Page 14 of Facing the Music

I’ve never brought up my father, not after the day I figured out who he was—effectively saving my life. He’s not the man everyone knows, the one that carries the last nameFraserlike I do. My entire life is twisted down to the bone. My mother has always been evil, from day one, from before I was born. I’m the product of obsession and greed—my real father the same man who terrorized my uncle until he was a shell of himself.

Owen, they called him.

I never liked him, never liked the way he treated Rhys, and finding out that he was my father was something I carefully stuffed so far down, refusing to ever bring back up. My mother killed him in cold blood and left him to die because he didn’t have what she wanted.

And now she wants to restart our family?

I won’t let her.

She’s a monster in every sense of the word.

My body shakes with the realization that I’ve trapped myself in this little life with no way out. And that’s when the first tear falls.

Chapter fourteen

PAVAL

I stretch, searching for my phone to see that Tia hasn’t answered any of my messages. She should be done with her class at this point but she’s not back. Cairo is still at the kitchen island and I can’t tell if he’s ignoring me or giving me space. That’s the least of my worries as I push the sandwich from earlier away and start searching for Tia’s class schedule.

She should have finished an hour ago.

She’s doing things that don’t fit the pattern again.

I dial her number but it goes straight to voicemail. Is she ignoring me too? Agitated, I push to my feet, steadying myself on the arm of the couch before heading for the door. Cairo is suddenly in front of me, chuckling at my wobbly state. “Pav, where are you headed? I thought we agreed you’d take it easy for the day.”

“No, you said that. I didn’t really agree. Tia isn’t answering her phone.” I thrust my device at him, Cairo scrolling through my unanswered texts.

“Damn, that’s a lot of messages. I’m sure she’s fine, probably with the twins dealing with a problem.”

I don’t like the sound of that. There shouldn’t be any problems. I also hate that Cairo said ‘she’s fine’ when I’ve already figured out that she’s not. Whoever the twins are, they aren't enough to keep Tia safe. “Something’s wrong. She didn’t answer my call, Cairo.” I don’t know how to explain my algorithm to him or the sudden pain in my chest.

Cairo studies me for several seconds, his expression softening. “If I believed in soulmates, I would think you’re hers. She always told me that you happened to be around the corner every time she needed you. Let’s go. I’ll check in with the twins to see what’s going on.” He pats my chest as he reaches over to grab his coat and his phone, furiously texting as I try and fail to take the stairs. “Pav, don’t you fucking dare. Elevator, please.”

“Stairs are faster.”

“Not with your head injury. If you pass out on the stairs, we won’t be able to find Tia. Get in the metal box.” His voice suddenly turns gruff, his shoulders bulking up as he unconsciously flexes. A tendril of excitement runs through me at the possibilities before I obey and return my focus to Tia. She could be anywhere on campus.

Or maybe she left campus.

Or maybe her mother found her.

Two hands cup my cheeks and drag my gaze upward to meet Cairo’s blue eyes. “Deep breaths, Paval. We will find her. She will be in one piece and then we will bring her back here and make sure she’s okay.” I open my mouth to refute that when Cairo presses his lips to mine, silencing my protests. Seconds later, theelevator doors open and I rip myself from him, refocusing my efforts.

My heart beats a little faster from feeling his soft lips against mine but I’ll have to deal with the feelings later. And apologize. And then ask him to do it again so that I’m not rude when I pull away. I check my phone and pull up the app that I should absolutely not have but has come in handy more than once. Cairo leans over my shoulder.

“Pav, does she know you have a tracking app on her phone?”

“I promised to protect her.” The app shows a small blue dot, telling me that her phone wasn’t dead; she just declined my calls. I head toward the dot, Cairo shielding me from running into things. When I stop just before a side door to the science building, I frown. There’s no reason for Tia to be inside here. And yet, I find her just past the door, her head between her knees, her body shaking from the sobs echoing through this hall.

I drop to my knees beside her, my heart breaking when I hear her whispered words.

“She’s here. She’s here. She’s here.”

Ada? I look around, seeing no one here before reaching forward to pull Tia into my arms. Inches before my fingers make contact with my woman, I stop. What strength I have left from walking over her isn't enough to carry her safely to the apartment. Staring at her bags laid out around her and my woman shaking in fear, I know that I need help. So, I glance at Cairo and the absolute happiness that radiates through his expression tells me I made the right decision.

He scoops her up in his arms, Tia clinging to him as I gather her bags and we make the trek back to the apartment. Cairo disappears into the bathroom with her when we get back and I dial my fathers, knowing that they’ll have a better solution than I do.

My plan would be to stake Ada out and then drag her into the ring from last night.

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