Rolling over, I find the bed next to me empty. There’s a small note on the pillow, and on the front is my name, scrawled in Liam’s messy handwriting. Grabbing it, I unfold it and smile.

As I swing my legs over the bed, the doorbell alerts me that someone is here. Padding to the intercom, I press the button for the speaker. “Hello?”

“Em, it’s me.”

My sister isn’t one to just drop by, she normally calls first. As soon as the door is unlocked, I push the remote and the gate eases open. Her new car is exquisite. A bright red little Mini Cooper with the black soft top. It fits her perfectly.

“Hey, sis,” we hug, and I can feel the tension radiating off of her. “What’s up?”

“The boys are at that meeting for the new contracts, and I wanted to take the chance to talk to you.” Her eyes are so expressive, and as I look at them, I can tell exactly what this is about.

“Come in, let’s get coffee. I just woke up.” We head into the open-plan space, and Tay settles on one of the barstools. The coffee machine is state of the art and normally I would be hesitant to use it, but Liam bought me a smaller, easier-to-use one.

Getting the filter ready, I scoop two large spoons of the dark roast in and fill the water. Turning it on, I pivot to my sister. “Coffee will be a ready in a minute.”

“Thanks. How are you doing?” She’s apprehensive and I can understand why. We haven’t really had a chance to talk about everything.

“Better. I have been to that shrink Kierra suggested, and she’s been helping me.”

“Good. I wanted to tell you… I mean it’s been years, and I hid what happened to me from you to keep you safe. I suppose it was a bad idea.” Her smile is sad, and her normally bright, blue eyes are dull. I hate seeing my sister upset.

“It’s not your fault. You can’t keep me safe forever, Tay. This is something that happened, and I need to deal with it. That guy, he was a psycho. He blamed Dad for how his life turned out. But he was the criminal.”

“I know…” I turn and grab mugs. Pouring the freshly made coffee, I hand a mug to my sister.

“Let’s sit on the terrace.”

The bench seat is comfortable, and I sit cross-legged watching my older sister work up the courage to talk to me. To tell me what she went through.

“After you, Mom and Dad moved, I had a roommate at college. She told me about a job she had found where she was going to make enough money for her own apartment within a month or two, and since I was pretty much living paycheck to paycheck, I was intrigued.”

She sips her coffee slowly and her big, blue eyes—now shimmering with unshed tears—stare out at the ocean. “But that’s good, right?”

“Kind of, I mean, it was risqué.” Her gaze snaps to mine, but I don’t respond. All I can do is wait. “I had to dance. You remember that yoga I used to do?” I nod. “Well, they wanted me to do that, I wouldn’t strip, just dance. Granted the outfits were questionable, but I had made enough to afford books for school, clothes, and soon enough a small apartment.”

“Tay—”

“I was there for about three months, and then one night he walked in. I didn’t recognize him at first. He had changed from what I could remember of seeing him a few times with Dad. He asked me to dinner and being naïve, I went.” She lets out a small, wry laugh.

“It was only after a month that he told me who he was and when I threatened him, telling him I was going to the police, he got angry.” Gulping the last of the coffee, her body shudders and I want her to stop. I can see her hurting, and it’s killing me. “He told me he wanted you, but I convinced him to take me instead. To do what he wanted because I didn’t want to see you hurt. He blamed Dad for getting caught and said that Dad had to pay.”

It’s then that my sister rises and places her cup on the table. When she lifts her top, I see that her whole back is filled with ink. I remember seeing glimpses of it in London, but she never showed me the full tattoo.

An angel wing on one side and the cherry blossoms on the other. It’s breathtaking. “I love that, but what does that—” When she turns to the light and sits right in front of me, that’s when I see it. A sob chokes me, and I can’t speak. The tattoo blurs as my vision fills with tears, and as soon as I blink, they run down my cheeks.

“He did that.” She inhales a deep breath and continues. “One night he told me if I didn’t listen and obey, he would find you. So I did. I laid on a table…” She goes quiet, and the only sound is of the waves crashing on the shore.

“I laid on the table and he did that.” She turns to face me then, and I see her cheeks and nose are red from crying and her eyes are bloodshot. “I just didn’t want him to hurt you.” I pull her in and hold her as my sister cries in my arms.

My tears are streaming down my face, and I can’t stop the sobs now. “Girls…?” Liam’s deep timber interrupts the bonding session, and we pull away to find both Hayes brothers staring at us in shock.

“Baby, are you okay?” Callum is at his wife’s side in a matter of seconds, and the way he looks at her makes me smile.

“Yeah, it was time to tell Em what happened, and I guess we got emotional.” Liam stalks over to me, offering his hand. I slip mine into his and he pulls me against him.

“You okay, Peach?” I nod.

“Right, that’s it. You girls deserve dinner. What do you say, bro? We can take them out tonight. Somewhere fancy.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll call Ryan and see if he and Kierra want to join us.”

The boys head inside and I glance at my sister. “Thank you, Tay. You’ve been a big sister that I can depend on, call on, and lean on all my life. And you’re someone I look up to, always have. I love you, always.”

“I love you, too, little sister.”