Page 31 of Gabriel (Legacy of Heathens #4)

Amara

E lira had been pacing the yacht all morning, citing a strange noise coming from the generator. I didn’t question it. Whatever excuse she needed to vanish for a while, I welcomed it. The silence she left behind was a relief.

I needed space to think, to breathe, and to try to make sense of what Gabriel had revealed yesterday.

I hadn’t gone back to his cabin since that conversation. No lunch. No dinner. No check-ins.

I’d handed that task off to Elira.

She said he wasn’t talking much. Not to her.

After Elira disappeared, I went into my own cabin that felt like a different world, the air still and thick with everything I hadn’t dared to say out loud—and maybe never would.

My window was cracked open, letting in the breeze. Occasionally, voices drifted in from the deck, muffled and distant. It made the stillness in here feel louder, almost alive.

I stared at my phone for too long. First at the lock screen, then at the time, and then at the contact list. Her name was there, waiting.

Anya .

My thumb hovered over the call button. I didn’t know what I wanted to say or do. But I knew something in my chest had been pulling tighter and tighter, like a thread snagged on something sharp. And I needed to loosen it.

So I called.

Anya answered on the second ring.

“Hey.” Her voice was soft but a little distracted.

“Hey,” I said. “Am I interrupting?”

She laughed, but it sounded tight.

“Not really. I’ve just been calling Gabriel. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him.”

Fuck!

“I can call back later,” I rushed out, guilt clawing at my chest. What the hell was I thinking? That she wouldn’t notice he was missing?

“No, no. I need the distraction. Gabriel is probably off doing something stupid. Now, tell me, what’s up? Is everything okay?”

I sighed. “I… just needed to talk. Are you sure now is a good time?”

There was a pause that made me feel like shit. It never crossed my mind that Anya would notice him gone. He always seemed to be jetting around the world, and he hadn’t mentioned her in Colombia. It certainly showed how much I knew about him.

“Yeah,” she said finally. “Are you okay?”

“Kinda.” I rubbed my thumb along the edge of my phone. “I have a weird question.”

Another pause stretched, but this one was a different kind. Weighted.

“Okay…”

“Have you ever met my stepbrother?” I asked. My voice didn’t waver, but I was aware of how careful I sounded.

A breath escaped her on the other end. Something had shifted.

“I couldn’t remember if I’d introduced you to Jet and Elira,” I added, lying. I knew for a fact I’d never introduced them, and my siblings didn’t attend D’Arc, so there shouldn’t have been a reason for Anya to have crossed paths with either of them.

“Jet?” she asked, her voice too careful. “One of the Satan twins?”

I gave a short huff of a laugh. “Yeah. Dark hair, never smiles unless someone’s bleeding. That one. Though I wouldn’t call him Satan to his face. At least not out loud.”

She chuckled while I waited.

“No,” she said at last. “I’ve never met Jet.”

And just like that, the knot in my stomach eased, the pressure releasing. I hadn’t realized how tightly I’d been holding my breath.

“Right. Okay. That’s… good.”

“Why is that good?”

“Because it means I’m not losing my mind,” I said. “I was starting to think I might be.”

“Ahh. No. You’re not. I’ve never met him, Amara.”

I nodded, though she couldn’t see it. “Right. Sorry. It was a dumb question.”

“It’s not dumb,” she said immediately. Her voice carried that gentle conviction that made it hard not to believe her.

“How is your project going?” I asked. “And more importantly, how do you like Albania?”

“I freaking love it.” I could hear her enthusiasm in her voice. “It’s like stepping into another world. People are wonderful, food is great, and everywhere I turn, there is a picture-perfect moment. My portfolio is growing, but so are my experiences.”

“That’s great. Has my grandfather come to visit you?”

She chuckled. “Once, but I wasn’t home. I sent him a note thanking him for checking up on me and told him firmly there’d be no need for that.

There’re guards and—” She stopped abruptly and I waited.

She cleared her throat before she continued.

“Anyhow, I’m safe, and he doesn’t need to trouble himself by babysitting me. ”

I chuckled. “Your family never stood a chance once you set your mind on Albania, did they?”

“I can’t help it,” she muttered sheepishly. “I might look like my mamá, but I got my papá’s temper, and from that aspect, I’m as Latina as they come. I’m proud of it too.”

“As you should be,” I agreed softly. “You know what you want and you go after it. I’m proud of you too.”

A heartbeat passed before she asked, “And you?”

“What about me?”

“I’ve always gotten the sense that you hide a part of yourself from the world,” she said carefully. “Is it a family trait?”

I stared blankly at the far wall of my cabin, eyes unfocused.

“Maybe,” I replied pensively. My siblings and I had an unconventional upbringing compared to my friends, and while I wouldn’t have it any other way, each of us hid a part of ourselves from the world.

Could it be that Jet had an endgame and was keeping me and Elira in the dark?

“Do you ever just… feel like someone’s lying to you?” I asked, thinking about my siblings. “And it’s not in anything they’re saying . It’s just… in the silence.”

Anya didn’t answer at first.

When she spoke again, it caught me off guard. “Can I tell you something? It’s a secret, though.”

“Sure.”

“There’s someone I… like.”

I sat up straighter. “Wait. Seriously?”

She gave an embarrassed laugh. “Yeah. I know. Surprising.”

“You’ve never mentioned a crush.”

“I’m usually too wrapped up in fictional romances. It’s hard for real guys to compete after reading so many love stories.” Her voice softened, dipping into something more hesitant. “But this is… complicated.”

“Why?”

“It’s difficult to explain.” My brows furrowed, and she continued. “He’s so overwhelming and possessive, but in a sweet way. I’ve never met anyone like him.” Then she chuckled softly, almost dreamily. “He acts like he’d burn down the world for me.”

It sounded like a crazy mobster to me , I thought. My chest twisted as a thought struck like lightning. What if Jet was using an alias? Anya would never know it.

“Who is he? What’s his name?” I asked.

Silence stretched. Not awkward, but protective.

“I’m not ready to say,” she admitted, and a knot in my stomach tightened. “I don’t want my brother to find out and scare him off.”

A relieved breath swished out of my lungs and I leaned back in relief, a smile tugging at my lips.

If she had met Jet and he was as interested in her as Gabriel would like me to believe, she’d know it would take more than her brother to scare him away.

Jet didn’t run from anything; people ran from him.

“Okay. That’s fair.”

Another beat passed.

“Thanks for picking up,” I said.

“Always,” she replied.

The call ended, and I stared at the screen until it dimmed and went black. I set the phone aside, fingertips brushing the woodgrain of the desk like I was trying to ground myself in something real.

But something still itched at the back of my mind.

Not about Jet.

About Anya.

It was in the pause. The beat was too long before she told me there was someone. The way her voice had shifted just slightly before she changed the subject.

I was interrupted from my ruminating thoughts when a noise outside caught my attention. I turned sharply toward the window.

But there was nothing there. Just the moon’s reflection trembling on the waves and that low, crawling sense that something—someone—was there.