by Kishan Paul
Little did he realize there were two big surprises waiting for him. His big brother had arrived a few days earlier. A big brother who not only arranged and paid for the vacation home they would be staying in but had the entire home disinfected and prepped for their arrival. And in a day, her parents, siblings, and their families would all arrive as well.
She pulled in the large driveway of the two-story, ten-bedroom, ten-bath, Mediterranean–style mansion. With its stucco exterior, multiple arches, giant columns, and a porch that wound around the entire home, the structure resembled something a tourist would find on a beach in Venice not in Oregon. As beautiful as the building was, it wasn’t what took her breath away. The home sat on top of a hill. It overlooked the lush green forest of pine trees and the deep blue still waters that stretched into the horizon where the white clouds and soft blue sky took over. Nature surrounded every part of the building, and aside from the home itself, there was no other indication man had ever touched the land.
“Beautiful.” A smile stretched across Mom’s face.
Ally admired her mother-in-law’s grin, her own smile widening in the process. Dave inherited his smile from his mother, and seeing it on his mom always made her feel closer to him.
Ally nodded. “I almost don’t want to wake up the others.”
“We shouldn’t. Yet. Except for this one.” Mom reached behind Ally and gave Dad’s shoulder a shake. “Simon, we’re here.”
She watched through her rearview mirror as his lids opened. Beautiful green with a hint of gold and rimmed with blue scanned the area. Another trait David inherited. Those little reminders of her husband had become gems, making the two even more endearing to her than before. Dad sat up and stretched. “That was a short drive.”
“Of course it was, you slept the entire way.” Ally chuckled at Mom’s irritation. “Come on, let’s unload before the monsters wake up.”
She didn’t hear the rest of the conversation because she’d climbed out of the vehicle, heading toward the house where Razaa descended. In long swim shorts and a tank, he took the steps two at a time. He donned a smile so big, every tooth in his mouth was evident. He looked young, more his age and less of the fighter she’d come to see him as. Razaa stretched out his arms as she drew near. “Mom.”
She held him tight, savoring the feel of her son. “You were in town all month, and I am only now seeing you?”
“I’ll explain everything.” He kissed her cheek.
She rose to her tiptoes, sandwiched his face between her hands, and rested her forehead against his. “And I’ll forgive you for it all.”
He laughed. “I know.”
The dogs ran up to Razaa. While he patted their heads, Jayden squealed from the SUV. “Oh, my gawd! This place is amazing!”
Apollo barked his agreement and ran to his side.
“Bhai!”
Jayden ran into his brother’s arms. A brother who lifted him off the ground as if he weighed nothing while the little guy squealed like a baby pig. Mom and Dad approached the happy pair, greeting their oldest grandson as well.
Ally stood back, put a hand on her chest, and savored the scene. This was not the family she’d started her journey with, nor was it the one she’d ever envisioned winding up with at the end. Her family was supposed to have been David, and the children they’d create together with the grandparents dropping by here and there. None of these individuals shared a blood relation with her. Theirs was a relationship built on love and loss and healing. All of which seared them to each other.
A cup of chai in her hand, a shawl over her shoulders, Ally snuck onto the porch of the house while the others slept. She moved along to the edge of the wooden deck and leaned her hips against the fence, admiring the Pacific Ocean as she sipped her brew. The sound of the waves crashing against the sand soothed her. A little before six in the morning, dawn broke free of the imprisoning night, mixing hues of orange and red along the black and gray skies that stretched across the horizon. Giant rocks resembling miniature island mountains jutted out of the waters, standing unrelenting as the ocean waves slammed against them and tried to climb up their peaks.
She gripped the corners of the shawl tighter when the morning breeze sent goose bumps pebbling across her skin. The world seemed to stand still here, making her mind do the same. She sipped the last drops of the creamy cardamom-infused chai when the sliding doors behind her slammed shut. Ally rested the empty cup on the patio table behind her before glancing to see who’d joined her.
Dressed in jogging clothes and a sweatshirt, Razaa approached, carrying a mug of his own morning brew. He stood beside her and pointed his cup at the biggest of the rocks a few yards out in the waters. “The big one’s called Haystack Rock. And”—he leaned his torso over the railing and indicated an area in the distance—“you can’t see it, but down that way are sea caves and a waterfall. Maybe after the others arrive this afternoon, we can wander around.”
She rested her head on his shoulder and stared in the direction he pointed. “That sounds like an excellent plan.”
“How do you like the house?”
She smiled. “I love it. It feels like home.”
Razaa put an arm around her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Good because it is. Well…my home anyway.”
Her body tensed; she scanned his face, noticing the way he stared out at the waters. “Meaning?”
The shoulder her head rested on rose a few inches before returning to its natural position. She moved out of his arms, turned her back to the ocean, and surveyed him. “Razaa?”
He investigated the contents of his steaming cup of coffee before taking a sip. “We bought it.”
“We?”
Pride radiated from him. “The DOJ contract we won?”
She nodded at his question.
“It came with a bonus to set up a command center in the States.” He copied her pose and leaned his back against the railing, pointing his cup at the house in front of them. “Welcome to the US ALPS office.”
She grabbed his arm, excitement flooding her. “Does this mean the boys are here too?”
“Not yet.”
“Yet?”
Razaa rested his mug on the table beside her and tipped his head toward the trees. “Let’s go for a walk.”
He took her hand, guided her around to the other side of the home, and led her down the side stairs of the deck, away from the ocean and into the narrow path leading to the pine forest behind. “It’s forty-six acres with the big house and a smaller guest home. The small one, we’re setting up as the command center.”
She thought of the green rooftop she’d noticed on the drive into the property. The world darkened, and the temperature dropped a few degrees under the shade of the trees surrounding them. “The rest of the team, except Boss, are in Bali, doing things they’d rather I didn’t share. We’ll meet up in a month at the Galapagos Islands for tactical training the DOJ wants us to do.”
Ally filled her lungs with the scent of pine and the ocean. The same ocean the boys would be surrounded by during their training. “Hence, why you picked this location?”
He shot her a knowing glance. “We’re scheduled to be there for over a year, so whenever there’s a break, Boss and I should be able to fly over.”
She tensed, not only at the other person Razaa mentioned but also at the ones he did not. “And the others?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. The director is working on getting them temporary visas as we speak.”
Excitement surged through her, making her grip on his hand tighter.
Raz grinned. “If things work out, in a couple of months, they should be able to come.”
“I’m four hours away. Will you tell me?”
“They’d kill me if I didn’t. But it will be last-minute phone calls, you’ll have to come alone, and no one, not even Jay, can know. It’s not something The Director wants broadcasted.”
She pursed her lips and nodded.
“There’s some
thing else I wanted to talk to you about too.” Razaa stopped walking and stared ahead at the log cabin in the distance. “I heard the conversation you had with Boss a couple months ago in Philadelphia.”
She followed his gaze to the house. Yellow light streamed from a set of bottom windows. Apprehension strummed through her at the sight of it and its implications. “How much did you hear?”
“All of it. His audio was on, and I was on the other end.”
Her face heated. “It didn’t go well.”
“No, it didn’t.” He chuckled. “I wanted to beat the shit out of him for how he handled it.”
“Then you understand why, if he’s in there, I would prefer not to visit.”
“I do but…”
She shook her head. “Razaa, it’s not a good idea.”
When she took a step backward, her son gave her arm a gentle tug. “I can understand why you don’t want to see him. I heard what he said. But, Mom, I heard what you said, too, and some of it was wrong.”
Ally stared at her son and the adult words coming from his lips. As much as this was not an argument she wanted to have, it was clear it was one Razaa felt strongly about having. He was using his voice, something he rarely did with her, and something she wanted him to do more of. “I’m listening.”
“You tell me all the time I need to get all the information before I can make an informed decision.” He hesitated, nervous tension pulsing from him.
In the past few years, she’d watched her son evolve into the strong capable man standing before her. But no matter how much time had passed, she knew deep inside his psyche lived the terrified little child who had been abandoned by his family. Worried he’d once again be deemed unlovable, he questioned his worthiness as well as the sincerity of those who claimed to love him.
She planted a hand on his arm and gave it a squeeze. “Even if I don’t like what you’re about to tell me, I promise you, nothing you say will make me stop being your mother. Say it. I want to know.”
His shoulders lowered as if some of the weight he carried had been removed. “You made decisions and judged Eddie without all the information. You have a right to be mad at him for how he dropped you and how he doesn’t reply to your calls. But the other things. No.”
Ally bristled. “You’re going to tell me what I have a right to be angry about and what I don’t?”
His brows scrunched, and he gazed at the house in question. “You’d kick my butt if I said yes to that. I’m just making sure your anger is warranted and not based on ignorance.”
She flinched. “Okay, then enlighten me.”
“The decision about Om leaving the team was made by the brothers. Boss didn’t vote on it, said it was our choice and left. We unanimously decided Om should have trusted us, not lied and gone behind our backs, and by doing so risked yours, Tay’s, and Sai’s lives.”
“He was in a bad spot. He was trying to save his sister.”
“Trust me, we all understand why he did what he did, and I’d probably have acted similar, but I’d have let my brothers know. This is about trust. We can’t trust him to have our backs anymore, and if we can’t trust him, he can’t be on missions with us. But he will always be our brother, and we’re not abandoning him. Just not working with him.”
“I don’t agree with your decision.”
Razaa shrugged. “You’re not part of the team.”
He was right, it wasn’t her decision to make, but the idea of Om out there alone didn’t sit well with her. “How can I help him?”
Razaa shook his head. “Already done. Boss could have given Om the middle finger after what he did, and none of us would have judged him, but that’s not what happened. He set Om and his sister up with a nice home and a comfortable life in Nepal.”
A shadow passed by the window she stared at. “That was very generous of him.”
“It was. He did something similar for Jay’s stem cell donor.”
Information about the donor was a topic they never broached. Razaa had been home with her and Jayden at the time the donor match news arrived. It was obvious he knew what was going on, but he’d made it clear he could not discuss anything about the donor.
“You made me promise the individual not be bribed or coerced. And she wasn’t. She and her two-year-old baby lived in the Mumbai slums, no bathrooms or clean water, with a tin piece of metal as their roof. Boss tracked her down, explained Jayden’s situation and how she had the ability to save him. She said yes. No money, no coercion.” He tipped his head toward the log cabin. “He didn’t say anything to me. He personally took care of them. Set them up with temporary housing, arranged for her medical needs, got them a private nurse and babysitter and maid who took care of them until she healed. While she recovered, he made calls and connected her with someone to provide her with job training, so she and her child will hopefully never spend another night in that hellhole.”
Ally’s eyes prickled with tears. “Why didn’t he explain?”
“I think he likes it better when people think he’s an asshole.” He gave her a knowing look. “People do stupid things when they think with their hearts not their heads.”
Nerves fluttered in her stomach at the implication of his words. Things were falling into place in a way she’d never intended for them to. They stopped a few yards from the front steps of the two-story cabin.
“You two need to finish this. Whatever this is.”
She stared at the steps that led up to the covered porch. Her nerves intensified the more she considered going inside. “I don’t think this is a good idea.” She took a step back, stopping when Razaa put an arm around her shoulder and held her close.
“No one will make you do anything you don’t want to do. But, Mom. I trusted you all these years, let you lead me and never doubted or questioned where we were going because I knew you’d never let anything bad happen to me. This time, if you can, try to trust me. Just listen to what he has to say and make an informed decision. If you still hate him, that’s fine, you’ll never have to see him again. I’ll make sure of it. You have my word.”
“You’re not coming in with me?”
Raz shook his head. “I’m going to get back and start breakfast and hang out with my baby brother and my grandparents.” He pulled out a small gift-wrapped box from his pocket and handed it to her. “Here. You two should open this together.”
Ally accepted the gift and watched him walk away, choosing to see it all as a sign that he was finally beginning to believe her love was unconditional.
She returned her focus on the log cabin behind her. Its door wide open, Eddie stood at the entrance staring at her.
CHAPTER FIFTY
ROADS
Eddie crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder against the threshold. His pulse quickened while he waited for her to decide the next move. Dressed in pink plaid pajama pants and slippers, a maroon wool shawl draped around her shoulders, protecting her torso from the chilly morning temperatures. Her attention oscillated between him and the big house behind her. Rooted to the spot on the trail where her son left her, she messed with the gift the little shit of a son handed her before he threw them both in this position.
He stared suspiciously at the box she gripped. What had Razaa told her before he deserted his mother at their front door, and what was in that package?
He didn’t trust the kid to do the right thing in this situation. Raz had lost his mind. When Eddie arrived at the hotel after his meeting with Alisha, Raz lunged at him. Which made sense. He’d listened in on a live, up close and personal mess of a conversation between him and his mother. Which was why Eddie let the kid get in a good punch before he shoved him off and walked away. By the time they reconvened, both were calmer and able to sweep the entire incident under a rug. Or so he thought.
In actuality, the little shit had taken the reprieve as an opportunity to turn himself into a hemorrhoidal pain in Eddie’s ass. Razaa not only recorded the conversation, he shared it with the team. Now a b
unch of barely adult idiots, who thought they knew shit about shit, sat around providing unwelcome advice on love and some BS about destiny. Eddie thought he’d made it very clear with all of them to leave this alone. That the best option for him and their mother was to stay the hell away from each other.
Ally standing in front of him with the box in her hand was a clear indication they’d not respected his wishes. The decision to enter would be hers, and a part of him, a big part of him, willed her to come in and take a chance. As many missions as he’d been on, as many times guns had been pointed at his head, this… whatever this was, scared him more. She had the power to wound him deeper than any of those weapons.
The realization upped the tempo of the drum pounding in his chest. His flight instincts screamed for him to shut the door and make the decision for both of them. He sucked in a lungful of air, ignoring the urge. Instead, he stood by the door, waiting for the woman he needed to stay clear of to make the choice.
She glanced over her shoulder and then back at him for the hundredth time, making it clear she was just as perplexed about it all as him. The realization eased his own fears, sprouting a small seed of hope in his chest. As if she heard his thoughts, knew the seed had been planted, she gave her head a slight shake, turned, and walked away.
He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and watched her escape, yanking the sprout of hope with her. It wasn’t until the trees blocked his view of her that he dipped his chin to his chest and slammed his eyes shut. Disappointment heated his face and a sad smile curved up the corners of his lips. She’d made her choice. A choice he already knew she’d make. This was the only way their stories could end. Yet for a moment there, he’d hoped for something more. He shook his head, backed his ass inside, and shut the door.
