Page 63 of Vail

“I know, baby.” He firmly gripped me by the back of the neck. “We’re going to find them.”

“Kill him,” I said, the words flowing from my tongue before I could stop them. I didn’t want to. He had to die.

For so long I’d hoped he’d move on and leave me alone. That he would eventually give up. Gil had taken things too far. I wanted Jordan to find him and end him for taking my sister and the kids. Ivy was just a baby. Carson was a small child. They didn’t deserve this and neither did my sister.

“Are you certain?” Jordan didn’t want to do this and have me hate him for it.

“Yes. I told you if a life was on the line, you could kill him. He has three people somewhere, doing fuck knows what to them.” The thought had my stomach turning. All the possibilities of the awful shit he could be doing. “Kill him,” I repeated, this time breathing through my nose to keep myself from throwing up.

“My pleasure,” he growled.

Everything became a blur after that. Sylvan bustled around the house, asking who needed what, offering whatever he could, Hartley and me another cup of coffee. He didn’t know what to do or how to help so he tended to my needs, which weren’t many. All I kept thinking about was my family. How torn up Dana was. While he said it wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t help but feel responsible. If I hadn’t gotten involved with Gil to begin with, this never would have happened.

How many nights did I lay awake, picturing what my life would have been like if I hadn’t run into him on campus? If we hadn’t started a friendship, then a relationship? How much pain could I have saved myself if he was never there that day?

No matter how often I wished my life was different, there was no way to erase the past. It happened. All I could do was move on and be smarter. Here I was with a hot cup of coffee in front of me and Dana’s cries in my mind.

My phone sat on the table to my left. Gil would contact me eventually. After all, he wouldn’t kidnap them if it wasn’t to get to me. When he reached out, I needed to see it right away.

Oleander pulled out a chair and sat beside me. If it wasn’t for the way he held his arm, I wouldn’t have thought he was injured. “V, look at me,” he said softly. Once the guards heard Forest call me V, it caught on and they started doing the same.

My eyes raised to his brown ones with red surrounding them. I wasn’t the only one this affected. Oleander had connected with my family. He would die to protect them.

“We’re going to get them back. Cat’s strong. She’ll protect the kids.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” My sister would have fought until they took her children, then she would have given them whatever they wanted, even if it meant her getting hurt. Cat would do the same for anyone she loved. She was fierce. I worried this would break her. No one would be able to handle having their children taken. At least she was there to be with them.

My phone vibrated. I quickly picked it up.

Unknown: I wish it hadn’t come to this. You could have made different choices. You could have come home to me. Instead, you stay with them. Now, you’ll pay, as will those you love.

Me: Don’t hurt them. I’ll do what you want.

Gil: You always do in the end. Remember when we first started dating and we went to a run-down restaurant where the food was amazing, but the atmosphere left something to be desired? You don’t know this, but I bought it a while ago. I was going to give it to you as a gift. I had it remodeled with the best appliances. It has a dream kitchen.

I didn’t know what to say. Why he was telling me this. It had nothing to do with what he did. Oleander and Hartley both read over my shoulder. A quick yell for Jordan brought him in as well.

Gil: I loved watching you cook. The way your hands moved with skill, even before you started working with Dana. You had this way about you. You didn’t yet recognize the potential you had, but I saw it then and after.

Me: Where’s my family?

Gil: Then there was the time you almost burned our kitchen down. We got so lost in making love you forgot you had food on the stove.

I didn’t forget. He forced me away from it. I paid for the burnt food for hours after until I bled from how hard he fucked me, telling me it was my punishment after he left my lip split and my side throbbing in pain.

Gil: So many memories we had. You’re willing to throw them away.

Me: Where are you? I’ll come to you.

“The fucking hell you will,” Jordan growled.

“You have to let me find him. We won’t be able to unless he wants me with him.”

Gil: Two steps forward, twenty-three back. Forty-seven years on this earth. I’m sorry I missed your birthday. I have a gift for you. Remember, Vail, you’ll always be mine.

Me: Where?

Gil: I love you, darling.

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