SEE
NO
EVIL
(part two)
by
Chantal Fernando
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
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CHANTAL FERNANDO
Published December 2016
Cover design © Arijana Karčić, Cover It! Designs
Edited by Hot Tree Editing
SEE NO EVIL is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and events portrayed in this book either are from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, establishments, events, or location is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. Please do not take offense to the content, as it is FICTION.
Trademarks: This book identifies product names and services known to be trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective holders, The authors acknowledges the trademarked status in this work of fiction. The publication and use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Copyright © 2016 Chantal Fernando
All rights reserved.
Acknowledgements
A big thank you to Arijana Karcic at Cover It! Designs for your amazing talent and friendship. I kind of love you. You’re seriously the best.
To Rose Tawil—Thank you so much for everything. I wouldn’t be able to function without you! You are one of the best souls I’ve ever come across.
My beta reader Leeann Wright—thank you so much for your help. You are the best!
Hot Tree Editing—Thank you for being so wonderful to work with.
To my bestie Natalie Ram—Thank you for being the ultimate proof reader, and helping me whenever I need it, even though you’re super busy being your own girl boss. Love you, Mami.
To my family—my parents, my sisters and my sons—I love you all.
To my readers—I hope you love this book as much as I did writing it.
Chapter One
Sylar
“Did you put the wine in the fridge?” my brother Spencer asks me.
I nod but don’t look up at him, not wanting to lose concentration from the task at hand.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asks me, sounding amused. He’s always amused in some form or another, and I like that about him. I’m thankful for it. I might not have been able to save him from the childhood we had, but the fact that he’s still a happy person says a lot about him.
He’s strong, my brother.
Or maybe he’s just better at burying things than I am—things like the past.
“I’m trying to make the platter look good,” I mutter, moving the dip to the centre of the plate. Brielle loves platters, especially with wine. I want her to love this one, too, because I put it together. I don’t think I’ve ever hosted anything at my house before, for anyone. It’s usually just me, alone, or it’s me and my brother. I’m definitely a loner. I like having my space, and I don’t really like talking to random people. I don’t see the point in it. They don’t care about me, and I don’t care about them, so there is no use pretending. No one beside my brothers will ever know the real me, and that is a very lonely feeling. Brielle has pushed her way in through my boundaries, but she would run if she knew the things I’ve done.
So she must never find out.
“It looks fine,” Spencer says, and I can feel his gaze on me. “Are you doing okay? You haven’t been sleeping much.”
I push the plate away. “I never sleep much.”
“It’s gotten worse,” Spencer points out, brow furrowing. “I can hear you pacing. It’s always been bad, but it’s never been like this.”
The nightmares have gotten worse, and this time, Brielle is in them.
With me.
In my hell.
She doesn’t belong there, but it’s like I’ve dragged her there with me. I’m bringing her down to my level by touching her with my bloodied hands, by pretending I’m the kind of man who deserves her, when I’m not.
And no one knows that better than me.
Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I try and live in the moment instead. I’ve never had what I have now, and I shouldn’t take that feeling for granted. I head to my bathroom and turn the shower on, the steam quickly filling the room as I undress. I can’t wait to have Brielle back in my bed tonight, her soft skin pressed against mine, her smooth hands against my rough, calloused ones. I get hard at just the thought of her, but I ignore my dick and step into the hot shower, letting the water cascade down my body. I’ve never let a place become a home for me before, but I feel like this could be it. The itchy feet I usually have are gone, probably because there’s nowhere I’d rather be than with Brielle.
She caught my eye when I first saw her, standing behind the counter and laughing at something Christina said to her. Never did I think I’d ever catch her eye in return, and I never realized that I wanted to.
Never.
Everyone looks past me, and I like it that way. I don’t like attention. I like to go unnoticed… underestimated. After Brielle first spoke to me though, I took a real good look at myself. I pretty much looked homeless. I bought some new clothes, ones that actually fit, got a haircut and trimmed my beard. Spencer gave me a little bit of shit about it, but I could tell he was happy.
“It’s about time you rejoined society,” he’d said.
I don’t know about all that. I didn’t see it as me rejoining anything, but I guess you could say that I became human again. I began to live again, properly live.
As a person, instead of a shadow.
I started caring about things I hadn’t before—and more than just my appearance. Brielle has shown me that life isn’t so bad. In fact, it can be good.
She makes it good. No, she makes it great.
I’ve never told her any of this, never said these words out loud.
I haven’t told her a lot of things.
I should. I will.
I scrub my hands with soap, but they will never stop being dirty. The things I’ve done can never be erased.
I’ve killed. And that leaves a mark. A stain on my soul, one that curses me from inside out and keeps me awake at night.
*****
“What’s wrong?” I ask when I reenter the kitchen, instantly going on alert as I take in Spencer’s rigid posture, my phone to his ear. He must have answered it for me. Who would be calling me though?
He turns to me, expression dire, and hands me the phone.
“What it is?” I bark into the line.
A few seconds’ silence, and then, “If you want to see your brother alive, you better come and get him.”
I grip the phone with such force I’m surprised it doesn’t crumble beneath my fingers. “We had a deal.”
All those years ago, I tr
ied to save both of my brothers from my uncle, but I failed. I wasn’t able to save Spencer, but I was able to save Sebastian. My youngest brother, Sebastian, wasn’t cut out for life as one of my uncle’s soldiers, as a killer. Everyone knew this. So when my uncle offered me a deal, I took it. He said he would send Sebastian to medical school, and that he would leave him alone, as long as Spencer and I stay by his side and do his bidding. He calls himself a bounty hunter, but really, my uncle is a hit man. Just as I became. Just as Spencer became.
I couldn’t save Spencer.
We both sacrificed to get Sebastian out, and with that sacrifice came losing our relationship with him. He turned his back on our world, and to be honest, I don’t blame him. He’s an ER doctor and he has a good life. Or at least that’s what I thought.
“We made that deal over ten years ago, Sylar,” he says, and I can just imagine him sitting in his black leather chair, a glass of whisky in his hand. “I think it’s just about expired.”
“I didn’t know your word came with an expiry date,” I grit out between clenched teeth. But I should have. The man doesn’t have a soul. How he is my mother’s brother, I will never know. My mother was a kind and gentle woman, but Uncle Wyatt is as evil as they come. He kills with no conscience, bribes and blackmails without a thought, and isn’t afraid to use any weaknesses against you.
Even with his own nephews.
Especially with his nephews.
Since he didn’t have any children of his own, when we became his, we became his legacy whether we wanted to or not. His pawns. His weapons.
My weaknesses are my brothers… and now Brielle. Fuck. He can never find out about her. Ever.
“I just need one thing from you,” he continues, my words having no effect on him. “Return to the compound now. Your brother is here waiting. You do what I need and then you leave with him intact, simple.”
“Why do you need us?” I ask him, wondering why after all this time he’s trying to bring us back in.
“I need your level of skill for this one, Sylar. And then that’s it. You won’t hear from me again.” He clucks his tongue, then adds, “Not even on holidays.”
“Your word obviously doesn’t mean shit,” I say, sharing a look with Spencer, whose jaw is as tight as I’ve ever seen it. “How do I know you’re going to leave us alone after this?”
Could I take my uncle down? Yes.
But there would be ramifications. He has a lot of men in his team, and for me to destroy them all…. Possible, but ends with a very high body count.
Some men and women count the number of people they’ve fucked.
I count how many I’ve killed.
And I don’t want my number getting any higher than absolutely necessary, but with this phone call I know that number is going to climb higher. The question is how high? And there is nothing I can do about it.
“I need you, Sylar,” he says, tone lowering. “I’ve left you alone all this time, and I wouldn’t be calling unless it was an emergency.”
I grit my teeth and consider my options. “I want to talk to Sebastian.”
Wyatt sighs, like my request is extremely inconvenient to him. “Sebastian is fine. Damon knocked him out to get him here, but other than that he’s fine.”
“And I want evidence of that,” I say, not budging.
I hear some shuffling, and then, “Sylar?”
“Are you okay?” I ask, closing my eyes as I hear his voice after such a long time.
“Yeah,” he says, then clears his throat. “A little banged up, but fine.”
There’s a slight scuffing sound, and then my uncle says, “But he won’t be unless you’re both here by tomorrow morning. So you better pack quickly. Don’t want to be late for this family reunion.”
He hangs up, and I throw the phone at the wall.
It smashes.
“The fucking bastard,” Spencer snarls, starting to pace. “What are we going to do, Sylar?”
“We have to go and get him,” I say, my mind wandering to Brielle. “The girls are meant to be here soon. What are we going to do about them?”
Brielle can’t be a part of this. This hell is my life. She deserves so much more than I can offer, and it took this phone call to make me remember that. What if next time it’s her who he takes?
I can’t take that chance, and I won’t.
I pack an overnight bag, and Spencer does the same. He writes the girls a note, something I didn’t even think of.
I block her out.
Brielle.
No thinking of green eyes.
If I allow myself to, I won’t want to leave. I was meant to have her in my arms tonight, but instead, I’ll be driving to save my brother who I haven’t seen in years from my uncle who trained me to be a killer.
How does one explain that to a woman they care about and want to protect? I can’t just say, “Hey, welcome to the family.”
Being in this family will get you goddamn killed.
Or if you’re like me, and good at the family business, it will have you doing the killing.
I’m so fucked up, and the worst thing is, around her I forgot that fact.
I let my guard down.
But no more.
If I leave now, without a word, she will hate me, and maybe it needs to be that way. It’s safer for her, and I can’t be any more indulgent than I’ve already been. It’s not fair to her, and it’s not fair to me.
I have to go and get my baby brother.
His life is worth the sacrifice of my own freedom.
Chapter Two
We drive throughout the night. It’s a seven-hour drive, and both of us are tense and irritated. I can’t stop thinking about Brielle, and how angry, hurt, and confused she is right now. My phone broke when I threw it, and Spencer has his on silent. He hasn’t called Christina, and I haven’t asked him why. Maybe he doesn’t know what to say, or how to explain, or maybe he’s just thinking like me and knows she will be better off without him.
“Why did it have to be tonight of all fucking nights?” Spencer growls under his breath. “Do you know how mad the girls are going to be? And Christina and I had something… special planned tonight.”
I saw him buying lube when we stopped at the petrol station this morning, so I can only imagine.
“I don’t want to talk about them,” I say, and not for the first time. I know the damage I’ve done by leaving without a word, without reaching out to her with an explanation. And I’m going to have to live with that every day. I can’t dwell on it. I need to keep my mind on saving Sebastian and worry about the rest later.
“We’ll come back, Sylar,” Spencer says, staring straight ahead. “And we can make things right with the girls.”
“Then why aren’t you answering your phone?” I ask him, looking down at it as the little yellow button flashes.
“Same reason you aren’t,” he replies, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“My phone broke.”
“Mine is working just fine though,” he points out, the jackass. “And at least I left them a note. I said I don’t know if or when we will be back….”
“You just said we’ll return,” I say, feeling a migraine coming on.
“Keeping our options open,” he says. “Who knows what he wants us to do, Sylar. Who says we’re coming out of this in one piece?”
“If we don’t go, Sebastian won’t come out in one piece.” I sigh, hating that this is the situation, hating that my uncle broke his word. “When we get there and see what he wants, we can work out a plan.”
Hating that I let down the one woman I’m pretty sure was made for me. I can’t always get what I want though, and it’s up to me to be there for my brothers. I’ve been looking after them ever since our parents died; even though they’re all grown up they are still my responsibility.
Fuck.
I should have spoken to Brielle before I left. Face-to-face. I should have gone to see her. Why didn’t I? I could have tasted those perf
ect lips, heard that voice. Looked into those eyes one last time.
It’s too late now, and how would I have explained it anyway?
*****
I take in how different my brother looks since the last time I saw him. He’s bigger, stronger looking. He must be going to the gym every day like most men these days, instead of becoming stronger by training. His hair is perfectly styled, like he just came straight off the big screen, a lighter brown than mine and Spencer’s. His familiar blue eyes widen when he sees us, and he stands up from the couch he was sitting on.
“Sebastian,” I say softly, not knowing how to approach him.
Spencer steps to him and pulls him into a hug, and then Sebastian reaches his arm out to me, so I awkwardly do the same.
“You look fine,” Spencer points out, giving him a once-over.
Sebastian rubs the back of his head. “One shot to the head. I passed out, then woke up here.” He looks between the two of us. “It’s good to see you, brothers. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”
My uncle walks proudly into the room, and I can see that although not many men could ever take him down, age is something he can’t win against. Still, power seethes from him.
Brown eyes meet ours each in turn. “Breakfast is ready. The two of you must be hungry after driving here all night.”
“We didn’t come here for your hospitality,” I say, keeping my temper in check. “Tell me what you want, and let us be on our way.”
I look to Sebastian. “All of us. I’m sure my brother has to get back to his job.”
The truth is, I haven’t taken a life in quite a while. Although I wasn’t at peace, I was working toward being a different person, learning to be calm. I don’t know what this will do to me or how it will affect me. I was trying to forget who I was. And now I’ve been dragged right back to what I was trying to escape from.
By this man in front of me.
“What, no family bonding moments?” Wyatt says, eyes giving away nothing. “We may have our differences, but I did take you three in and raise you. We will sit and have a meal together like a regular family would.”
Spencer takes a seat and lifts his feet onto the coffee table. “We are so far from being a normal family, I don’t think there’s even a point in trying.”
See No Evil: Part Two Page 1
