Page 49 of Unlocked

“We need to get her to a hospital,” Kaz states, as Xavier and Sebastian help her from the trunk.

Eve shakes her head quickly. “No, no hospitals.”

“But you’re hurt,” Xavier replies, eyeing her up and down. “You should be checked out.”

Eve shakes her head no again.

“I’ll call for an in-home visit,” Sebastian cuts in. “We need to get out of here though before anyone sees us.”

That statement pulls me from my thoughts, causing me to peer over at Lockhart’s dead body. Some luck Jamison and I both have. Shitty adoptive parents and an even shittier biological father. I look back at Eve and watch as my friends help her to the car. We are running on about a twenty-five percent chance that she is just as shitty. Normally, I’m the one with a little more optimism, but fuck, I can’t even bring myself to be hopeful right now. After all, this woman did give us up and disappear.

“What do you think?” I ask Jamison as we ride back separately from everyone else.

He continues driving, his face completely impassive for a good few minutes before deciding to answer me. “I think she is telling the truth. We have some of her features, although she doesn’t look as if she’s aged at all.”

“Where do you think she has been all of this time?”

He looks over at me quickly before facing forward again. “Be careful, brother. Don’t ask questions you might not want answers to.”

I scrunch my eyebrows together in annoyance at my brother. This is what he does. He treats me like I’m fragile. Like I’m so much younger than him. “I do want fucking answers.”

He sighs. “I just don’t want you to get your hopes up. This woman…our mother just happens to show up out of nowhere. It’s too convenient.”

I nod my head and look out the window knowing he is probably right. Aside from our close friends, everyone in our life has always wanted something from us. What’s to say Eve will be any different.

Chapter 40

Kaz

I sit in Jonathan’s room and wait for Eve to finish cleaning herself up. Thankfully, Xavier and Sebastian were smart enough to call Riley and Corrine and ask them to bring over some spare clothes for Eve. The doctor had arrived at the same time as us and at first Eve had refused to be looked at. With a little convincing from me, she had finally relented and let him take a look at her. I can’t imagine what this woman has had to endure, being with Lockhart. Who knows how long he had her or the unimaginable things he put her through. My thoughts take me to Jonathan and Jamison who are currently in the living room with everyone else. They have both been unusually quiet. I haven’t had a chance to speak to either of them but since we returned, they have barely spoken two words to anyone, Eve included. Jonathan can barely look at her and Jamison, well, he was staring right through her.

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening. I look up to see Eve standing there with the loose t-shirt and leggings that the girls brought for her. Her hair is washed and so is the rest of her body. It’s hard to imagine her being a mother to the two men I’ve been sleeping with. She doesn’t look a day over thirty. She’s actually very beautiful in an innocent way. Suddenly I’m a little self conscious. What if shedoesn’t like me? I’m not exactly the girl next door type, however hard I’ve tried to pretend to be for all these years.

“Who are you to them?” she asks softly.

“To who?”

“My boys. I saw the way they were looking at you. The way they both can’t keep their eyes from straying to you, even at a time like this. They both care for you.”

I blush and look down at my hands, unable to find an answer for her. At least one where I’m sure she won’t think I’m absolutely insane. The bed dips beside me and I feel her hand wrap around one of mine. I look up, startled at her touch, but she isn’t looking at me. She’s looking out the window.

“A long time ago, I remember seeing that exact same look on my own face when I would look in the mirror. You don’t need to be ashamed. You love them both. The difference for your situation is that those feelings are reciprocated.” She looks over at me and smiles, squeezing my hand. “I have barely been here and I can already see it. I’m so glad, they have someone who cares for them the way you do.”

I look over to see Jonathan standing in his doorway, watching us. Eve turns at the same time I do.

“I think it’s time I explain where I’ve been all this time," she says, letting go of my hand and standing up and heading towards the living room. She smiles up at Jonathan before heading past him to take a seat on one of the couches. Jonathan grabs my hand and we follow out there where he pulls me down to sit between him and Jamison. Both of their hands immediately slide onto each of my thighs, causing me to shift around nervously. Both Corrine and Riley smirk at me but nobody else says a word. Maybe this situation won’t be quite as weird as I thought it would be.

“I’m going to start from the beginning,” Eve says. And she does. Everyone pitches in, filling in bits and pieces ofinformation. Riley and Corrine talk about their parents and finding pictures with Eve in them. Xavier talks about his parents as well. The wistful look in Eve’s eye is obvious when his father is mentioned. She tells us about Lockhart and the vile things he did. About her parents finding out she was pregnant. Apparently, her parents and Lockhart’s made a deal behind her back. They were paid off to move away and disappear. Her parents whisked her away out of the country to finish out her pregnancy. Once the babies were born, she was forced to give them up for adoption and when she attempted to run with them, her parents had her committed. She remained locked up until recently when she was released.

“I don’t understand,” I say, confused. “How did you end up back here?”

“That’s just it," she replies. “I have no idea how I was released. One day, they just came and told me I was free to go. I was told my parents had both passed away and given an account with an extremely large sum of money in it. There was already a plane ticket purchased from the account, to bring me back here. When my flight landed, a taxi was waiting to bring me to an already furnished and stocked apartment. I didn’t leave for an entire week because I didn’t know where to go or what to do. The truth is, it’s been so long since I’ve been out in the real world, I wasn’t really sure how to do anything anymore. All I knew is I wanted to find my boys.” She looks over at Jonathan and Jamison, smiling with tears in her eyes. “I wanted them to know, I never would have given them up, had I had a choice.”

They both stare at her uncomfortably. I’m sure they have no idea how to react to this situation so I squeeze their hands to let them know I’m here for them. It’s not a lot, but the slight squeeze they both give me, lets me know they are grateful.

“Lockhart,” Riley pipes in. “How did he get a hold of you?”

“I’m…I’m not really sure. All I know is some men showed up to my apartment one day and grabbed me when I opened the door. When they dropped me off in front of Ethan, all he kept talking about was DNA Paperwork and accusing me of sending it to him.

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