Page 94 of Papers Don't Lie

“How do we get her back?” Tristan asks, a serious look on his face.

Truth is, I want to shrug because I don’t have a fucking clue, but then I have an idea, and even if it’s not the most intelligent one, it has to work. “Is Alister still here?”

They shake their heads.“No, but he left this for you." Kiaran hands me a paper.

I take it between my fingers before taking a quick look. It seems like I was right. He doesn’t have one hundred and twenty properties; he has one hundred and twenty-seven. Alister made sure to put the addresses down and leave me a little note at the end.

Good luck in finding your wife.

“Well, looks like we have to search a hundred and twenty-seven houses around the world," I murmur.

“What?” Tristan reacts before Kiaran follows with the same question.

“What?”

“You don’t have to help me find her. You did enough. I got this," I tell them and walk away, supporting myself on each wall as I walk downstairs and dial Kendrick. “I want three hundred guards on my porch in half an hour.”

“Three hundred?” Kendrick asks, his voice cracking.

“Yes, you have twenty-nine minutes left,” I say, and hang up the phone.

It’s most likely impossible, but he’ll get at least two hundred people, which is a fine number to me. We’ll get Esmeray back tonight. I have no other choice than to find her, no matter the way I do it. She’s my only priority.

“Hey, Kai.” Tristan’s voice blooms from behind me. I turn to look at him, finding my three brothers walking down the stairs. “What can we do for you?”

A smile fights its way on my face, but I let it down. At first, I didn’t want to involve them in this, knowing that I can find whatI need by myself, but when Esmeray's life is at stake, I will get every help offered.

Kiaran pats me on my back, and I take a deep breath, trying to clear my mind so I can come up with the best strategy.

“Tristan, you work in the field, so try and find out if Carter left New York. Public planes and private planes," I instruct without meaning to, but Tristan doesn’t seem to mind.

He nods, disappearing into my desk. “Got it.”

“Kiaran, you know people all around the world. Make some calls, find out if anybody has seen her,” I say, and he immediately takes his phone, walking away from us. I appreciate he knows we have no time to lose. “Ryker, you have your ways with hacking. Try to track Esmeray’s phone, his phone—it doesn’t matter.”

He simply nods before walking into my office, where he’ll likely find a good laptop to use.

I’m left alone in front of the staircase, but hope grows in my chest, getting bigger and bigger at the thought of having my brothers by my side.

This has to work.

I walk outside of the house, ready to search through every one of the thirty-nine of Carter’s properties in New York.

FIFTY-TWO

ESMERAY

My tongue sticks out, resting at the corner of my mouth as I thread the needle through the material to secure the two fabrics together. It’s a little bit bulkier than I intended, but it’s definitely getting better with each day.

You should’ve seen the first suit I made.

Spoiler alert—it was baggy as hell, and you could see each seam I did to make everything one piece. It was a disaster. But since I’m spending most of my time in the studio Carter got, you’d never guess I got to where I am in a week and a half.

When we arrived in England, I felt like I was suffocated by everything around me and the small place crowding me in, so because I had no other choice than to accept that this was my reality right now, I decided to finally follow one of my dreams. I asked Carter to buy an apartment or anything where I could be alone and never disturbed, which he did the very next day, plus filled the studio with everything I needed.

He bought the most expensive materials and sewing machines, painted the walls three times already because I asked him to, and furnished the next room with a TV and a couch.

Sure, I don’t need all of these things, but it’s the only way I could punish him. Though I’m not sure it has affected him in anyway, and yet it makes me feel better that I hold even the smallest amount of power against him.

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