cinches tight, every inhale catching like my ribs are made of wire. Still, I move—legs trembling, dragging me forward even as my lungs scream for air.
I need to get away.
I need to—
I need—
“Oomph…”
The word punches out of me as I slam headfirst into a solid chest. The impact jolts through my skull, sharp and dizzying.
“Whoa—”
Strong hands grip my shoulders, steadying me. Fingers press into my skin with just enough pressure to ground me, to stop me from flying apart completely.
“What happened? What’s going on? Are you alright?”
The voice is familiar—too familiar. Dazed, I blink up through the blur, vision swimming, struggling to focus.
“Gabriel?” I wheeze. My throat feels raw. “What are you doing here?”
He frowns, tension pulling at the corners of his mouth. “I might ask you the same.”
I groan and shove my fists into my eyes. White lights burst behind my eyelids—flashes of pain, memory, truth.
Too much. All at once.
I squeeze my eyes tighter.
Soft palms cradle my face—gentle, trembling—and Gabriel’s voice slips through the chaos, low and steady.
“Alex, mi amor. Relax,” he whispers, thumbs brushing softly against my cheeks. “This is a migraine, sí?”
I collapse into him, letting him carry the weight I can’t hold anymore. His cool hands are a balm against my overheated skin, and I let out a quiet moan at the relief.
Gently, he wipes at the tears I didn’t even realize were falling, the pads of his thumbs moving slowly, tenderly. I force my eyes to stay open, to focus on him.
His five o’clock shadow.
Sharp cheekbones.
Deep-gray eyes, calm, steady, unwavering.
Then he leans in and blows gently across my face… and I breathe.
I inhale the breath he gives me, draw it deep into my lungs.
Again.
And again.
Until I’m breathing with him—because of him.
“Noah… Noah’s my b-brother,” I stammer, voice cracking. “And Meera…” I draw in another breath, but it catches in my throat, and I cough.
“Is his sister,” Gabriel finishes gently. “I know. It’s okay, Alex.”
I grip his waist like it’s the only thing keeping me from slipping under, my knuckles white as his hands drift from my face to my arms.
“I just found this out myself,” he adds, his voice like warm velvet against the chaos roaring in my head. “Elijah knows too.”
His hands slide down my arms with agonizing tenderness, every inch a silent vow. When he finds my fingers, he doesn’t just hold them—he claims them, weaving his between mine like a lifeline he knows I need, like a promise not to let me go.
“H-he killed my parents,” I sob, gripping his hands. “Noah’s father… he’s responsible for their plane going down.” I pause. Squeeze my eyes until the tears burn hot behind them, until the pressure hurts more than the truth. “And th-then… he killed him. Noah k-killed his father.”
I tighten my grip on Gabriel’s hands like I’m clinging to the edge of a cliff, my fear pulsing through every knuckle, every breath, begging him not to let me fall.
“I’m not letting you go, chulo,” he murmurs. And I believe him because through everything, he’s the kind of man who holds on, even when everything else comes undone.
With gentle insistence, he guides me further from Noah’s door and presses me lightly against the wall. His body stands between me and the world—solid, steady, unshakable. A barrier. A shield.
“Where’s Noah, love?” he asks, voice soft as a breeze, his hands gliding over my arms, warming the goose bumps away.
“I-I-I don’t know,” I mumble, voice thinned by disbelief. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t—”
Umph!
Thick lips crash into mine. I freeze, startled.
Of all the people—Gabriel, intense and infuriating, is crossing a line he probably doesn’t see. Or maybe he does. It’s wrong… but somehow it feels right, not malicious, just human. I close my eyes, letting the shock anchor me long enough to breathe.
His lips move against mine, patient and steady. Softer than I ever imagined.
I don’t say a word.
Can’t.
In fact, I welcome the silence.
The numbness.
The blur.
His breath is cool and minty. There’s a faint taste of coffee—and maybe… bourbon? And then it hits me.
I jolt out of my stupor, lurching backward like I’ve been slapped. “Motherfu—”
“I prefer Daddy,” he says with a smirk, eyes glinting.
“Shut the fuck up!” I bark, stumbling away as if the floor just shifted beneath me. I plant my feet, dizzy and furious all at once.
Gabriel grins as I wipe the wetness from my lips.
“So what?” He shrugs. “I kissed you. It’s the only thing I could think of to shut you up.”
He leans back, smug—his hands still on my shoulders.
“Clearly, it worked.”
Clearly.
My lips still tingle—minty, warm, and utterly confused.
“Where’s Elijah?” I ask, blinking past the haze.
“He had to step out. Should be back shortly though.”
I glance up and down the hallway, quietly relieved to see we’re alone.
Gabriel straightens, voice softening. “Alex, look… I’m going to take you upstairs, help you settle down, but first…” He nods toward the door. “Is Noah in there? Is he alright?”
“He’s fine,” I mumble, though I’m not entirely sure that’s true. But I am sure he’s better off than I am. “I just needed some… air.”
“Well, I was happy to help.” He winks. And yep… he’s back to his old self again, the relentless smart-ass I can never quite brace for.