“Don’t you worry about that,” Joan said. “Oh, my God, look at you. So … grown up.” She sniffled. “I’ve missed so much.”
Sian sat down on the chair, and I saw Joan reaching out her good hand, which Sian took. Seeing this moment was private. I shouldn’t be here but then I couldn’t look away.
Mother and daughter.
“He’s going to pay for what he did,” Sian said.
“This is nothing. He can hit me and hurt me, but he could never break me,” Joan said. She licked her lips and released a cough. “It was too late. He had already started to hurt me and then he … found a way to get my silence.” She groaned.
“Do you need some water?” I asked, going to her other side and picking up the glass with the straw.
Joan turned to me and she smiled. “You look so much like your father,” she said. “How is Harrison?”
“He’s … waiting to see you.”
She shook her head. “They can’t see me like this.”
“Lucas did, Mom. Lucas was here.”
“He can see me because he knows his hands are tied. He always followed the rules. It was how Alexander was able to get to him first. How he was able to do what he did.” Joan sighed. “George, Harrison, and Justin, they were always different. They weren’t afraid of the consequences. Enough about us.” She turned her head back to Sian. “I want to look at my beautiful baby girl. My reason for existing. He took it all. Didn’t he?”
Sian sniffled. “Don’t, Mom. Don’t.”
“If I was you, I would have hated me.”
“Don’t,” Sian said. “Let’s not talk about this. It doesn’t help.”
Joan smiled. “But it helps me. You were such a beautiful baby. You probably don’t remember this, but for the first years of your life, he didn’t need to give me anything. I had you. I was able to be controlled. I loved you so much that I ignored him.”
“You took care of me?” Sian asked.
“Yes. I sang to you, badly. I can’t sing. I hugged you all the time. I never wanted to let you go.” Joan let out a cough and a groan.
I saw the pain in her eyes and knew we’d exhausted her for long enough.
Going to Sian’s side, I put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“It’s time for her to rest now.”
Joan said, “No. I don’t want to rest. I want to know how my baby girl is. I don’t want to lose a moment.”
Sian stood, moving closer to her mother. “And we will. We’ll have the time. He’s not going to get to you. Not again.” She pressed a kiss to her mother’s cheek with a smile. “Love you, Mom.”
“Oh, honey, Drew said you’d love me but…” Joan sniffled. “I never believed it.”
“I do love you. Please rest. We’ve got so much to catch up on.”
With that, Sian and I left the room and I closed the door.
There were already two guards on the door, which I imagined Lucas had arranged.
“How are you holding up?” I asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.
“I don’t know to be honest. She looks so … fragile, but I know deep down, she’s strong. She got through.”
“That’s because she knew there was this amazing girl she needed to get to.”
Sian chuckled. “How do you know how to say the right things?”
“I’m lucky. With you, it all comes easily.” I kissed the top of her head. They weren’t lies. When I was around Sian, I knew what to say because I wanted to comfort her all the time. We stood outside Joan’s room for a good twenty minutes as the older woman slept. I couldn’t imagine spending nineteen years with a person who would drug me to keep me docile.
Whatever happened from this day forward, Alexander Roberts would have to pay for the lives he came very close to destroying.
****
William
I’d never enjoyed the hospital.
For the past week, we’d pretty much lived inside one, only leaving to get changed and washed. Sian wanted to be close to her mother, and my dad, well, it was hard to pry him away from the window of Joan’s door. Not that I could blame him. If I was to put us, me, Sian, Gideon, Dante, and Mateo, in that scenario, I’d have been the same.
Fucking crazy to think about.
It was into the second week that I returned home and found a single envelope on my bed.
The same kind of envelope giving all different kinds of instructions. With a towel wrapped around my waist, I sat on the edge of my bed.
This was what The Society did. They gave instructions in all forms.
Why did I have this letter?
It wasn’t here when I went for the shower, and now I felt a little sick thinking someone could be sneaking around Gideon’s house.
After turning the envelope over, I tore into it and stared inside. There was a key and a single sheet of paper. I pulled out the piece of paper and read the instructions. Today, I had to take a two-hour drive to a town I had a vague recollection of. There was a safe hidden away at a bank that would hold what I needed with further instructions.
Once I had the details clear in my mind, I had to destroy this letter.
Staring at the location, I put the envelope down and quickly got dressed. All the guys had been taking turns to go with Sian. This was one of those times I was alone in the house.
Wearing a pair of jeans and a white shirt, I threw on a pair of sneakers and ran my fingers through my hair. I grabbed the envelope and walked downstairs toward Lucas’s office. The fire was lit, I imagined by his staff. Walking over to it, I screwed up the envelope along with the instructions and then tossed it inside.
I pulled out my cell phone as I made my way to my car, sending a text to Gideon to let him know something had come up that I needed to take care of. Inside my car, I turned my phone to silent. The last thing I wanted was to be hearing the buzz as it went off.
There was no need to put any coordinates into my Sat Nav as I knew where I was going. I was nervous. This was an order of The Society, and to be honest, I didn’t know what they wanted me to do, or why.
While I drove, I wondered what they could want me to do.
No one had been very forthcoming when it came to The Society. My father rarely gave any insight other than the importance of following the rules, of trusting them.
I had some serious trust issues with them, considering the video of me, the guys, and Sian was out there, and it wasn’t supposed to be. Again, did I have an issue with a secret organization or Sian’s dad?
The drive was long. I made a few stops along the way.
It was cold, and I ended up turning the heat on as I arrived in this small town. As I drove through the main street, I saw it was a busy place. Glancing up at several signs, I noticed they were having some kind of Halloween festival. From the looks of things, it brought in a crowd.
I spotted the bank up ahead, and I pulled into an available spot. After turning off the ignition, I climbed out and headed inside the bank, being careful not to draw attention to myself. I didn’t know the rules.
Upon entering, I got in line, waiting.
The bank was small, quaint, and had that small-town vibe to it.
I rarely visited my bank in the city.
The line went down really quickly and it wasn’t long before I smiled at the cashier behind the desk.