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Shock rattles me as I stare down at myself. I’m laughing at something, dressed in my old diner uniform. Then, there’s another photo of Nash and I smiling together. It’s uncanny how much we look alike when I see us side by side. “This is me, obviously. How do you have these?”
Hunter leans over and focuses on the picture. His scent wraps around me, comforting me in a way I can’t deny. How am I supposed to keep pushing him away when my body craves the solace only he can provide?
“Nash sent them to me. When he found out about you and your sisters, he made it his mission to find you all. I told him everything I knew, like where I dropped you off, and he must have followed the paperwork to where you ended up. I’m not sure.” She shrugs, then pulls out another two pictures.
Two unfamiliar faces stare at me. In both pictures, Nash had taken selfies with both of them. Nash smiles with them in the photos. He must have done to them what he did to me—befriend me.
“Are these...?” I leave the question hanging, my heart racing as I process what I’m being told. It’s an information overload.
“Your sisters,” May says gently.
I study the photos. Both have long dark hair like mine. One has brown eyes, the other blue, and I can clearly see we are related with the photos side by side.
We each have a dimple on one of our cheeks—the same side, actually, which is crazy. Both girls appear to be happy and healthy, but a photo can easily hide what goes on behind closed doors. I can only hope they have a better life than I do.
May pulls out an envelope that’s clearly been opened. “This letter holds all the information about each of your siblings.” I hold out my hand to take it, but May shakes her head. “I’m not giving you this until you’re ready.”
A flare of anger shoots through me, and I stand, the chair scraping along the floor. Hunter rises as well. “I deserve those names and addresses. That’s my family!” I point at the envelope.
“I understand you’re frustrated and upset, but I need to know they’re going to be safe before their lives are uprooted and they’re thrown into a world they’re not prepared for, and one you are not even ready for.”
I release a puff of air through my lips. “What? So it’s okay for you both to do it to me, but no one else. How’s that fair?” My face heats as I speak.
“Aelina, you’re a lot stronger than them. I know it. I’ve heard about your strength and endurance. I have something else for you right now.” She rummages through the box again and pulls out another envelope, which hasn’t been opened.
She hands it over to me, and my hands shake as I take it. “Who’s it from?” I study the neat handwriting on the envelope addressed to me.
“Nash.”
15
“Nash?” I can’t hide my shock.
May nods. “He wrote one for you and one for each of your sisters.”
“How...how did he know he wouldn’t be around to give it to us?” I look to Hunter, hoping he will have an answer, but he doesn’t look at me. It’s as though this whole conversation makes him nervous.
May shrugs, tears in her eyes as she studies the box’s contents. “I don’t know. I have my suspicions, as I’m sure you probably do as well. I received the letters, then found out he had been killed a couple of days later.”
May wipes away the streaks on her red, blotchy face and places the lid back on the box, walking away and clutching the envelope containing my sisters’ information. She leaves me with pictures of my brother and sisters, a letter from my dead brother, and Hunter, the man who kidnapped and took me to her home.
So many questions burn within me. I want all the answers. I stare at the photos again with the envelope, my body turning numb and my mind unable to process all the information I’ve received.
My brother found me and kept me safe. He found my sisters, and I can only hope they’re safe as well. I want to find them. I steal a glance at Hunter, who is simply watching me. There is a softness in his eyes that I’ve never seen before. A part of me thinks he knows more than he’s letting on.
He has secrets, and I want to know them.
“Is there another photo somewhere of my other brother?” I direct the question at Hunter.
He seems to know quite a bit about my family, considering he’s from the family that wants to take mine out completely.
Hunter stands and walks to where I saw Nash’s photo, taking another frame from the wall. He comes back and hands it to me. The man looks very similar to Nash, except his hair is a touch longer, and he has more scruff on his face. His eyes scare me. Nash’s were friendly and warm. His? Not so much.
“What’s his name?” I swallow the fear that’s solidified in my throat.
Would my own brother kill me or his sisters? Did he kill Nash?
“Miles,” he states, lacking all emotion.
