Page 57 of Burdens

His revelation hung in the air, the implications sinking in slowly as I processed his words.

“You’re Reda’s son?” My question came out barely above a whisper, memories of the past flooding my mind.

Shortly after we’d boarded the plane that night, exhaustion and the pain medication my mother had given me after stitching my neck up had pulled me into a deep slumber.

I’d woken up hours later in Colombia with a new last name and a new life. I’d learned later on that my uncle Reda had been in contact with someone in the Aguilar cartel and had eventually been able to broker a deal in exchange for sanctuary within their ranks.

Reda and I had had a relatively close relationship, but he’d always been secretive and vague about his private life. I’d actually thought there was something between him and my mother and they just didn’t want me to be aware of it.

But when my mother and I had left Colombia years later, he hadn’t come with us. He’d insisted on staying behind, claiming he’d had business to tend to and that he couldn’t leave it behind.

Guess this is what he meant by that?

Nassim furrowed his brows. “How do you know my father’s name?”

“Because he’s part of the reason I’m still alive today.”

CHAPTER 15

NOAH (PRESENT)

“I don’t understand.What do you mean he’s part of the reason you’re still alive?”

“I knew your father,” I started, but Nassim cut me off.

“How did you know him?” he rushed out, his gaze searching mine for answers.

“Let him finish,” Amalia interjected, her tone strict.

I briefly glanced over at her before focusing my attention back on my newfound cousin. Nassim sighed and gestured for me to go on.

“I knew your father,” I repeated, my voice steady as I prepared for the second time tonight to reveal the connection I had to the cartel, a tie I’d spent my entire life severing.

I didn’t particularly want to reveal to more people who my father was, but we had a common target and I needed Nassim to trust me.

“Reda Taleb wasmyfather’s right-hand man.”

His features contorted in a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. “Your father?” he echoed, the words hanging in the air between us like a heavy cloak, suffocating.

I gave him a curt nod and cleared my throat. “Omar Barrera’s my father,” I affirmed. “But only by name. Reda was more of a father to me than mine ever was.”

Nassim’s eyes widened in disbelief as his fingers instinctively found their way to his temples, pressing firmly as he shook his head. After a few moments, he finally brought his gaze back on me.

“Wait. Are you the little boy in the picture my dad always used to carry in his wallet? I always asked him who it was and he just kept telling me that it was someone from his past that he deeply cared about.”

“That’s something you’d have to ask him.”

Nassim’s features suddenly sombered, his eyes full of sorrow. I knew what that look meant because it was the same haunted look I’d sported after I’d lost my mother.

A phantom ache wrapped around my rib cage as I waited for Nassim to confirm what I thought, regrets of years lost and moments never shared washing over me.

The more I looked at Nassim, the more I saw their resemblances. From the shape of his eyes and the way they crinkled when he smiled, even their personalities were extremely similar.

And the more I looked at him, the more I saw a ghost of the man who’d shaped my childhood alongside my mother.

For a long time, it had always been just me, my mother, and him. I’d thought of reaching out on multiple occasions after we’d moved away, but I didn’t want to jeopardize his secrecy.

I’d almost done it when my mother died, but I couldn’t find it in me to tell him that she’d passed away. I’d hoped he’d find out on his own and reach out, but that had never ended up happening.