My mother died. Her name was Moira Octaliegh Avalon. She had dark hair like me. A smile she passed down to me and a green eyes that always held love for me.
Everyone else would like me to take the story they were peddling about her murder at face value and deal with it. But how do you say goodbye forever to the mother who gave you everything you love about your self.
When she died. I fractured. I didn't say a word in months and when I finally did, it came out as stutter. It's been that way ever since.
I stared at her murder board. I needed a reality check, something to remind me that my world went beyond Caid's lips and body and eyes. Something to anchor me back to reality.
Something to remind me that before every waking thought and every memory flash was of a man I just met yesterday, I was a girl who would move hell and Hades to get to the truth.
This was it.
The names. The dates. The red string connecting them all. It looked like madness, but it was the only thing that made sense.
I stared at my mother's smiling photo in the center of the board. The night she died was a blur. I remember nothing.
Just the story everyone told me... A drunk driver. A crash. Mom saving me before the car went over the cliff. That was it.
Am I supposed to fucking believe that? She was Moira Avalon. She was a force to be reckoned with in business world. Named as the most powerful woman in the city, twice! And she was defeated by a fucking drunk driver.
No.
The tears welled up in my eyes. I never let them fall in front of anyone, but alone, with her face looking back at me, I couldn't always stop them.
The door creaked open. I didn't need to turn. I knew it was Ace by the heavy sigh that followed.
He stood beside me for a long time both of us just staring at the board.
"This obsession of yours," he finally said, his voice quieter than usual. "It's not healthy, Noah. It was an accident. A sad, shitty accident. It is not a conspiracy."
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, refusing to look at him. "The story is wrong, Ace. It's staged."
"No, it's not. Let it go"
"I can't" I moved closer to point at the board. "I've looked everywhere. Someone like Mom dies in a hit-and-run, there are no news reports. No police report. No nosy bloggers. There's nothing. Not a single paper. That can't be right."
I pointed to a different article I'd printed and pinned to the board.
"But I found this. Same week. Same part of the city. A hit-and-run outside a high-class building. A mother and child. The car came right at them on the sidewalk. The mother pushed the kid out of the way. The car hit her with so much force she was thrown clear across the road, down the cliff behind the building." My voice dropped to a whisper. "Death was instant. It was a hit and it was mom. That child was me, Ace. I think… I think that's how she really died."
Ace moved closer, his face softening for a fraction of a second as he made me look at him by touching my chin. He wasn't always horrible. Most times, he was actually a pretty decent big brother.
Then his face hardened again.
"You're imagining things, kid. You're connecting dots that aren't there. Instead of playing detective, you should be on the phone trying to fix your engagement. Our entire family is about to be homeless." He crossed his arms. "Speaking of which… why was Caid Essex, of all people, playing hero to you? Kincade's brother?"
I looked at him. I know he knew something about Mom's death, something he wasn't willing to share.
"I don't know, Ace. Maybe he took one look at the numbnuts brothers I have and felt sorry for me. Decided to play protector." I shook my head. "And on a completely different topic, what kind of father names two of his sons the same damn name?! They are both Kincade Essex!"
"You have better things to worry about than questionable naming skills," he grumbled, turning to leave. He paused at the door, his back to me. "Sorry I grabbed you."
It was the closest I'd get to an apology. "Sorry you got your ass handed to you," I shot back, but there was no heat in it.
He opened the door.
And there they were. Like my worst nightmare come to life.
My father. And next to him, the real Kincade Essex, his scarred face twisted in a look of pure disgust.
My father didn't even look at me. He looked past me, at the murder board, and his lip curled.
"Pack your things," he said, his voice cold. "You're moving into the Essex mansion. Today."
The world stopped.
"What?".
Kincade spoke, his voice like gravel. "The merger is back on. The terms have been… renegotiated. We will get married in a private ceremony tonight and be done with it"
That's when I went ballistic.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS?" I screamed, the sound tearing from my throat. I grabbed the first thing my hand found—a heavy book—and flung it at the wall near them. "I'm not a piece of furniture you can just move! I'm not going anywhere with him!"
My father took a step into the room, his eyes promising violence. "You will do exactly as you're told. You've lost the right to have an opinion."
I looked from his furious face to Kincade's cold one. They'd sold me. Again. And this time, they'd sold me to the wrong brother.
The wrong, ugly, terrifying brother.
And all I could think about was the right one. The one with the hazelnut eyes who ruined my life and then held me while I cried.
I wanted Caid....not Kincade!