I stare at the piece of paper in my hand. Since this is Aaron we are talking about, it was a fucking mess to get the specific instructions regarding where to meet Rose and what to do once I found her. I had to meet with Rod at the warehouse. Of course, Aaron did that on purpose, because every second I spent with Rod left me wondering who was with Sage. Were they stable? Are they hurting her? At least I know Rod. He’s not prone to do much my father doesn’t order him to. Most of the time.
My blood feels like it’s on fire.
I went straight from the warehouse to Charles’s house, got Pamela, filled him in, and told him I had to leave. I didn’t have time to hash out the details with him and I told him that. To his credit, he didn’t blow up at me like I expected. He accepted his role in hiring faulty staff. Apparently, Ronald works for my father. He only finagled his way into Charles’s payroll to get access to Sage. I didn’t know it either.
Now I’m on my way to Aaron’s cabin. I’ve been here once before as a kid, I think, but it was so long ago that I totally forgot about it.
Not only is my blood boiling because I’m terrified for Sage, furious she’s hurting, feeling her pain in my heart, but I’m gonna meet my sister. And of course it’s going to be ruined by the fact that I’m worried for Sage and terrified I’ll slip, bag on Aaron, and make Rose hate him.
I can’t screw that up. I won’t let Sage lose any more pieces of herself because I can’t keep my mouth shut.
So for now, I won’t tell Rose that I’m her brother. If I slip on anything, it won’t matter so much coming from one of her father's employees. But from his own son, the brother he kept from her… that’s a hell of a lot more significant.
I won’t tell her about Sage either. If she knows Aaron’s holding my girlfriend as ransom, well, that won’t exactly boost her opinion of him. She cannot hate him.
It could hurt Sage.
This is all tentative planning, of course. I have to take things as they come. Be strategic.
It’s quite a hike to the cabin Aaron has the girls tucked away in…. you know, since they have the goddamn mafia after them, which, what? How the hell…? From what I’ve gathered my sister was kidnapped by the underboss of the Italian-American mafia. A man named Sven Xander. She worked at a high end treatment center here in Illinois, where he became obsessed with her. He bought the center out from under her, put in her two weeks’ notice without her knowing and locked her away in the mansion where he lives. Rose escaped and now she’s on the run. My sister is more interesting than I thought.
So yeah, since they have the mafia after them, I parked a good three miles away. At least. It’s too risky to get close.
One step, two, three… I see the cabin in the distance. It’s small, inconspicuous. Definitely easily hidden, but someone in the mafia would be trained to spot these kinds of places. I hope the girls don’t think this is a permanent place for them to reside. I say girls because Aaron said there’s another girl here. Her name is Lacey. She’s Rose’s best friend. They met at the mansion where Rose was held captive. I don’t know much about her other than she’s incredibly intelligent and not to be underestimated.
The closer I get, the more I am able to compartmentalize the situation with Sage and the fact that I am less than one mile from my sister. The mysterious girl that occupied the other half of Aaron’s time and shares my blood. And hey, for once, I’m not hurting anyone. I get to keep her safe.
I’m all mixed up inside. Sage. Rose. At risk. Safe. Love. Blood.
My head is swirling with truth and lies. Misconceptions and realities.
I don’t hesitate when I get to the cabin door. I immediately let my knuckles slam against the wood.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
There’s the sound of things breaking inside. Clanging. Falling. I know they’re here.
After a few more moments standing out in the cold, knocking uselessly, I lose my patience.
“Alright. This is fucked,” I yell. “I know you two are in there. Let me in.”
There’s mumbling on the other side. I don’t have time for this.
“Open the fucking door! Come on.”
There’s a beat, then woosh, the door is thrown open. The girl in front of me isn’t Rose. She’s shorter, wearing a sweat-inducing amount of clothes. She’s trembling slightly, but her grey eyes are intense as she looks up at me.
“Who are you?” she asks immediately.
They knew I was coming. Aaron promised them protection. Can we stop with this whole charade? Where’s my sister?
I push past the grey-eyed girl and look around. There’s a slight whimper behind me, so I turn. In the corner is her.
My sister. Terrified.
My eyebrows pull together. She looks scared of me. She’s so beautiful. Fragile looking. Overly thin. Nearly white, blonde hair. My eyes.
“Who are you?” the girl I now remember is Lacey asks again.
I shake off the awe of seeing my sister for the first time and smirk. The past five years have taught me that false confidence and humor get you a long way.
“Nixon. You can call me Nix.”
“What are you doing here?” Lacey demands. She looks a cross between terrified and ready to hurt me if necessary.
I frown. Aaron told them I was coming, right?
“Weren’t you told I was coming? I wasn’t trying to scare the living shit out of you two.”
“My dad sent you,” Rose finally speaks, going behind Lacey.
“Okay. So he did fucking warn you. Thank God,” I tell her, nodding. “I’m fucking starving.”
I stroll over to the pantry. I’m a foot from it, reaching for the doors, glad to be away from my sister's vulnerable blue eyes when I’m shoved back, the pantry door is slammed all the way shut, and a small body is blocking it.
“No. That food is ours,” Lacey whispers, not able to look at me. Which… is kind of funny, given the boldness of the move she just pulled. “We don’t even know you. We need that!”
I smirk at her. “I suspect you are Lacey. He warned me about you.”
That seems to confuse her. She becomes smaller and her eyebrows tighten.
“We just really need this food,” she tells me. “And we don’t know you.”
Okay, so I’m gonna need to win these girls over. Clearly they are more than on edge, and Lacey is not trusting. I internally brace myself to calm the storm my sister invokes inside of me, then turn to Rose and wink. She looks confused by me. Does she know who I am? Does she suspect it? Or is it just ‘cause I am so different than the rest of Aaron’s employees?
I’m thrown out of my thoughts when Rose gasps loudly. My head snaps up.
“Oh, Lacey,” she cries, dropping her face in her hands.
Lacey starts calling for Rose, wanting to know what’s wrong, but I immediately spring into action, already sensing the issue. I walk around the kitchen and pick up a piece of glass from the floor, tracking it to the blood that’s spread across the tile.
Rose goes over to her friend, wraps an arm around her, and brings her to the couch with a gentle, “Come on, sweetie.”
My sister is the gentle caretaker I always envisioned. I should feel a swell of love at that, and I do. But it’s a mixture of increased love and anger. Why did she get the chance to be good when that’s all I ever wanted?
“Can I see?” Rose asks Lacey gently.
Lacey shakes her head, tucking herself up so tight it has me searching her strangely. What’s her story?
“I’m fine. Really,” she whisper-pleads.
“Lacey, what if…” Rose bites her trembling lower lip. “What if it’s infected or something?”
“Are you two fucking kidding me with this?”
I stomp over to them, move Rose to the side, and grab one of Lacey’s blood-soaked feet, pulling it into my lap. I don’t have time for this. I don’t have the emotional control for this.
Lacey starts to fight me, hard.
“There’s fucking glass in your foot, kid. I have to get it out.”
I feel Rose beside me. I feel it like a bomb, but I don’t look to see the expression on her face.
“Please,” Lacey starts to beg, trying to pull away from me with a desperation to her actions now. “Please don’t. Please. Please.”
Her eyes snap shut and she starts to shake. I know the look immediately. She’s having a flashback. My heart starts to hammer dully. Sage.
“Let me go! Let me go. Let me go,” she starts to chant.
Her breathing becomes labored.
“Hey. Hey, it’s alright,” I say softly, feeling my heart quiver for her as I release her foot. What did she go through?
“She’s having a flashback,” Rose whispers. “You shouldn’t have grabbed her like that!”
I know. I screwed up. I have to start thinking straight.
“I didn’t know she had a history,” I murmur, hurrying to the kitchen. I grab a washcloth from the countertop, run it through some water, and place it over Lacey’s head. She comes to at that.
She has PTSD. Who hurt her?
While Rose starts to whisper to Lacey in a gentle voice, I go off to search the cabin. I do need to fix Lacey’s cut, but I’ll do it how I imagine Sage would want it done. I have to be nicer to these women. They’ve been through enough. This isn’t me. I’m so overwhelmed with everything, I’m being an asshole.
I grab a bowl of water, tweezers and some wash cloths. I bring it back into the main room and slam it on the table.
“You’re gonna try that again?” Rose shrieks.
I roll my eyes at her. “Jesus, you two. Obviously not.”
I look at Lacey, feeling my gaze soften.
“She’s going to.”
“What?” Lacey asks, blinking quickly.
“Clean yourself up. I’ll guide you through it,” I tell her.
“I…” she begins, staring anxiously at the floor.
“Am probably not big on the self-healing thing,” I say gently, “but you’re gonna try something new. Now get to it.”
Lacey glances at Rose, wide eyed.
“You’re cocky,” Rose mumbles.
“She talks,” I tease her. She glares at me. I chuckle. Guess we really are brother and sister. “Not cocky. You two just don’t know what the fuck you’re doing. I do.”
“Are you kidding me? We’re alive, aren’t we?” she snaps.
I smirk, turning to face her. She’s fun.
“What are your plans going forward, Rose? Huh? You know, food and safety. Avoiding the fucking mafia. All that. Huh?”
I cock my head, daring her to give me a good answer.
“Fuck you,” Rose mutters.
I throw my head back and laugh.
“Well, sis, I may have underestimated you.”
She glares. I smirk, before turning back to Lacey.
“Clean.”
I point at her foot. We spend the next several minutes dealing with cleaning Lacey’s foot. It’s a bit of a battle, convincing her I’m not going to hurt her. That I won’t move any of her excessive clothing out of the way. That if I touch her, I’ll do it as little as possible, but eventually I get her to let me pull the pieces of glass from her foot. I try to provide verbal distraction while I do. I can tell she’s embarrassed about the whole thing, so I try to make it easier for her. My sister helps with that. Sister.
So weird. I can’t stop stealing quick glances her way. No one notices. Thank God.
“I’ve earned food now,” I announce when Lacey’s feet are all taken care of.
Immediately, both of their faces drop.
“Good God, you two. Haven’t I proved I’m not a dick? My car’s parked several miles from here. I have a trunk full of food and shit. Just let me eat so I can get it. Alright? Jesus.”
I roll my eyes and go to the pantry.
“So what kind of food do you have?” Lacey jumps in, unable to hide the excitement from her voice.
“You’ll see,” I tell her, stuffing a bite of peanut butter into my mouth. “God, Aaron keeps nothing in this house, does he? What have you guys even been eating?”
I glance at my sister. By the looks of her, not much. It worries me.
“I know a good combo of food,” Rose murmurs after a long pause. “I mean, Lacey and I have pretty much lived on it. It’s really not bad.”
I smile at her. “Yeah?”
She’s making an effort with me.
“Yeah,” she confirms. “I’ll make it for you.”
“I appreciate that, sis.”
It’s a tender moment, until she shoves me out of the way to get to the kitchen. I laugh. The more time I spend with her, the more I see the small traits that we share. It’s so strange. I move to sit next to Lacey, letting some of my relaxed, laid back persona fade.
She can take it. More than that, Lacey seems the type to appreciate it.
“We should probably talk, yeah?”
She swallows and nods.
“You two want to live. I have some ideas on how to make that happen.”
Lacey becomes hard and, of course, I find myself caring. I find myself invested in their safety for more reasons than Sage. Although that is a big part of it.
Rose is pretty awesome. She’s sarcastic, kind, gentle, and guarded. I wonder what role Aaron played in all that?
Lacey is intriguing. She’s obviously suffering with PTSD, but she’s also incredibly hardened and very much a fighter. I can tell that already.
Now, should I fail, I don’t just lose Sage and a sister that’s more of a figment of my imagination than real.
No.
I lose three incredible women. None of whom deserve these criminals destroying their lives and wrecking their minds.
Ironically, it’s my tainted soul that’s gonna be the one help them.