CHAPTER 07 - Bryan Trevor
I can't deal with your broken heart
I'm trying to be brave
Stop asking me to stay
I can't love you in the dark
Love in the dark – Adele
I watch the plane take off, feeling a massive weight lift from my shoulders.
Convincing my mother to go to Vegas for treatment wasn’t easy, and for a moment I thought she really wasn’t going to give in.
I was already preparing to take her by force—leaving her to die in this place was no longer an option—but in the end, with relentless persistence and a calculated dose of threats, she finally caved.
Lilian has never been easy to deal with, and I can count on one hand how many times she actually acted like a mother. How many times she was sober enough to take care of two kids and remember she had a family.
To simply be present!
Luke and I didn’t have a childhood.
We grew up practically alone, learning to survive in a place where love didn’t exist and a mother’s presence was rare and unpredictable.
We had to grow up too fast, faster than any kid should.
We were raised without rules or boundaries, yet we didn’t go down the wrong path.
There was no shortage of opportunities—on the contrary, plenty came our way, especially chances to make easy money. When it comes to dragging someone down, opportunities are everywhere, but when it comes to pulling them back up, those are rare.
My brother was always the one by my side, and after everything that happened to me, he was there for me again.
When I called, Luke didn’t hesitate or think twice.
He dropped everything and came to find me.
He worked hard alongside me, faced so much by my side, fought for me, and never once let me down.
I know he has his own wounds, scars he doesn’t show, and pain he’s learned to bury. That’s exactly why I didn’t want to leave our mother in his care, but right now I have no other choice.
I crack my neck slowly, trying to release the tension that’s built up, and walk toward the car still parked in the corner.
Night fell a while ago, and the silence here feels even thicker.
This hangar has always been a forgotten place, isolated enough that no one cares what happens here.
I honestly believe no one noticed the jet parked here all day, and even if someone did, I doubt they wondered whose it was.
Actually, I doubt anyone even remembers me.
I get in the car, start it up, and head toward the house Luke found for me in record time. It’s a bit farther out toward the edge of town, a few miles from Noah’s place, but close enough that I can stay involved and still investigate everything.
The phone in my pocket feels heavier than it should, weighed down by all my frustrated expectations. I huff in irritation and grab it with one hand while the other stays steady on the wheel.
I stare at the screen, searching for something I already know I won’t find.
No messages.
No notifications.
Not a single damn word all day.
No attempt to reach out, and I wonder if it’s because she’s afraid of her parents, doesn’t want to talk to me, or because the damn phone died.
That last option is almost impossible, but I still slam on the brakes and lean over, opening the glove compartment. I grab one of the three phones inside and turn it on.
Nothing’s saved on it—it’s one of my emergency phones.
I type in my number, save it, and make a U-turn, knowing it’s crazy—the chances of the other phone being broken are slim.
I thought the years had shaped me, that they’d taught me patience, but I’ve been in this city less than twenty-four hours and this is already the second time I’ve acted without thinking about the consequences.
I hit the gas, feeling the vibration of the potholed asphalt.
Nothing has changed.
The streets on our side of town are still forgotten, and the contrast with the streets I’ll hit in a few minutes is almost jarring—over there, the asphalt is new and streetlights line every road.
There have always been two sides.
Over there is where the people in charge live.
The politicians, judges, sheriffs, and influential businessmen like Noah’s parents. They live in luxurious mansions and stately homes. Over there, the streets are clean and orderly.
On the side where I grew up are the forgotten—the workers who build, clean, serve, and obey that scum because they need the money to survive.
On this side, there are humble houses, but also fields overrun with old, decaying trailers where entire families live crammed together, trying to survive another day because they’ve fallen so far they can’t even hold down a job anymore.
This is the side where I grew up.
This is where I learned to survive before I even understood what it meant to live.
I always dreamed of getting out of this place, and that desire only grew stronger when Noah came into my life—but before I could make it happen, everything went up in flames.
The potholes fall away behind me, along with my thoughts—I can’t afford to get lost in them right now. Minutes later, I spot the fortress, but unlike before when it was empty, now there’s a car pulling in.
I slow down, kill the headlights, and pull into a shadow so they won’t spot me as the iron gate swings open and the vehicle drives through.
I wait a long five minutes, and that's enough time for rage to flood every cell of my body. My fingers grip the steering wheel so hard my knuckles ache, but I don't care.
I didn't see who was inside the car, but I'd bet my life it was that bastard.
Gavin Black, the man who ordered me killed, who nearly ended my life, and who I dream of facing one day.
I long to pay him back for what he did to me, but unlike him, I won't fail.
I start the engine again once I'm certain there's no danger and head to the spot where I can hide the car like I did the last few times. For someone with his arrogance, it's incredibly irresponsible to let so much brush grow around his own house.
Gavin thinks himself so superior that he'd never imagine someone could invade his property.
He's used to being in control, to watching, to being the hunter.
Never, ever, does he expect to be watched in return.
And there lies the fatal flaw of arrogance: thinking you're untouchable, that nothing can reach you, makes you leave the most glaring gaps wide open for your own downfall.
I get out of the car and start climbing the tree, placing my feet on the footholds I know by heart, and seconds later I'm on the balcony.
As soon as I notice the room is dark and the window closed, I sigh with disappointment—I wanted to see her. But since forcing entry would be risky, I slowly turn my body, careful because the space is small. Before I can turn completely, the light inside suddenly flicks on.
My heart races and I feel like an idiotic teenager just from laying eyes on her.
Noah is wearing pink pajamas with long pants and long sleeves.
Her hair is loose and falls over her shoulders.
Even with the weight loss, she's still incredibly beautiful!
I watch her lie down on the bed, her distant gaze fixed on the ceiling, and I hesitate for a moment. But since I can't risk being seen up here, I raise my hand to the glass and tap softly.
The sound startles her and her eyes widen when she sees me. She shakes her head no, yet she gets up and walks over to me. Her small fingers push at the window, and the moment she opens it, she steps aside to let me in.
I jump into the room and follow her as she goes to the nightstand beside the bed and grabs paper and a pen.
I want to smile when I see them.
Damn, I've never been so happy to see paper and a pen in my life—they weren't in the room before, and if she brought them, it's because somehow she expected me to come back.
What are you doing here?
She writes, and God, I even missed her handwriting, which unlike my scrawl, is beautiful.
“I came to bring you a phone,” I say, pulling the device from my pocket.
Her eyes fill with confusion, and soon she returns to writing.
But you gave me one this morning.
“I think it must be defective.” I shrug, confirming I was right since she's communicating with me on paper.
And why do you think that?
“Because I haven't gotten a single message from you.” She opens her mouth, looking surprised.
Did it cross your mind that I didn't send any because I didn't want to?
As soon as I see the words, my expression hardens. She arches her eyebrows, pushing my hand away in a gesture that makes it clear she doesn't want another phone.
You can't keep coming here, Bryan.
Gavin just got home and he's irritated.
“I saw him arrive, but I promise he has no idea anyone came in here,” I say, moving closer. She doesn't back away. “I won't let anything happen to you.”
She shakes her head and sits on the bed, going back to writing.
You need to move on with your life, please.
This isn't about me or you, it's about Sadie.
I get irritated as soon as I see the words, but my anger isn't directed at her—it's at what they did to her. Noah has been through so much that she can't even believe there's any chance of living free from her parents' clutches.
I extend my hand, and though she's hesitant, she sets the paper on the bed and moves closer. I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and let our eyes meet.
It's almost unbearable to be this close to her face and not be able to kiss her.
It's painful not to tell her I love her.
It's downright cruel not to be able to take her out of here right now.
“If you don't want to leave this house because you're happy here, write that on the paper and I'll leave you alone,” I say firmly, and her eyes glisten.
“But if there's even the slightest part of you that wants to break free from your parents, like there was five years ago, give me a chance to try to get you and Sadie out of here.” My thumb wipes away a silent tear rolling down her face.
“I'm going to infiltrate their lives and dig up every dirty secret.
I'm going to tear down every pillar Gavin built, and I won't stop until I destroy him—because only then will you truly be free.” I continue, and I'm surprised when she rests her face against my chest. That's the answer I needed.
“Butterfly, I'm doing this for you and Sadie, and I don't want you to think for a moment that it's for me, because it's not.”
I’ve craved revenge ever since my memory came back, but I buried that desire because I believed Noah was happy—and for her, I’d do anything, including pretending her father didn’t try to kill me.
But now that I know what they did to her, nothing will stop me.
If I have to, I’ll bring hell down on earth and make Gavin and his cronies burn along with it.
She holds me tight and I stroke her hair, but we pull apart when we hear a gruff voice calling her from downstairs.
My body tenses when I realize it’s Gavin.
You need to go, but I promise I’ll message as soon as I can. If you could destroy these papers so no one sees them…
Noah writes quickly, already handing me the pages she’s written.
I pull her close and press a kiss to her temple, but she pulls away and I watch her rush out of the room.
I make my way back to the window, desperately wanting to kill that vermin.