Chapter 24
24
M aeve
I wake up to a loud sound that seems too foreign in the natural perfection of this place. Multiple orgasms might have scrubbed my brain clear, and it takes me a good minute to comprehend my surroundings.
Rubbing my eyes, I’m trying to figure out where it’s coming from. It’s not Ezra’s heartbeat that has become all too familiar at this point. It’s something else.
He’s still sleeping soundly with his hand thrown over his eyes. His chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm. I peek outside—it’s still early. The island’s just waking up. The sun shines right in my face, and I have to shield my eyes from it in order to see anything.
A boat. A fucking boat!
I rush back inside and shake his shoulder. “Ezra, wake up! There’s a boat here!”
“What?” he mumbles as he tries opening his eyes .
“A boat!” I cry out and press my mouth to his in a happy kiss. “They found us!”
It’s natural to assume his face would turn happy. But it’s not the case. Instead, dark shadows instantly cloud his eyes, and his lips form a thin line. His jaw sets, and I can even see muscles moving under his skin.
He slowly climbs out of the place that has become our home for the past few days.
“Ezra.” I touch his hand. “What’s wrong?”
But he pulls away from my touch like I’m some sort of fly on his sleeve.
“Ezra?” My voice turns small.
His ice-cold eyes turn to me. “Not now. We’ll talk later.”
That was vague. And cold. Detached. Not at all like the man who was with me yesterday. Yes, we don’t know much about each other, and he promised we’d talk today. But his tone has changed. It’s not promising anymore. It’s… something else.
I step backward, stumbling over my bare feet. The sand feels too cold, the air too muggy. I’m suddenly aware of my half-naked body, so I hug myself with my goosebump-covered arms.
The boat is coming ashore. Before it’s even fully settled, a tall, dark-haired man jumps out of it. He strides toward us. The closer he comes, the faster he walks. When he’s on the shore, he rushes toward Ezra and grips him in a tight hug.
“I thought you were dead, brother,” he says as Ezra hugs him back.
Well, I expected that. Ezra mentioned him having only his brother, so it’s only natural that he’d be the one coming to his rescue.
“Not so fast,” Ezra laughs, smacking his brother on the back. His voice is different, carefree. Not like he was a minute ago with me .
When they’re done with their hugs, the man turns toward me.
“And who are you, Friday?”
“I am Crusoe, he’s Friday.” I point at Ezra, making his brother laugh. I expect my beachside companion to laugh with us, but he doesn’t. His face remains stoic when he looks at me.
“Nice to meet you, Crusoe.” He comes and offers me his hand. I don’t notice that I’m still hugging myself, so I drop my hands and grab his for a handshake. “I’m Noah, his,” he nods toward Ezra, “brother.”
“I’m Maeve,” I offer with a smile.
At the mention of my name, his brows shoot up, and he glances at his brother. “Maeve? As in Maeve Wrong?”
“Yes.” I squint my eyes at him. “How do you know?”
“Let’s go,” Ezra says in a voice that demands to be heard. The very same one he used on me during our first meeting. The cold, stuck-up suit uses it, not the Ezra I’ve come to know.
Noah’s eyes narrow even more when his gaze moves between me and Ezra. Then he offers me his elbow while eyeing his brother. “Milady, may I escort you to our transportation?”
“She can walk by herself,” comes Ezra’s gruff voice along with his gloomy presence.
At his words, I instantly grip Noah’s arm. “Thank you, milord.”
Noah lowers his elbow so it’s easier for me to hang on to since the man is as tall as Ezra and flashes me a wide smile. “My pleasure. Oh, wait a second.” He gently loosens my arm and shakes off his T-shirt, staying in nothing but male sweat and ultra-ripped muscles like his brother. Then he passes it to me. “Put it on. I don’t have anything with me, and I doubt there is anything decent on the boat. There’re two guys in there,” he nods toward the boat, “so you probably will be comfier this way.”
I accept with a smile, pulling it on. When my head pops out of the collar, my eyes are met with a stone-cold face and thinned lips. Muscles on Ezra’s jaw are moving side to side. He’s pissed.
Well, fuck you, Ezra.
We walk toward the boat in silence. Noah’s support is the only thing that helps me get through the walk of shame. Because this is what it feels like. Like I’m some shameful secret Ezra doesn’t want to come out because he hasn’t talked to me once.
Not when we ride the boat to the islands. Not when Noah is telling me the story of how my family raised hell in all Polynesia trying to find me. And how the nice captain of the boat appeared on one of the islands. He was washed ashore and was in a coma for a few days. When he finally woke up, he gave the officials the approximate location of the crash, and this is how they were able to find us.
Ezra doesn’t talk. Nor does he express any emotions at the news that the captain is alive.
We go to the car to drive us wherever. I have nothing on me, so I just go with the flow, hoping that wherever we end up, they’ll let me borrow some money and clothing. Or at least a phone. I can make do in this T-shirt. It’s long and covers my thighs like a dress. I was way more exposed on the island.
It’s not an island anymore, Maeve. It’s back to reality.
And I understand it more and more with every passing second when Noah brings Ezra up to speed with what is happening in their company and an upcoming board meeting. About how they need to act fast if they don’t want to lose everything they’ve built.
Turns out, I was wrong, and Ezra is not out of my league. He’s on a different planet. When he started talking to Noah, he shifted back into that persona from the coffee shop. The ignorant King on his high horse. The untouchable one. The unapproachable. Not my Ezra from the island. Not the man who held me while I was shaking with fear.
When I left my family, I left that world behind me. I was born rich. And I was rich until I ran away from home in Rhode Island to New York. My parents didn’t tell me much about where the money was coming from, but I knew they were investors of inherited old money. That’s about it. When I was growing up, knowing anything other than how to be presentable in society was not required. Therefore, I knew almost nothing about my father’s dealings. And I knew even less after I separated from them. So I don’t really know if Ezra is from old or new money. I’d never seen him in my life before he appeared in the coffee shop with a scowl on his face.
Judging by what I’m hearing, they have some giant real estate developing company I know nothing about because I’ve been living under a rock for the past few years. And the burnt building is not the only property they own. Something this big would be spread all over the internet and the front page of Forbes. But I have a flip phone. I don’t spend mindless hours scrolling through social media and news, so I don’t know much about what’s happening with the cool kids. I watch TV at work, and that’s about it. I might be young, but my mind is vintage.
I’ve never had an urge to Google someone’s name as much as I do now. Something is itching at the back of my head. Some understanding. Some idea I might not like. I think he’s from the same world I’m trying to get back to. This could be very bad. My parents won’t be happy if they get a whiff of me playing survivor games with a rich dude from New York they might know. Someone who can actually be from the same social circle.
Ezra still hasn’t said a word to me. He even took the furthest seat away from me. I mean, it’s a minivan, there aren’t many options available for a fella of his size, but he climbed to the very back seat where he sits like a grasshopper with his knees pretty much in his face.
Every second on the boat, I was aware of him watching me. But he hasn’t looked at me since we stepped foot on solid ground. All he does is look out the window while his brother talks. Noah looks at me from time to time, and it’s natural considering I’m sitting in the middle row on the seat next to him.
“Can I borrow your phone?” I suddenly ask Noah.
His eyes once again shoot from me to Ezra as he pulls out his phone from his jeans and passes it to me.
I type Mom’s phone number and wait. She picks up on the third ring.
“Hey, Noah-honey. Did you find him?”
This is so not good. I glance at Noah, trying to figure out how she knows it’s him and why she calls him honey, but I decide to leave the questioning for later. I’m too exhausted and emotionally drained for that.
“Mom?” My voice breaks.
A pause. “Maeve?”
“Mom, it’s me.”
My mom starts crying. “Maeve, you’re alive.” Then she yells to my father . “George, Noah found Maeve!” Then back to me. “Honey, are you okay?”
“Yes, Mom.” My voice turns barely audible.
“Noah will bring you to us, honey. Don’t you worry!” She lets out a loud sigh of relief. “It’s so wonderful that he’s the one who found you. He’s going to be your family soon. I’m so happy he was there for you!”
He was there for you. Not ‘I’m happy you’re alive’ but ‘happy he was there for you.’ And family? I eyeball him subtly. How exactly is he going to become my family? My mom clearly having his number saved in her phone and calling him honey totally freaked me out. Is he my sister’s future husband or something? Can her engagement be the ‘big news’ they were going to tell the world about? That might add up.
“Okay, Mom. I guess I’ll see you soon.”
“Yes, dear! Very soon. I’m so excited!” And she hangs up without saying goodbye. It’s been her style as long as I can remember, and I see nothing has changed.
I pass the phone back to Noah as I feel two hot stares on my face. I glance between him and Ezra and retreat into my seat, trying to appear small. Well, smaller. I don’t have energy to congratulate him now, nor can I say how happy I am for him because I don’t feel happy. Not with Ezra’s eyes drilling a hole in the back of my skull. He finally decided to pay attention to me, and this is how he chooses to do that.
“Happy to be back in the land of the living?” Noah asks with a warm smile.
“Yay,” I reply unenthusiastically, making his smile turn into a sad one. He carefully takes my hand which has been resting on my lap since I don’t know what to do with it and gives it a gentle squeeze.
Ezra clears his throat loudly and asks Noah, “When is the board meeting?”
Noah twists his body so he’s facing him. “Seriously? Now?” He sounds angry.
“When?” Ezra repeats through gritted teeth.
“Well, I was able to make them hold off on that. We agreed it happens when we find you, so we can attend it.” He snaps his fingers and clicks his tongue. “Oh, right. You can’t because you’ll be busy with your wedding and honeymoon. ”
My head snaps toward Ezra like someone’s just slapped me.
“Noah!” he barks.
“What do you want from me, asshole?” Noah snaps back, losing all the euphoria from finding his brother alive and well.
I try swallowing a giant lump in my throat but can’t. It sits in my airway, not letting me breathe.
Wedding? Honeymoon? Becoming family with Noah? Is Noah the wrong brother in my assumption?
“Maeve?” calls out the voice that I thought had become mine . “Maeve.” A slight note of begging doesn’t help me breathe. Nor does his hand on my shoulder that suddenly feels like a brick of lead. I shrug, forcing him not to touch me.
“Maeve?” he calls again.
“Shut up, Ezra,” Noah barks back and turns toward me. “Maeve, do you want me to drop him off here and drive you somewhere?”
I shake my head.
“I don’t have anywhere to go,” I whisper, suddenly feeling tiny.
“The fuck you will!” The asshole chimes in at the same time from the back seat.
Noah slowly turns toward him. “For the love of everything, Ezra.” He takes a deep breath and exhales loudly. “Shut the fuck up.”
The tension is palpable in the air, and I feel like Ezra is about to go for his brother’s jugular. I don’t know why though. Did he want to tell me the happy news himself? He had plenty of time to do so before Noah showed up, so quite frankly, I don’t want to hear anything now. Was it the thing he said I was going to ruin? Everything he’s built. Like his fucking family? With my sister? I am the other woman now. To my sister.
I’m about to vomit.
“Can I borrow some money?” I ask Noah quietly. “All I had was a hundred bucks I borrowed from a homeless guy, and now it’s on the bottom of the ocean.” I sniffle miserably. “I don’t want to ask my family for anything.”
I don’t care if my request seems weird since I prefer asking for a loan from a stranger—hence Jeff—rather than my family, but it’s hard to explain our dynamics without seeing us around each other. Granted, I haven’t seen my family for years and was hoping something might have changed. But it hasn’t. I heard it during the phone call. And nothing will change, that much is already clear.
“I’ll give you my card,” Ezra says before Noah can utter a word.
Noah keeps quiet, letting me decide if I want to accept the offered help. I slightly shake my head, so he pulls a wallet out of his pocket, takes out a black card, and passes it to me.
“Give her my card.” The jerk keeps talking, but we both ignore him.
I take the card with a quiet “Thank you.” He just nods with a loud sigh and twists in his seat again to face Ezra.
“I’ll drop you off at the hotel and then drive Maeve to wherever she needs.”
“She goes to the same hotel,” Ezra orders through his teeth, using that commanding voice from the coffee shop.
I jump in my seat and face him. “Stop telling everyone what to do! I don’t want to be on the same planet with you, let alone a hotel!” I point my index finger at his face. “I don’t want to see you. It was just the island, right? No backstories, no attachment. Just passing time and trying to survive, right?” I start laughing at the end of my speech, and somehow, even my laughter is pathetic .
“Maeve.” His breath hitches. “I said I was going to tell you tomorrow, but he showed up before I could say anything.”
I sneer at him like a wild animal—I can’t believe he’s blaming his brother for showing up and preventing him from telling his fucked-up story.
I raise my fist in the air, imagining shoving it into his mouth so he can’t say a word. “Shut it.” When I turn away from him, I say, “You had plenty of time to tell me everything, and yet you haven’t. I have to see my family. I don’t have a choice. It was supposed to be a reunion . I’m already crawling to them with my tail between my legs. And you just took my tail away!”
Noah swallows. “I heard.”
My head whips toward him. “I see. I bet it was a good story.”
He winces. “Not particularly.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Ezra pushes his face between the seats, but neither of us gives him a response. I’d like for him to know how it feels to be left out of the whole story. Just like I feel right now. And betrayed. I want him to feel very betrayed.
“Are you sure you want to do it now?” Noah’s eyes shoot to the back seat for a moment.
I sink back into my seat. “No, but I don’t have a choice.” I shake his card in the air. “I’m keeping this though. I’ll pay you back.”
He waves his hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. We’re almost family now.”
We both wince at the reminder of it.
The work talk is forgotten, all of us go back to our own thoughts, and the driver turns up the volume of a cheery song higher. It’s an old song I used to love, but now it will always be associated with this miserable experience in my life where I just found out that the man I love belongs to my sister.