Chapter 18
Rahat
I sat on the sofa of the first floor sitting room of Gabriel's house with a cashmere throw over my legs and a glass of water on the coffee table in front of me.
Carina hovered on the sofa to my right. Every time I so much as shifted position, she'd jump as if I'd fainted.
It should have felt suffocating, but the truth was, I was glad she was here.
She was my oldest friend. I don't think I could have faced this without her.
I glanced around the room as she talked.
I always thought the Georgian four storey house was a bit much for Gabriel on his own.
It looked like Peter Pan should be visiting Wendy in the attic room.
Mostly, I was worried about Rex. To say he'd been furious would be an understatement.
And I knew some of that rage was rightly directed at me.
It was still dark outside. The curtains on the tall sash windows were drawn closed but I could see the glow of the streetlights beyond them.
Two of Gabriel's men were stationed outside the sitting room.
Carina was making small talk. She was worried about me and doing her best to hide it.
"Thea sent this video when I was on the plane," she said, holding out her phone. "Look."
She tilted her screen towards me and pressed play. The video was only about twelve seconds long. Toni, Thea and Cane's baby, was in a yellow jumpsuit, propped up on the arm of their sofa and popping her open mouth on it before taking a step toward the phone.
"God." I resisted the urge to clutch my throat to stop it hurting when I spoke. "I can't believe how big she's getting. And when did she start walking?"
Carina laughed. "Whilst I was on the plane, apparently," she said. "And according to Thea, she went straight for the dog bowl, and then sat down very hard, looking very offended when she wasn't allowed to have it. Listen."
She played me a voice note that had Thea laughing while Cane tried to reason with a fussing Toni on why the bowl was out of bounds and not for humans.
"That's a discussion that's going nowhere," I said.
"Oh, definitely."
I leaned my head back on the sofa cushion and stared at the ceiling.
My throat ached every time I swallowed. The light was too bright on the left side, so I angled my head away from it.
A part of me wished we'd never left Castle Rock.
Then none of this would be happening. But what was I meant to do? Avoid London, my home, forever?
"I want to go back," I said, my voice barely more than a whisper.
Carina clutched my hand and gave it a squeeze. "You will."
"I mean, I want to go back now. I want to be back in Colorado where the worst thing happening is Toni terrorising the dog." I took a deep breath, trying not to cry. "I want none of this to be real."
God! I hated how fucking pathetic I sounded.
Carina didn't say anything for a moment. She just squeezed my hand tighter. "As soon as this is over. I will personally buy us all tickets."
"Business class," I said, smiling.
"Well, obviously."
"For Auntie Deepa and everyone too," I said, not wanting to leave them behind. "I want to watch Lucky try some bhel puri."
"Done," Carina said, as her thumb moved across my knuckles. "All of it. Done."
I smiled and then my phone rang.
"Auntie Deepa," I said, answering her call. Though in truth, I wasn't ready to face her or rather to see her reaction when she faced me.
It was only when her voice came down the line raw and barely held together that I realised the middle of the night was an odd time for her to be calling. I'd never in my life heard her sound so afraid. Not even when she sat with me in the hospital, waiting to see if Mum and Dad had survived.
"Beta," she said, practically crying. It was followed by one word that made my stomach drop. "Priya."
I stood, dropping the throw on the floor in the process. My head thundered and my vision greyed at the edges.
"What is it?" Carina asked.
I put the phone on speaker.
"She was here," Auntie said. "Aldo... Aldo went to the door. Someone knocked, asking about a package."
"At this time of night," Carina said.
"She was here. Her phone is here. But she's gone."
"Where's Aldo?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady and failing. "Put him on."
Auntie Deepa stifled a sob. "I... I can't. He's gone." She paused as if finding her words. "He's dead, Rahat. Ashraf found him in the back garden."
The room spun and the nausea that had threatened all night returned. I tried to keep my feet on the floor and the world from spinning. But the world was spinning and it was out of control. Aldo was dead, Priya was missing, and I felt like I had another noose around my neck.
"Is Ashraf there," I asked.
"Yes. He's here."
"Keep him with you. Go to the bathroom and lock yourselves in. Do not open the door for anyone until I call you." My voice cracked and wheezed. It felt like I was talking through needles. I wasn't handling talking this much and it showed.
"What is wrong with you, Beta?" Auntie Deepa asked, instantly switched to matriarchal fussing mode. "You sound strange. Hurt."
"It's nothing," I said, lying. "A sore throat. My main concern right now is you making sure you and Ashraf are safe. Now go to the bathroom. I have to make a call. Stay there until I call you. Do you understand me?"
"Rahat, what--"
"Auntie, please." I closed my eyes for a second, squeezing them shut. "I'm gonna fix this. Just go to the bathroom with Ashraf. Please."
"Mum," Ashraf said in the background. "Come on. Let's just do as she asks. We're on our way there now," he shouted a moment later. "Call us."
With that, he ended the call, and I sank to the floor as my knees buckled beneath me. Carina was already moving towards the door to fetch Gabriel’s men.
Not even a second later, my phone buzzed in my hand.
"Where is she?" I asked, knowing who it was by the unlisted number.
"I'm going to send you an address," he said. "You have an hour. Come alone."
"And Priya?”
"She walks away."
I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "I need more time. My head--"
"An hour, Rahat," he said and then the line went dead.
Rex was through the door and across the room before I had the chance to think. A part of me was glad to see him, another wished he'd stayed away a while longer.
"He has Priya," I said, as he lifted me from the floor and laid me on the sofa.
His arms tensed, but he said nothing.
"He called." I looked at my phone when it buzzed. "And now I have a location and an hour to get there."
"No." One word. He said it as if the matter was settled and reached for my phone. I let him take it. I knew where I needed to go. "Carina," he said. "Get Gabriel."
"He knew where they were," I said. "He knows every move we've made since arriving in London. Even before. If I don't go alone, if Gabriel's men get within five streets of where he is, Priya doesn't come out."
"We are not doing this again." His voice was low as he crouched down beside me. His eyes dropped to my throat for a second and then up to my swollen eye. "You tried that before and he put a rope around your neck. I'm not--"
"He has Priya." My throat burned and it pained me to speak, but I did so anyway. "She's nineteen. The same age I was when I first met Adam. She's still a kid." I held his gaze. "I did this. I brought this to her door. I'm not asking for permission."
"Rahat--"
"You'd go." I watched his face. "For any one of them.” He shook his head. “Any brother in that club. Jameson, Lucky... any one of them. You wouldn't think twice." The muscle in his jaw twitched but he was listening. "Tell me how it's different?" I asked.
"Rahat, you know it's fucking different."
I reached for his hand and held it tight. "Don't ask me to be someone you're not."
The silence stretched between us. Carina entered the room with Jameson and Gabriel right behind her.
"Andrea will be with Deepa and Ashraf within ten minutes," Gabriel said.
Rex released my hand and stood. "He's already ahead of us.
You walk in there and you're playing by his rules.
" His gaze drifted to my throat again. He couldn't seem to stop doing that, and every time he did, a vein looked like it might pop out of his head.
"He showed you tonight what game he's playing. "
"I know," I said. "Which is why you're coming with me.
" Rex froze. My head swam and my vision greyed again, but I couldn’t allow myself to worry about that now.
I continued. "I go in first. You give me five minutes.
Three hundred seconds. Enough time for him to believe I'm alone, and for Priya to be out of there. "
"You really believe he'll let her go?"
I thought about that for a second and nodded. I did. I couldn't think of a single time Adam had ever lied to me.