Page 110 of Gabriel
I let out a sigh. It’d crossed my mind too, although if it came to Anya’s safety versus our parents being pissed off, I’d pick the former. What could our parents do? We were grown-ass adults.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared of a little timeout, Elira,” Gabriel said sarcastically.
My sister rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not, but I don’t want my mother to trust me less and take on more. She’s supposed to retire, not work her ass off until the day she keels over.”
Her eyes flicked to mine, pleading for help and forgiveness, and my shoulders slumped. I couldn’t say no to her.
“Can we wait until we get to Anya? Maybe we can avoid unnecessary confrontations?”
Gabriel stood, tension radiating from him. “And if Jet’s already gotten to her? Or kidnapped her?”
“Then we either stop him or go after them.”
He held my gaze, that unspoken thread between us tightening. “Together?”
I nodded, glancing at Elira, who gave me a barely noticeable nod.
“Together,” I echoed.
We stood in silence as the yacht slowed, the coastline rising to meet us like a warning.
The crew finally dropped the yacht’s anchor, the sea around us inky black and deceptively still. The air smelled of brine and distant pines, which were at once familiar, unsettling, and beautiful. We were all dressed in black, wearing combat boots and armed to the teeth.
Elira stepped on the ladder that led down to the dinghy when I put my hand on her shoulder.
“Not you,” I said firmly.
Her eyebrows met her hairline. “What do you meannot me?”
“I mean, you’re not coming along. I’m not risking you ganging up with Jet and endangering Anya or turning against me.”
Her mask cracked, her pained expression staring back at me. “I would never hurt you, Amara.”
“You already did,” I stated coldly. “Both you and Jet. So forgive me for not believing you.”
She squared her shoulders, her hair swinging in the breeze. “You can’t stop me from going. If you don’t want me, then I’ll be there to ensure you don’t hurt my twin.”
“I would never hurt Jet,” I hissed. “Or you. And I would have never used either one of you to get what I want. Unlike you two.”
Elira opened her mouth, ready to argue, when Gabriel stepped in. “Elira, I vow that if Jet hasn’t hurt Anya, he has nothing to fear. But if you want to repair this relationship, it’s time to do the right thing and stand with your sister.”
She tilted her head, watching him with an unreadable expression. “And what’s the right thing to do, Santos?”
“Earn your sister’s trust and prove to her that you do care for her,” he said somberly. “Stay on the yacht and don’t tell Jet that we’re coming.”
“Fine, but only because I love Amara and I am sorry for my part in this. However small,” she hissed, her shoulders slumping. “Besides, I suspect my brother probably already knows considering he gave us the coordinates.”
She stepped aside, standing tall and proud on the deck, and for a moment, I felt my chest constrict. I didn’t like this. I detested this wedge that Jet had put between us.
“I do love you, sis,” she said quietly as I stepped forward.
I glanced at her, pausing my descent, and locked eyes with her. “I love you too.”
Then I continued down, taking a seat in the dinghy. Gabriel was right behind me. We slipped ashore with nothing but our shared urgency and the unspoken weight of what was to come. There was no real plan, just instinct, dread, and the kind of suffocating uncertainty that curled like smoke in my lungs.
Gabriel and I moved on foot, our boots crunching against the gravel path that curved up the hillside.
We were deep in his shadow now, figuratively and literally.
