Page 31 of Twisted Truths (The Sunburnt Hearts #4)

Chapter Twenty-Five

HADLEY

W hat have I done?

My body trembles as tears run unchecked down my cheeks. I should have tried harder to tell him last night. The betrayal in his eyes when he realised I knew—I can’t unsee it. He’ll never forgive me.

A sob escapes my lips, and I sink to my knees, burying my head in my hands. My breath comes in shallow bursts, and the ache in my chest twists until I feel like my heart might burst.

Nash has a nephew. A living, breathing piece of Zara, and I kept it from him.

Gabriel crouches in front of me, but he doesn’t offer any comforting words. He knows we fucked up by not telling Nash straight away. Now it looks like we kept it from him on purpose.

“We had a plan,” Gabriel says softly. “We needed to tread carefully in order to not tip them off. If Nash found out, he’d go storming in there with no thought for himself or Franklin, and I wouldn’t put it past my mother to hide him away. We need to be smart about this. ”

“He hates me,” I whisper, my voice cracking.

“No, he doesn’t hate you. He’s hurting, Hadley.”

A fresh wave of tears roll down my cheeks. “I care about him more than anyone I’ve ever cared for.” Guilt swirls in my stomach, and I hastily add, “Except for Madeline.”

“It’s okay,” Gabriel reassures me. He tries to comfort me by wrapping me in his embrace, but I push him away.

“It’s not okay.” I shake my head. “None of this is okay. I’m your Chosen, yet I kissed Nash yesterday, and … and I slept in his bed last night.”

Gabriel’s brow raises. “You slept in his bed?”

My cheeks heat at my admission. “We only talked, but I shared things about … about my family, and I tried to tell him about us and Franklin.” Not hard enough. I should have tried harder.

He sighs. “We’re no longer a part of the Circle.

We’ve been exiled, and I have no plans to return.

I release you of the burden of being my Chosen, but please know that I will continue to protect you.

Not out of a sense of obligation, but because I care for you like a sister.

I will always love Madeline, and you are a part of her. ”

My breathing hitches. “You release me?”

“I release you,” he confirms, slipping a mobile phone from his pocket. “Go find Nash and talk to him. Don’t wait for the perfect words, just be honest. He’ll respect that. I need to make a phone call.”

My eyes widen. Mobile phones are prohibited at the Circle, and he hasn’t left since we got here. Gabriel just offers me a small smile and a wink as he helps me to my feet.

“It’s time to set this plan into motion. We have a baby to save, and a murder to solve.”

He pulls me in for a brief hug, and this time I let him.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

It feels weird to be walking through Zara and Nash’s childhood home. There are pictures on the walls of happier times, which only makes my heart ache even more. This house is filled with ghosts for Nash, and right now he feels like he has no one. Or no one he trusts.

I don’t open any doors. It feels like an invasion of privacy, but I do listen at them, trying to figure out where Nash has gone, but the house is silent, not giving away any of its secrets.

Once I’ve exhausted any possibility of finding Nash inside, I push open the back door and step out onto the deck.

The sun is shining, and I lift my face marvelling at how the warmth hits my cheeks but does nothing to heat the cold that has enveloped my body since Nash found out about his nephew.

I worry he’s done something reckless, like go after Franklin, but then I hear sounds coming from an old barn beside the main house.

I cross the yard and hesitate, unsure of the reception I’m going to receive. He has every right to be mad at me.

When I finally work up the courage to push open the door, my mouth immediately goes dry.

Nash stands with his back to me, the low light from the loft windows carving shadows along the rippling muscles cording his back.

His shirt is tossed over a bench, forgotten, his grey sweatpants slung low over his waist. He’s lifting weights, each movement of his arms sending another ripple down his spine.

I can’t tear my gaze away.

I’m still standing there, stunned at the sight in front of me when he finishes his set and turns around. A frown immediately mars his features, and his eyes shutter. He grabs a towel that’s hanging off a stationary bike and rubs it over his face. “What do you want, Hadley?” His tone is resigned.

My hand comes up to play with my locket. “I was hoping we could talk?”

“I have nothing to say.”

“Nash, I’m sorry.”

“So am I,” he mutters. I flinch at the harshness of his words as he drops onto the weight bench and leans forward, his elbows braced on his knees. “How could you keep my nephew from me?”

“I was scared.”

He scoffs. “Of me?”

I shake my head. “Of what happened to Zara. The last thing I promised her was I would keep her son safe, and when I found out about her murder, I?—”

“You what? Thought he’d be safer in a fucking cult than with his own flesh and blood?” The venom in his voice causes me to take a step back. He shakes his head. “You let me believe I could trust you, but you’re just as bad as them.”

“Nash—”

“What do you want from me? Is this some sort of game you and Gabriel have cooked up to mess with me? Haven’t I lost enough?”

“Stop! Please,” I beg him, tears rolling down my cheeks.

“This isn’t a game, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but I didn’t know what to do.

You have no idea what it was like, sneaking around and trying to make sure he was okay after Zara left.

I put my life at risk to keep my promise to her.

If I had been caught by anyone other than Gabriel, I’d probably be dead, too. ”

Nash doesn’t look at me. His jaw clenches, the muscle ticking like he’s holding something back. I don’t know if it’s grief or fury. Probably both.

“I wasn’t keeping Franklin from you,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “I was protecting him from them . Franklin isn’t a baby to Guardian Solomon and Seraphina. He’s a legacy. They believe he’s Gabriel’s son, and because of that, he belongs to them.”

“Why did you care so much about his safety?” Nash challenges, rising to his feet and pacing near the wall. “You barely knew Zara.”

I flinch at the harshness of his words, but I come back at him with my own truth. “Madeline died during childbirth, so I never got to meet my niece. Gabriel lost his daughter and his Chosen in a horrific way, and that’s why he was so willing to help Zara.”

Pain flashes in his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything. His silence hurts more than his anger.

“Zara and I became friends when she found me visiting my sister’s grave.

I wasn’t supposed to. Seraphina told me I needed to leave the past in the past if I was to join them.

Having nowhere to go, I accepted her terms. A few weeks after Gabriel announced Zara as his Chosen, and that she would have his child, I visited Maddy’s grave for the first time in two and a half years. ”

Tears well in my eyes, and I draw in a shaky breath.

“I was angry at him for moving on, while I missed my sister every day. Zara found me there, and I was so scared she was going to tell Seraphina, and I’d be sent away with nowhere to go. But Zara assured me my secret was safe with her.”

Nash drops his head, his hands circling the back of his neck. His pain hurts me, but he needs to know everything, so I keep talking.

“She confided in me, explaining Seraphina had prohibited her to speak to any of the congregation until she had proven commitment to our lifestyle, so we agreed to meet once a week in private. She was isolated, lonely, and a little skittish, always looking over her shoulder. As the pregnancy progressed, Zara admitted she was getting nervous. Guardian Solomon and Seraphina were becoming … intense. I assumed it was because of what happened to my sister. I didn’t know Gabriel wasn’t the father of Zara’s baby until the day I saw you at the river. ”

“She didn’t even tell me she was pregnant,” Nash mutters, the anguish clear in his voice.

I wasn’t the only person who kept secrets from him.

“A week or so before she gave birth, Zara became even more spooked. She said it was no longer safe for her in the Circle, and I assumed it had something to do with Gabriel, or our leaders. Now, I’m not so sure.

When I pressed her about her escape plan, she said we’d need to get as far away from Barrenridge as possible.

It wasn’t safe for her or Franklin. She told me she had someone who would help get her out, but she never gave me any details. ”

“I asked our half-brother, Levi to get her out of there at all costs.” Nash’s brow furrows. “He conveniently left out about her being pregnant. It seems no one wants to fucking tell me anything.”

“I don’t know who it was. All I know is she said she had access to enough money to move away and start a new life and asked if I wanted to come with her.

She planned to leave before the baby was born, but he had other plans, and she went into early labour.

After Franklin was born, I didn’t see her for six weeks.

They were kept in isolation, and when I finally did see her, she told me Seraphina was insisting on taking over his care while Zara proved her loyalty to the Circle.

She politely refused, but Gabriel’s mother isn’t someone who likes being told no.

Especially when it comes to the first child of the Circle, or so she thought. ”

“Gabriel claims he was trying to save her. If he knew the child wasn’t really his, why didn’t he say something?”

“That’s something you’re going to have to ask him. I only know what Zara told me.”

He runs a frustrated hand through his curls.

“While I appreciate the cliffs notes on what my sister went through in that fucked up place, I’m still not hearing why you kept my nephew from me.

You listened to me talk about how losing my family gutted me, and the whole time, you knew I still had a living link to my sister. ”

“And you listened to me tell you how scared I was,” I counter angrily before taking a deep breath.

“Nash, I was terrified. I just found out my friend was murdered after escaping the same place I was desperate to get out of, and then you kissed me and everything changed. It was like the ground moved beneath me and I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t think. Suddenly, it wasn’t only about keeping Franklin safe but also protecting whatever was …

is … happening between us. I had so many secrets, and I didn’t know who to trust. If the wrong people found out, it would be my life in danger. ”

“So, this is all my fault?” He stands up, towering over me, his tone cold. “You couldn’t tell me because I put your life in danger? Why show up yesterday, then? If you were so damn scared of what would happen to you and Franklin, why come to Zara’s funeral?”

“No,” I say quickly, stepping towards him, but my heart aches when he takes a step back. “I’m messing this up.”

Nash doesn’t even try to reassure me. He’s angry and hurt, and I did that to him.

“I never meant for this to happen,” I whisper, my voice shaky.

Tears sting the back of my eyes, but I don’t have any right to cry.

I betrayed him, and I don’t blame him for being mad.

“I didn’t know how to tell you and keep him from ending up like Zara.

Seraphina treated him like he was some holy relic of their twisted future, and I was scared of trusting the wrong person and being the reason something bad happened to him. ”

He drags a hand over his face, and when he speaks again, his voice is softer. “It’s black and white, Hadley. You should have told me from the start. He’s my flesh and blood.”

“I know.” My voice shakes. “But I didn’t, and I can’t rewind time to fix it.

All I can do now is be honest. I want to be here for you, Nash.

” Biting down on my bottom lip, I force my gaze to meet his.

“I want to be here with you. Together with Gabriel, we’ll find a way to get Franklin out of there, I promise.

But please don’t shut me out. I tried to tell you last night, but…

” My voice trails off. I can’t exactly tell him he stopped me.

“I’m so sorry. More than you’ll ever know. ”

A heavy silence stretches between us, and my stomach sinks when he’s the first to look away. “I need space. I need to figure out how to forgive you.”

Even though his words hurt, I nod. “I understand. I’ll tell Gabriel we have to leave.”

He exhales deeply. “You’ve got nowhere to go, and I can’t risk losing my nephew. You can stay, just … give me some time to figure this all out in my head.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

Turning to leave, I pause when he calls after me. “Don’t keep anything else from me, Hadley.”

“I won’t. I promise.”