Page 69 of Unleashed
“Why now?” she whispers. “Why tonight?”
Tension grips my spine, my muscles, my heart. “I thought…if I stayed away, you’d be safe. That I was protecting you by not being with you. But I was killing us both.”
“Protecting me from what?”
This is the part I was dreading, the part where I have to confirm that her fear, her apprehension, her hate for my world is valid. That the picture of a life with me is painted in smears of red and black. And I’m afraid this might just be the one thing that causes me to lose her…for good. Because it’s no longer just about her or me or us. It’s about our baby, our child, an innocent life that I know Everly will do anything to protect—even if it means giving up on me.
But I’m done lying. I’m done hiding things from her out of fear I might lose her. I won’t let my fear ruin her life anymore.
I push myself up, swing my legs off the bed, and grab my jeans, pulling them on as I stand, not bothering to button up.
“Before I tell you, I need you to know that whatever you decide tonight, I’ll respect it. I won’t try to convince you otherwise. I won’t drag you to a private island to keep you. What happens next is completely up to you.”
She sits up on her elbows, and I hate the sight of worry lines between her brows. “Isaia? What’s going on?”
There’s a pang of fear in my chest as I rub the back of my neck, searching for the words to start with.
“After Anthony took you from me, I wanted to come for you, Everly. I swear to God. There was nothing I wanted more thanto tear my way to New York and take you back. But I knew…I thought…Jesus.”
I lick my lips, my throat dry.
“After lying to you about Anthony, I knew you’d never forgive me. I knew I lost you the moment you saw him breathing. And I just…I couldn’t.” I glance up at the ceiling like the words might be written there. “I convinced myself I’d rather live with the uncertainty whether I had lost you or not than live with the fact that I had.” My fists clench at my sides as the pain of that thought stabs me. “That’s how stupid I was, how scared…fuck.”
Everly's silence is chilling, her eyes wide and unblinking as she watches me pace across the room, a lion in a cage, a man on the edge.
“When I found out about the pregnancy—” my gaze drops to her belly “—I wanted to come for you. I was ready to burn the world down so I can be with you and our…our baby.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because me being with you meant you’d be in danger. It meant our baby would be in danger.”
Confusion flickers across her face. “Isaia, I don’t understand.”
“Then let me back up.” My voice scrapes raw as I force the words out. “Years ago, we had a serial killer on our hands. A fucking religious psychopath who brutally tortured women, murdered them, believing he was doing the work of God.”
Her eyes widen, just slightly, but enough. She feels the turn coming.
“That man was my brother.”
That’s the moment color drains from her cheeks.
“His name was Micah. We didn’t know about him until he started leaving a trail of bodies for us to find. Turns out our father had a son with another woman, before Alexius and Nicoli were born.”
“Oh, my God.” She sits up straight, crossing her legs.
I start pacing again. “He…ah…he took Mira. But we managed to get to her in time, and Alexius killed him, shot the fucker. That day we buried him so deep, we erased him from existence.”
“I don’t understand. If he’s dead, why are you telling me this?”
“Because a few months ago, it started again.” My eyes lock on hers, hold her there, make her feel the weight of it. “One of our associates’ wives was murdered in the exact same way Micah killed his victims.”
“Jesus. A copycat?”
“Yeah. It was before I knew you were pregnant.” I take a seat on the window ledge, looking back toward the bed, elbows on my knees, rubbing my palms together. “The night I found out about the pregnancy, I was on my way to you, not giving a shit about lies and forgiveness, or anything else. All I wanted was to be with you, hold your hand and never stop kissing you. I love you so much, Everly. You are fucking air to me.”
She eases a strand of hair behind her ear, and I swear those beautiful mismatched eyes have the power to bring me to my knees.
I inhale deep. “Nicoli stopped me.”
