AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The pilot landed, and as soon as we were parked, I drove the Jeep off the cargo plane. It was the only vehicle in the vast garage back in Colombia that would fit a rolled-up body as big as my brother’s—if it came down to it. I was hoping it wouldn’t, though. I’d only brought two men with me, and until I scouted out the area, I told them to stay on the plane.
I didn’t really need to do much recon. I’d been watching the apartment Garret shared with Ryan since I left Colombia, as well as the other cameras. Once I reached the block where the apartment was, I parked and pulled up the feed once more. It was just after two in the morning. In the time it took me to get from the airport to where I was currently parked, they had gone from staring sightlessly like mindless robots at the television to lying in their beds.
Or at least, that was what I was going to assume my brother was doing since I couldn’t find him on any of the other cameras. But Ryan was in bed, with the lights off. The curtains weren’t drawn, letting the brightness of the city cast a soft glow across his bed. He was lying on his back, the covers pulled up to his waist. One arm was thrown over his eyes, his other hand lying on his hard stomach.
It wasn’t the first—or even the tenth—time I’d spied on Ryan like this late at night. I would lie in bed for hours, just watching him until I fell asleep. Each time, I would tell myself I was doing it because I was pissed and wanted to see him suffering. But the truth was, I couldn’t sleep until I saw him. Since my conversation with Mom in the hospital cantina, I’d been reconsidering everything, wondering if my anger was really warranted.
I didn’t know anymore, but this wasn’t the time to search my soul and decide if I forgave him or not. The only reason I was there was to pick up Garret and get him back to Bogotá. I’d waited until Cali was back in her room and alert before telling her I had to mak
e a quick trip. She’d been in pain and worried about Justice, so I hadn’t explained further. With Mom, Maria, and Guzman at her side, she wasn’t as scared, but she begged me to return as quickly as possible.
Wanting to get back to her and my niece, I was going to make this short and as painless as possible. For myself, at least. If Garret got banged up a little, it was the least he deserved for hanging up on me when he should have shut the fuck up and listened. Then his ass would have already been in Colombia where he belonged.
I gave it another thirty minutes, making sure Ryan was deep asleep before I made a move.
Tavia and Theo lived on the top two floors of the building and had made the roof a playground wonderland for their children. A stairwell led from the roof down to the other floors, which were all protected with a security system that required not only a seven-digit code, but also a fingerprint scanner.
My fingerprints had been put into the security system to allow me access years before, when Tavia first moved in to the building with Theo. The code wasn’t going to be an issue either. The trickiest part about getting into the building was getting to the roof. It wasn’t as if I could just walk into the lobby and use the elevator. The guards who were always on duty would freak out and cause a commotion I wasn’t in the mood to deal with.
The building had no fire escape, but there was one on the neighboring building. I climbed it, taking my time because the damn thing was old and I didn’t trust it not to pull from the building even under my slight weight. It was going to be a total bitch if I had to bring Garret down the same way, but I was hoping he wouldn’t give me any issues and we could go out the back since leaving without being seen was easier than getting into the building.
There was a gap between the two roofs that was a good six feet. It took me a few minutes to get up the nerve to make the jump. I was short, damn it. My tiny body wasn’t made for long jumps like that.
Taking a deep breath, I backed up and made a running leap. As I cleared the gap, I gave a whispered thanks to whoever might be watching over me. But just as I landed, my right foot rolled, and I stumbled.
“Sonofabitch,” I whisper-shouted as pain shot up my entire leg, and I dropped onto my ass so I could catch my breath.
I could barely see, but nothing felt broken. Figuring I’d only sprained it, I forced myself to stand and limped to the stairs.
Three floors down, I wiped my sweaty hand on my black yoga pants and pressed it against the scanner once I’d punched in the code. I had a moment of panic, wondering if they might have taken my prints out of the system, or changed the code while I was away. But then the door clicked quietly, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I pulled it open cautiously.
The moment the door closed behind me, I had to pause and take a deep breath. I was in the same apartment as Ryan. He was so close. All I had to do was walk into his bedroom and climb into bed with him. I could feel his hard body pressed against mine, let his warmth and strength soak into me and soothe the ache that was always present inside my chest.
Tears blinded me for a minute, making it impossible to focus on my surroundings.
But I wasn’t there for Ryan. Cali and Justice needed me, so I had to hurry and get back.
Pressing my fists to my eyes, I counted to ten and pushed away from the door. Silently, I crept through the apartment toward Garret’s bedroom. But I couldn’t help myself and veered toward Ryan’s door instead.
My hand pressed against the wood, wanting to absorb his energy. It wasn’t enough, though, and before I could stop myself, I twisted the knob. His scent hit me as soon as the door cracked open an inch. I inhaled slowly and deeply, basking in the smell of the man who was supposed to be mine. My legs started to tremble, and the pain in my foot seemed to disappear as I stepped into the room.
He shifted on the bed, turning from his back to his side. One of his hands rubbed over the empty space beside him, searching for something. When he came up empty, he moaned in his sleep. “Nova,” he muttered.
Without thinking, I crossed to the bed. I just wanted a closer look, I tried to tell myself. That was all I would do, just look.
The closer I got, the more I could make out something on his arm. I’d noticed it a few times while watching him on the cameras, but I’d never been able to get a close enough look at what he’d inked into his skin.
The glow of the city provided plenty of light to see by when I was standing directly over him. The moment I realized what I was looking at, all my anger seemed to turn to smoke and fade away.
Ryan really hadn’t abandoned me. The fact that he was carrying me with him everywhere was proof enough of that. Blinking back my tears, I slipped into bed behind him. The moment my hands slid around him from behind, he let out a pained moan. “Nova,” he breathed.
I pressed a kiss to the center of his back. “I’ve missed you so much,” I whispered.
“Miss you, baby.” He released a heavy sigh, falling into an even deeper sleep.
Five minutes. That was all I allowed myself to have with him before I remembered Cali and Justice. Carefully, I slid from the bed, silently promising that I would see Ryan again soon. Leaving his room was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do, but there was a tiny baby depending on me.
With a new resolve, I made my way to Garret’s room, determined to get him where he was needed so I could figure out how to put Ryan and myself out of the misery we’d both been trapped in.
