Page 10 of Beyond Repair, Part One (Damaged Duet #1)

Trevor

I can't explain the reason my heart drops beyond trusting Henry's instincts. Whatever he's feeling at the sound of my ringtone has the blood draining from his face. And because my friend is already a pale guy, well, let's just say I'm fucking terrified of the picture he's painting.

Where Henry looks like he's about to pass out, Ridge hasn't looked away from my cell on the island between us. Kai's eyes are darting around like he's not understanding our reaction, but when he reaches for my phone, I bark at him to stop.

I can’t tell who or what is on the other side of the line, but if I can shield my brothers from it, I will. Shoving my hesitation to the recesses of my mind, I snatch the device.

"Speakerphone," Henry pleads in a voice so monotone it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

Glancing at the other two, they nod mutely, making my decision to protect them from this null. I swipe to accept the call.

"Trevor speaking." Please, for the love of fuck, let there be a flood in one of the bathrooms at one of our hotels.

No such luck.

My stomach twists itself even tighter when a sniffle adds to the mystery of the unknown number.

I clear my throat. "Hello?"

"T-Trevor, honey? Is that y-you?"

Ridge stumbles away from the kitchen island, Kai gasps, and Henry stiffens. At the sound of Meg Solace's voice, I wobble. My free hand is the only thing that catches me while my phone clatters onto the counter.

"Trevor?"

Everything in me screams for the man I once considered more like a father to me than my own blood. I want to shout at Will and demand why he stopped answering my calls.

"Son?"

At that, I grunt. "Will?"

"Shit, Trev. I'm so sorry. So, so damn sorry," Nina's dad says gruffly, all the while I can hear his wife's cries in the background. Or maybe it's Nina?

"Where—" I can't ask.

Kai steps forward. "Is—" He too stumbles over his words.

Do we even want to know?! How fucking horrible are we to second guess if we actually want the update we've been waiting for all these years?!

Henry swallows repeatedly like he can't get his voice to function.

Will breaks the tense silence with soft understanding. "Are you all there?"

To my surprise, Ridge steps forward, not even taking a moment to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "Where is Nina, Mr. Solace?"

Silence. Then there’s quiet murmuring before Will finally responds. "Can we meet? Please. We're in town and can go wherever is easiest."

I frown. "Where are you?"

"Provo," comes Will's immediate response.

"We moved a year ago. We're in St. George," I explain.

"About three and a half hours away," Henry mutters trying his damnedest to rip his hair out of his skull as he paces.

"Henry?!" Meg makes herself known again. "Oh my...I've missed you."

Henry looks like he's about to shatter completely when Kai swoops in to give him a giant hug of support.

Cursing draws my attention back to this nightmarish conversation. What aren't they telling us ?!

Ridge seems ready to snap, so before he can, I bolt around the counter and place a heavy hand on his shoulder. He's our short fuse and I'm our rock.

"Drink," I state, not giving my cousin room to argue when I shove a bottle of Gatorade into his trembling hand. It's time I take charge; it's what I do best. What I enjoy .

"Tell me, Will. Now."

My fingers dig into Ridge's shoulder when the silence drags on. A sputtering breath and another whimper sound from my phone.

"It's Nina..." Will whispers because he knows our world’s just imploded. "She's?—"

My throat closes over, ready to save myself from digesting the worst possible news. Did they find her body? The police always were quick to assume she was dead after so many years of a cold trail.

"Nina's..."

"WILL!" I shout, my emotions erupting in a bout of frustration and fear. "Where is our Nina?!"

"In Provo," Will gasps out like he too can't hold himself together any longer. "She-she needs you."

Kai lunges for the phone and asks what we've been wondering for so fucking long. "Nina's alive?!"

The moment we've all been waiting for is finally here, and I'm not ready to live it because what if the person I've loved most in the world is gone? And what if she isn't? What then?

Will stutters over his life altering words. "Y—" My heart thumps an extra beat, then another until I'm all but hyperventilating and giving Ridge all my weight. "Yes. Nina is a-alive."

ALIVE! OUR NINA IS ALIVE!