Chapter 71 #2
“I made up a story. Told everyone I was taken by a woman who had recently lost her daughter. I told them that I resembled the girl and that I was taken care of. I also told them she got sick and was dying, that’s why she returned me.”
“You made that up by yourself?” she asked, her voice holding a tone of admiration.
Nodding once more, I suddenly felt exhausted. I hadn’t talked this much in a really long time, and emotionally, the realization that my brother’s best friends’ girlfriend was Spring made my head spin.
Now that I knew she was the girl they were raving about for months on end, coupled with their declarations of love, I wanted to ask her a hundred questions. But I, of course, didn’t.
“I’ll follow your lead, Isabella. If you want me to stay away, I will. If it hurts too much or makes the nightmares more intense, tell me. I’ll do whatever you need. I don’t want to hurt you. Please, tell me what to do.”
The plea in her eyes was too much for me to bear. I didn’t know what I wanted at the moment. I would need time to process everything.
“Okay, tell me how you met the Kings.” I brushed my hand next to hers, and we interlocked pinkies, but this time, we didn’t let go.
Her face lit up, and I listened to her as she shared how she had come into their lives and their whirlwind romance.
It was clear she was head over heels in love with the three of them.
Shaking my head, I couldn’t even wrap my mind around having one boyfriend, let alone three.
But I pushed those thoughts from my head.
Her phone pinged, and she glanced at it, then silenced it. It pinged several more times, then rang. She rolled her eyes, and I laughed, then went silent as she answered it.
“Hi, my King. No, I promise I’m behaving. I know, I remember what you said. I’m not overwhelming her. Okay, maybe I am.” She blushed. “I will. Love you too.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to guess which King brother she was talking to. From her conversation, I guessed Aleksandr. He did always seem like the possessive type. She finished her conversation and stood up.
“He said we should head back. You’re probably tired of listening to me babble.”
I gave her a look, held up my fingers, and made the gesture for a little. I dusted my bottom off and stood, and we began the trek back.
“What do we do now?” She stopped me.
“Beats me. I need time to process. If we are buddy-buddy too quickly, it might make everyone suspicious.”
“Makes sense. I’ll give you space. I’m not very good at it…but I can try. I just have one thing to tell you.”
She put her hand on my arm, and I looked at her. “What?”
“My grandfather, it’s a long story. He’s a Russian mobster, for real, real.
Like high up and everything. I think my uncle is too.
Anyway, that’s not the important thing. He came to get me, to take me home, but the Kings said no way.
Well, I said no way first, but they wouldn’t have let me, anyway. ” Amusement danced in her eyes.
“I thought it was only one thing you had to tell me.”
“Oh, right, sorry about that. Yes, the one thing, this is really important. You watch old movies?” She stopped walking.
“When Owen and I lived off grid, all we had were movies, no internet. He liked the old-school ones, you know, from forever ago. You ever watch The Untouchables? Ugh, I’m doing it again. ”
She took a deep breath and re-centered herself.
I blinked, trying to track where she was going.
She proceeded to clear her throat and began a long tirade of shouting and pointing about someone being dead, his family being dead, a house burning to the ground, pissing on ashes.
I stared in utter confusion. Apparently, this was supposed to be relevant somehow, but she had completely lost me.
“Okay, so that didn’t go right. And for what it’s worth, the gangster in the movie didn’t actually get his wish. But we did.”
“We did?” I asked, still feeling like I was missing something huge.
“Uh-huh. The Ma…Mask is dead, so is his family. I don’t know how, but my grandfather seems to be the kind of guy who might actually pis—”
An understanding dawned on me as her words came back to me. “He’s dead, you’re sure? His family? Everyone?” My throat constricted as I forced the question out.
“Every last one of them,” she boasted.
My heart soared, and I threw my arms around her and tackled her to the ground. “You’re serious? Like, dead serious?”
This was life-altering for me. This revelation gave birth to freedom. It was the best news I’d ever heard in my entire life, aside from getting to go home.
“Uh-huh. I mean, I didn’t see ashes or anything, but yeah.”
“Oh my god. Misc—Kinsley. Do you know what this means?”
“We’re free.”
“We’re free,” I repeated.
“And now all we need to do is find the other girls. Remember when, every once in a while, at the beginning, Winter would talk, she had an accent. It’s American, by the way.
I lived there for a really long time. Traveled all over the South.
While it’s hard to distinguish which part, because Texas is bigger than the entirety of the UK.
We’re talking twice the size of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
I’m not saying she’s from Texas. That’s not where I’m going with this, but maybe more like Louisiana or Alabama.
Maybe even Kentucky, I just don’t know.”
“Sounds daunting. America, I mean.”
“Oh, it’s great, actually. But my Kings are here, so this is where I’ll stay, and now that you’re here, well, one more reason.
Back to what I was really trying to say.
Summer had a British accent. So that means she has to be here, somewhere.
Well, not here, since we’re in the freaking Cayman Islands. ”
I shook my head. This girl was not lying. After all the years of not being able to talk, she was apparently making up for it ten times over.
“So we start here, is what you’re saying. We look for Summer, but how?” I asked. My voice sounded small.
“We’ll have to brainstorm that, but Owen taught me a lot of skills on hacking and researching. I know we can’t involve the guys, but that’s okay. We can do this. I know we can. I feel it in my bones. I mean, look, we found each other, why not them?”
“Really? You believe it’s possible?” I asked once more.
“With everything in me, I do.”
We were nearing the house again, and everyone was standing outside. Kinsley immediately stopped talking and grew quiet. Her pinkie grazed mine as we walked side by side.
“Hey, it’s great you two have finally met. Dinner’s done. Shall we eat?” Sophia remarked nervously.
As we reached the back porch of the beach house, I called out to Sebastian. He stopped in his tracks, and I tugged on his shirt. The look of wariness in his eyes made me aware of the lingering tension between us.
“Can we talk first?” I asked.
He nodded solemnly. The rest of the crew went into the house. My eyes landed once more on Mischa. It was going to take me some time to get used to calling her Kinsley. She was excitedly showing my mom and Sophia the tiara Alek had given her.
As soon as we were alone, Bash turned to face me. His expression was dark today, not like his normal self. Was he struggling with something deeper than our fight? Normally, he loved coming here, but something seemed off. I wanted to ask, but I needed to apologize first.
The unspoken need to mend things was clear in both our gazes. We stood there for a moment, the sound of the ocean as our background music. I threw my arms around him, hugging him tight.
“I just want you to know you were right about so many things. I’m sorry I was such a bitch the other day. You didn’t deserve that.”
“Awe, I love you, Sissy. I know we’ve never really talked about everything. I do want you to know I hated myself for a really long time. For failing you, even after you came home.”
“Don’t,” I breathed, hating the pain in his eyes. “We can’t change it. It’s over and done with. Honestly, you were a teenager. You had a right to a life, and you had no idea it was going to happen.”
“No, but if I had been there, then nothing would have happened to you. I was partially to blame, plain and simple. Marcel helped me process it, and you’re right, we can’t change it. But I can tell you I’m sorry. You’ve never given me an opportunity to before. If I had been there—”
“We have no way of knowing what the outcome would have been. Maybe I would have been taken on another day. You didn’t always walk me. And it’s not important anymore,” I said.
Feelings of unease racked my frame. I was there when Kinsley had been forced to share about her parents. I knew they’d been killed the night they kidnapped her. Who’s to say they wouldn’t have done the same thing to my brother? It put a whole new perspective on things for me.
When I was shooting off at the mouth the other day, I certainly hadn’t thought about it in that light. But I knew it now, and that was all that mattered.
“And you were right about a lot of other things too. Mum and Dad.”
“Sissy, I only want the best for you. I know that you’ve got everything locked up inside you, but I’ve never stopped hoping you’d have a life. A real one. I have so many hopes and dreams for you. Mother and Father will want grandbabies one day.”
“You’re not suggesting me?” I asked, looking around.
“If not you, then who? Vanya’s gone. It’s hitting me extremely hard this year. Maybe because of the guys. Vanya was my person. The only woman I ever saw myself raising children with.”
“Bash, you were kids. I know you loved her, but was it love like your friends have found?”
“It doesn’t matter. I know I’ll never feel that kind of love. But there is hope still for you.”
“Well, I hate to break it to you, Brother, but I think our parents are going to be very disappointed in us both. But I guess with how close they are to the Kings, there is always the potential Kinsley can pop out a few. They can adopt them.”
He chuckled and pulled me into his arms again. I wrapped mine around him, sending a silent prayer of thanks that he was here with me and not dead in a box. I would never, ever look at my kidnapping the same.
“And speaking of Kinsley,” I said.
“What about her? I should tell you, the guys are mental about her,” he stated.
“Well, I was thinking about doing what you suggested. Give her a shot.”
For a moment, he just stared at me, his expression blank with shock. Then slowly, a grin spread across his face, lighting up his features. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning, unable to contain his excitement.
Maybe he’s a little mental about her too, I thought to myself. His eyes sparkled with joy, and he practically bounced on his feet, making me laugh.
“Seriously? You’re not messing with me?” he asked.
I nodded, as my lips turned up in a smile. He grabbed me and twirled me around before lifting me off the ground in his excitement.
“Shit, I’m proud of you. This is going to mean so much to them, to her—”
He froze, and his whole attitude changed. He set me down and ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck, I should tell you something.”
“What?” I asked, my heart thumping harder in my chest. What could it be?
“She has some trauma too. Like yours almost, similar but vastly different at the same time. Bella, she was kidnapped—”
I put my finger to his lips, wanting to stop the conversation in its tracks. No, needing to.
“Don’t. If she wants to share, that’s her right. It’s not for you to tell me.”
It was easier this way. I already knew, and she knew I knew. It was our little secret, anyway. It would be much better if he thought she shared it with me on her own.
“You’re right.” He looked at me. “I just really want you two to be friends.”
“It’s that important to you, huh?” I teased.
“Yeah, it is. What do you say we get inside? I’m starving, and Kinsley made dessert for later. She makes the most amazing cookies. Literally to die for.”
“Let’s do it, then.”
I looped my arm through his, and we walked inside and down to the dining room.
“No, seriously, it’s so good to be home in my kitchen. No offense,” Kinsley said, looking at Sophia.
“Your kitchen, baby girl?” Nik teased her.
“Well, the one at home, anyway. But yes, Nikolai. Mrs. Patterson loves me and isn’t at all territorial about her kitchen or kitchens.
She even said I could make dinner for you guys.
Not at all like Chef Bonfils, although if I had another week, I could have won him over.
Oh…” Kinsley’s voice trailed off when Sebastian and I came in. She cast her gaze down to her plate.
I sat down, and the guys all got up and kissed me on the cheek as they normally did, greeting me.
She swallowed hard. Mrs. Patterson brought dinner in, and I grabbed my glass of wine, clearing my throat.
All eyes turned toward me, except for hers.
She kept them downcast, and I hated seeing her like that.
“Kinsley.”
Her head whipped up, and my brother’s eyes filled with pride. He winked, and I rolled my eyes. Kinsley gasped and then giggled as his left cheek twitched.
“Welcome to the family. Salud,” I breathed, locking eyes with her.
“Nazdarovya,” she said in return, letting it roll off her tongue.
A radiant, childlike smile graced her lips, and in that moment, her eyes transformed. For the first time in forever, an elusive piece of my soul that had been missing finally snapped back into place.
An overwhelming sense of true inner peace and a desire to find the other two pieces consumed me. We would find them, come hell or high water.