“Well, damn. Nice going, sis.”
“If you ask me for tickets to a game, I’m going to punch you.”
He shrugs, “I’ll ask him, then.”
“Don’t you dare. Please. If he offers some, you can say yes, but don’t ask. Too many people already try and use him.”
“I want to meet this young man,” my mom says.
“Since Sadiq is living with him, I’m sure you’ll meet him,” Reina reminds her.
“No. I want to meet him as Nev’s boyfriend, not because of Sadiq. That will come first, because it has to, but I’m afraid that meeting will be overshadowed by my husband.”
“He’s not my boyfriend at the moment, Mom.”
“But from what you’ve said, you expect that he will be again.”
“Yes.”
“Then please invite him to dinner with us before we leave.”
“You can’t leave,” Matt says. “At least not until we can figure out how much of what Sadiq said is true. I won’t risk your safety.”
“I have classes in two days!” Sully says, getting up from the couch. “I can’t miss my classes.”
“I can take care of that for you,” Reina tells him.
“You think you can take care of me missing my classes? Seriously? My professors aren’t all warm and cuddly, Reina.”
“Neither am I, Sully. And yes, I can make sure you aren’t given any problems when we can let you go back.”
“I’ll have to see it to believe it, but it doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice,” he grumbles.
“It will work out. I don’t like this either, but I know Reina can do what she says she will. I also know that Matt and Reina wouldn’t tell us we had to stay if they didn’t really think there was a chance that we’re in danger,” my mom tells him. She knows about the Society, because when Matt found out, he needed someone to confide in, and more often than not, my mom has been his confidant over the years.
“I already have people working on looking into things. We’ll do our best to figure things out quickly, so we can come up with a plan for all of us,” Reina tells both of them.
“So now we go and see Sadiq.”
“Now?” I ask, looking at my mom in alarm. “You don’t want some time?”
“No. Waiting is only going to make me question things even more. I need answers, and to be honest, I don’t want to give him time to formulate something he thinks I should hear, instead of just telling me the truth.”
“Okay. I know Dylan’s gate code. We can surprise them,” I tell her, getting to my feet.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any crazier, they’re about to. Is it bad that I’m comforted by the fact that Dylan will be there with me? Probably, but I’m not going to analyze my feelings right now—that can wait for tomorrow.
* * *
Dylan
I’m sitting by the pool when I hear the gate to the backyard open. I grab the gun sitting next to me, and jump to my feet. I’m both relieved, and nervous, when I see Nev walking towards me. Matt, Reina, her mother, and her brother are with her, but all I see is her.
“He’s in the pool house,” I tell them, knowing why they’re here.
“I’m sorry for not giving you any notice,” Nev says, coming to stand in front of me. I want to reach out and touch her, but I know I can’t.
“I understand.”
“Are you going to introduce us, Nev?” her mother asks.
“Oh, um, yeah. Mom, Sully, this is Dylan. Dylan, this is my mom and my brother, Sully.”
I hold out my hand to her mother. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Ayoub. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“From my husband?”
“Yes, and from Nev,” I tell her as we shake hands.
“How many women are you sleeping with right now?” Sully asks, a scowl on his face.
“Sully!” Nev yells.
“It’s okay. I have no problem answering that question. I am currently not sleeping with anyone, although I hope that will change soon.”
“My sister isn’t one of your groupies.”
“Oh my God, Sully. Just stop. Please.”
“I know she’s not,” I say, ignoring Nev, because as a brother myself, I get it. “I’ve never once treated her like she is.”
“You just lied to her.”
“Dammit, Sully. This is none of your business,” Nev chimes in, and this time I listen to her because I know she needs to be heard.
“The hell it’s not. You’re my sister.”
“I’m not a baby, though. I can handle myself.”
“She can. Your sister is stronger than anyone seems to give her credit for. She’s already put me in my place, and while I can appreciate you wanting to stand up for her—because I’ve done the same for my own sister—she doesn’t need you to right now. At least not where I’m concerned.”
“Well, shit. You really do love her.”
“Yes, and as much as I’m enjoying this conversation with you Sully, I think you should go in and see Sadiq.”
“You’ll come with us?” Nev asks me.
“If you want me to.”
“I do,” she says.
“Alright, let’s do this,” I tell her, holding out my hand. She takes it and we walk to the door.
I don’t knock because he’s probably looked outside and seen them already. If he hasn’t, he won’t exactly be surprised that they’re here. I’m interested to see his face when the woman he’s always said he loves more than life itself is before him once again. I’m also interested to see if Aqeelah punches him. I’d punch him if he was my husband.
I let Nev walk in front of me, and she squeezes my hand hard, which lets me know she’s seen her father again. I hold tight to her as we move aside, letting everyone else in. There is complete silence as Sadiq stands from the couch and locks eyes with Aqeelah. Silent tears run down her face, and he reaches for her, only to be stopped by his son.
“Don’t touch her—you don’t get to touch her.”
“Of course, Sully. I’m sorry,” he says, retreating back a few steps.
“What are you sorry for?”
“Everything, my son. Everything.”
“She cried for you every night. She still cries sometimes.”
“That’s enough, Sully. I can speak for myself,” Aqeelah tells him, breaking free from the shock. “We should probably sit down.”
Sadiq wisely chooses to sit in one of the wing chairs, while Sully and Matt flank Aqeelah on the couch. Reina sits next to Matt, holding his hand tightly in her own. Nev leads me to the loveseat, and I put my arm around her as she snuggles in close, seeking the comfort she needs. I know this isn’t about romance right now—she needs the support I offered her—but I’m okay with that. I’ll take what I can get and give her whatever I can.
“I suppose I should start at the beginning,” Sadiq says, never taking his eyes from Aqeelah. It’s like he can’t physically stop looking at her. “I’m going to assume that you’ve been told the parts I already shared with Neveah and Matt, so I’ll skip the details and just tell you that leaving you—all of you—was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. If I thought there was another way to keep you safe, I would’ve done it. I’d have done anything to stay with you, but I couldn’t risk your lives because I was being selfish.
“Once everyone thought the body in the morgue was mine, they snuck me out of the country, taking me to a military base in Europe. I spent two months there, being debriefed and tested. Even though I had done everything that was asked of me, there was still some concern that I might be a double agent. They weren’t going to bring me into the U.S. until they were sure I was only who I claimed to be—a man who unexpectedly ended up working for the wrong people. I was questioned several times a day, subjected to full body scans and searches, and kept completely isolated from everyone else on base. I was basically a prisoner, although I wasn’t chained up or handcuffed.”
“I was in my own kind of pri
son during that time,” Aqeelah says quietly.
“I’m sorry for that, but truthfully, I would always rather you be sad than dead.”
“Sad doesn’t even come close to what I felt. You were my life, the other half of my soul. When I thought you had died, half of me died as well.”
“I feel the same way. Not being able to see you has taken me to some very dark places over the years.”
“With other women?”
“No. Never that, Aqeelah. There could never be anyone else but you.”
“I have not been with anyone, either.”
“Despite us telling her she should date,” Sully tells him. “Her life shouldn’t have been over.”
“Sully, please stop. I know you’re angry—I’m angry as well—but I need to hear what your father has to say.”
He wants to argue, but instead he nods. “Go ahead and finish your story so we can get out of here.”
Sadiq pulls his eyes from Aqeelah long enough to give his son a sad smile. Sully won’t meet his eyes, so he swings his gaze back to his wife before continuing his tale. “After two months, they were confident that I was who I said I was, but they didn’t know what to do with me. I was sent to the U.S., but again, it was to a base, although I wasn’t as isolated as before. They allowed me to interact with the soldiers, and even offered me the chance to do some training. The government knew as well I did that one day I may be forced to fight for my life, and they gave me the opportunity to learn how to protect myself. I took martial arts classes, and eventually weapons classes as well. After a year, I was as prepared to fight as any soldier leaving that base.
“They sent me to a small town in Utah, thinking that hiding me there would be safer than having me in a big city. It was beautiful there, and the people were accepting, but it wasn’t the place for me. It was too quiet, and when left with only my thoughts, I fell into a deep depression. I could never regret saving all of you, but I missed you so much.”
“It was then that they moved you to Chicago?” Nev asks him.
“Yes. I moved into a house near the Gallagher family, and took a job as a work-from-home accountant. I observed most of what went on around the neighborhood, but I kept to myself until the day Dylan was attacked. I shouldn’t have stood by when he was being called names, but I couldn’t stand by when they put their hands on him.”
“Thank you,” Nev says, and everyone in the room turns to look at her.
“You’re thanking him for helping me?” I ask.
“Why are you surprised? You know I love you.”
“You just amaze me every day, Nev.”
“Good. I like to keep you on your toes.”
I love that she’s being flirty with me right now, but apparently, Sadiq doesn’t. “As I was saying, I helped Dylan, and he promised to help me re-connect with my family one day.”
“And then you concocted a rather elaborate plan to deceive our daughter, and essentially steal her away from us,” Aqeelah says, and there’s no mistaking the ice in her voice.
“I needed companionship. I don’t want another woman for a sexual relationship, but I want family.”
“Why our daughter? Why not me? How could you not want me?” she’s yelling now, and not one person in this room can blame her.
“If you all of a sudden disappeared, Matt would’ve been suspicious, and gone looking for you. And also, I didn’t want to leave our children with no parent at all.”
“Hold on a minute,” Matt says, speaking up for the first time. “Do you really think I wouldn’t have gone looking for Nev, too?”
“I knew you would focus your attentions elsewhere, giving us time to go into deep hiding.”
“Holy shit! You were going to make it look like Dylan killed her! You meant for me and everyone else to go after him.”
“Yes,” I answer.
“No. I wouldn’t have let that happen. You have to know I wouldn’t go along with that!” Nev tells me, holding my face in her hands.
“I knew the plan wasn’t the best, but I didn’t know you when this all started, Nev. I didn’t know if you’d care.”
“And you both underestimated the scope of our resources,” Reina says. “Even without Ellie being our friend, we would’ve gone to the ends of the Earth to find Nev.”
“I know about you and your secret group, but it wouldn’t have mattered. You wouldn’t have come back from that mission alive,” Sadiq says, and I stare at him in shock.
“Are you insane?” Aqeelah asks before anyone else can jump in. “Who are you? You are not the man I married. It was honorable of you to have given the information you found, and even to have left to save us. But to have exacted a vow from a teenage boy, and then all of the rest of this…killing Reina if she came to get our daughter? There is no honor in what you’ve been doing, and would’ve continued to do had Dylan not fallen in love with Nev. As far as I’m concerned, you are still dead to me Sadiq, and it is time for me to leave.”
“It’s time for him to leave, also,” I say quietly.
“You would throw me into the street after I saved you?”
“I have more than paid you back for helping me. But this—threatening people if they stand in your way—you’re no better than the men you were trying to stop. Aqeelah says she doesn’t recognize the man she married, and right now, I don’t recognize my friend. As for ‘the street’, we both know you have money. You don’t have government protection since you ditched them, but you have money.”
“One week, Dylan. Please just give me one week to get things in order, and then I will leave.”
“You don’t owe him anything,” Nev tells me. “You’ve done more than anyone else would.”
“I can give him one week. I’m going to Chicago to see my parents anyway. Ellie spilled what I’ve been doing, and they called earlier to summon me home to talk.”
“You can call me if you need to,” she says, echoing my earlier statement to her.
“Thank you,” I reply, kissing her cheek.
I walk everyone but Sadiq out, accepting a hug from Aqeelah and a chin nod from Sully. I’m glad Nev has them as well as her Society family. If I can just figure out how to extract myself from all of my messes, I’ll be part of her family once again. First, I have to face my family, who I already know I’ve disappointed. How did trying to do something honorable leave me feeling no honor at all?
Chapter 14
Dylan
“I love you Dyl Pickle,” Ellie says, halfway into our flight to Chicago. This is the first she’s spoken to me since we took off, but if I’m being honest, I haven’t tried to initiate any conversation, either. “I just can’t understand how you’d go along with Sadiq’s plan.”
“I love you too, Ellie Bear. As for Sadiq, I just wanted to be honorable.”
“When you were younger, I can understand you thinking that making the vow to him was honorable, but once he laid out his plan to you? You were really going to let him frame you for a fake murder? You’d have lost everything.”
“He saved me, El. I really thought I was going to die that day. I could feel it…they weren’t going to stop.”
“And I’m so thankful for that. But what he asked from you is too much. He saved your life, but then he asked you to give it back.”
“I thought it was the right thing to do.”
“Until you fell in love.”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you stand up to her when Eric said those things to her in the cafeteria?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Mom and Dad are going to tell you to un-complicate it.”
“I know. I need to talk to them about what’s going on with Eric. I may need your help, too.”
“You know you’ve got it.”
“Thanks.”
We’re quiet again for the rest of the flight, and the drive home. We walk inside, and I’m surprised to see that it’s just the four of us. I was afraid my mom would call all of my brothers in for this “talk
.” I know they’ll hear about what happens, but I’m glad they aren’t here with me right now.
I hug my mom, holding her as tight as she’s holding me, until my dad pulls her back. He gives me a hug, too, and then we all sit down. “Go ahead and tell us everything,” my dad says. It’s the same request Neveah made of me, but since my parents already know most of my faults, it’s easier to honor this demand.
I explain about Sadiq and his plan, not sugar-coating my part in everything, even as my dad shakes his head, and my mom starts to cry. I also tell them about Nev, and how I fell in love with her. I don’t hold back anything about her, either, including what happened with Eric. “I’m sorry,” I tell them.
“You’re sorry? We should be the ones apologizing,” my mom says. “We were working so hard to get the business running and keep you all fed and clothed. We should’ve paid more attention to everything instead of trusting that Sadiq was being a good influence on you.”
“He was a good influence. At least until he wasn’t, but that’s my burden to carry, not yours. I made that vow and decided to keep it, even though I knew it was wrong. You guys were great parents.”
My dad speaks up, and it’s exactly what I would expect from him. “I’m going to be honest here, son. I get you wanting to honor your vow, but I’m having a really hard time with you saying you’re in love with Neveah. I would never sit by and let a friend of mine disrespect your mother—or any other woman for that matter—especially not because of her faith.”
“Eric is not my friend. I don’t even want him to be my agent, but I’m stuck for a few more months.”
“Why do I feel like you felt you couldn’t stand up to him?” Ellie asks.
“He has some pictures of me. He said he’d release them if I didn’t go to that party with the actress while I was here. I can only imagine what he would’ve done if I’d defended Nev.”
“What kind of pictures?” my mom asks, her eyes narrowing at me underneath the tears she’s furiously wiping away.
Neveah (Society Girls #2) Page 11
