Page 53 of Twisted Truths (The Sunburnt Hearts #4)

Chapter Forty-One

HADLEY

I clutch Franklin close to my body, silent tears streaming down my face as Gabriel drives us to Sydney. My heart feels like it’s been ripped clear out of my chest, despite the text message Gabriel received an hour into the journey.

Levi confessed.

Nash got it all on his phone, and Shane arrived to arrest Levi before anything bad could happen.

It doesn’t stop the ache I feel, wishing I could be there for Nash. His brother killed his family. I can’t even begin to imagine how he’s feeling right now.

Speaking of brothers, Gabriel has barely spoken to his since finding out Isaac helped Zara get out of the Circle.

Apparently, Zara approached him after Sierra told her someone had been looking for her.

It wasn’t long after I saw Tanner talking to Seraphina.

Knowing he was sniffing around must have spooked her, and she trusted Gabriel and me to take care of Franklin while she tried to find a way for us to get out of Barrenridge.

She asked Isaac to drop her off at her mum’s house, and that was the last he heard from her.

Gabriel’s pissed that Isaac didn’t tell him until it was too late.

Franklin starts to fuss about an hour from Sydney, but thankfully, there’s a twenty-four-hour service station that Gabriel pulls into, and we’re able to buy some baby formula, bottles, and nappies.

The fluorescent lights buzz overhead while Isaac paces with Zara’s baby in his arms, murmuring softly as he tries to soothe him.

I grab some painkillers from the shelf, desperate to relieve the headache that has been forming since we left Nash behind, but I know they’ll do no good.

Nothing will ease the tension in my body until he’s here with us.

“Here,” Gabriel says, slipping his phone into my hand as he comes up behind me to pay the attendant. “Call him. I know you’re worried.”

My breathing hitches. “Thank you.”

With shaking hands, I bring up Nash’s contact details and press the call button. It rings, but disappointment floods through me when it goes to voicemail. He must still be at the police station.

I resist the urge to try him again immediately. He said he’d call when he could, but that was hours ago, and the longer the silence stretches, the more tightly wound I become.

Instead, I type out a text.

Gabriel: It’s me, Hadley. Please let me know you’re okay? I need you to be okay.

Blinking back tears, I pocket Gabriel’s phone and head back to the car, where the brothers are waiting for me. Isaac sits in the back with Franklin, who has fallen asleep in his arms, so I climb into the passenger side.

“He’ll call when he can,” Gabriel tries to reassure me.

Unable to speak without bursting into tears, I simply nod and lean my head against the window, watching the scenery blur past.

The city lights flicker into view in the distance, but instead of feeling relief, my stomach knots tighter.

Nash is still in Barrenridge, and the longer he’s there, the more terrified I am of the Circle connecting him to Zara and realising he had something to do with the fire.

He’s still not out of danger, even if he is at the police station.

By the time we pull up outside the safe house in Sydney, organised by Hayden Grimshaw, my nerves are completely shot. I can barely unbuckle my seatbelt; my fingers tremble so badly that Gabriel has to reach over and help me.

Isaac disappears inside with Franklin to get him cleaned up and settled, while Gabriel lingers by the doorway, waiting for me to step inside before he closes and locks the door.

I stand in the middle of the living room, arms crossed tightly over my chest, staring at nothing.

“He knows where we are,” Gabriel says gently. “He’ll be here before the flight on Tuesday.”

Two days from now.

I swallow around the lump in my throat. “What if something happens before he gets here? What if your parents figure out what we did, or Levi says something that gets him into trouble, or—” I shake my head. “I can’t leave without him, Gabriel.”

“You might have to,” he says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his body. “He knows where you’re going. You just have to be patient.”

“He shouldn’t be going through all of this alone,” I sob, burying my head in his chest. “I want to be there for him.”

“He knows that,” Gabriel tells me. “The only thing getting him through this whole mess is knowing you and Franklin are safe. ”

Pulling away from him, I walk over to the window and look out over the quiet street.

Please, Nash. I need you.

Gabriel finally forces me into a bedroom to try to get some sleep, but I toss and turn until the first rays of sunlight peek through the blinds.

I hear movement in the living room, so I jump out of bed and rush out of the bedroom, only to find Gabriel pacing the living room with a fussy Franklin.

He glances up as I appear, but his expression tells me everything before he says a word.

No Nash.

“I thought…” My voice trails off before I finish the sentence.

Gabriel shakes his head. “Phone’s still off. No messages.”

I nod and rub a hand over my tired face, trying to will away the heaviness in my chest. He’s probably still talking to the police. Or maybe he’s keeping his head down until it’s safe to move. Both logical explanations, and I refuse to allow myself to think the worst.

The hours crawl.

I’m going stir crazy, but I’m terrified to leave the house in case I miss him.

Hayden Grimshaw comes past to drop off supplies for Franklin and collect the information Isaac stole from his parents.

By the time night falls again, I’ve stopped calling Nash every two hours because the sound of his voicemail is worse than not knowing. I try to distract myself with the book I brought from Barrenridge, but Anne’s adventures in Avonlea can’t keep my anxiety at bay.

Gabriel is trying to remain calm, but I can see the tension in his shoulders. He hadn’t expected Nash to take this long.

Every time headlights flash past the house, I jump. I haven’t slept and I’ve barely eaten, my stomach completely in knots.

Nash doesn’t show up the next day, and after another restless night, I’m existing purely on coffee.

I’m snappy and irritable as the time ticks down to our flight to Boston.

An hour before we have to leave for the airport, I’m pacing the length of the living room, chewing the inside of my cheek raw, and playing with my locket.

I can’t do this without Nash. I can’t fly to another country with a newborn. I just can’t.

Isaac is playing peek-a-boo with Franklin on the couch. He’s been so good with him. It only makes me more anxious about having to care for him on my own.

Thirty minutes before we have to leave, there’s a knock on the door.

Gabriel lowers the bottle he’s preparing, and Isaac glances down at Franklin before bringing his eyes back up to meet ours. Hayden isn’t supposed to be here until later this afternoon.

Motioning for us to stay quiet, Gabriel moves towards the door. Glancing through the peephole, his shoulders relax, and he announces, “It’s him.”

Before he’s even finished speaking, I’m moving.

The door opens, and Nash stands there, tired and dishevelled, his eyes locking onto mine like I’m the only thing tethering him to the ground.

I don’t hesitate.

The distance between us disappears in a second as I throw myself into his arms just as he crosses the threshold. He catches me easily, and I wrap my arms and legs around him. I bury my face in his neck, and for the first time in two days, I can finally breathe again.

“I was so scared,” I whisper, my voice breaking.

“Me, too,” he says, holding me tighter. “God, Hadley. Me, too. I was terrified I’d never see you again.”

Gabriel closes the door and locks it. Clapping Nash on the shoulder as he passes, he heads back into the kitchen to finish making Franklin’s bottle.

Nash carries me over to the couch and sits with me straddling his lap. He holds me like he’s afraid I’ll vanish if he lets go. My fingers rest on his chest, and his heartbeat thunders against them, wild and unsteady.

I pull back just enough to look at him, cupping his cheeks, and whatever’s holding him together snaps.

His mouth finds mine in a clash of tongue and teeth. It’s fierce and aching and raw, like we’re both trying to make up for every second we spent apart. His hands tangle in my hair, and there’s only the press of his lips to mine, and the quiet, desperate promise that we made it. We’re safe.

“Nash…” I murmur, my lips lingering on his even after the kiss ends.

He brushes his fingers along the side of my face, exhaling shakily. “I was scared I was going to miss you. That I’d show up, and you’d be gone.”

I shake my head, tears welling in my eyes. “I wasn’t going anywhere without you.”

Nash laughs softly, but it’s the kind of laugh that cracks in the middle, like something inside him is breaking open.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you. The whole time I was stuck there dealing with the cops, I kept seeing your face. ”

He pulls back just enough to look at me. There’s a bruise on his cheekbone, and I run my finger over it.

“Somewhere in the middle of all the shit going on,” he says, his voice rough, “I realised something.”

Drawing in a sharp breath, I brace for the worst.

“I’m falling in love with you, Hadley.”

My heart stutters in my chest. I blink at him, trying to form a response, but words have escaped me.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” he rushes on, like he’s afraid he screwed everything up by saying it. “But it did, and I can’t stop it. I don’t want to.”

A smile tugs on my lips, and I press them to his. “I’m falling in love with you, too, Nash,” I tell him.

“For real?” he asks, brushing the tip of his nose against mine.

“For real,” I tell him.

Franklin chooses that moment to let out a soft, hiccup-squawk.

Isaac chuckles, bringing him over to us. I climb off Nash’s lap, and Isaac transfers Zara’s son into Nash’s arms. “I think someone wants his uncle.”

Nash looks down at Franklin like he’s never seen anything more fragile or alive. His fingers tremble a little as he adjusts his hold, but the second his nephew settles against his chest with a soft sigh, his shoulders loosen, and his face softens.

“Hey, buddy,” he murmurs. “You doing okay?”

Franklin makes a tiny noise, his little fists curled up near his chin.

I melt, the look on Nash’s face making my chest ache, grief and love tangled up so tightly, you couldn’t separate them if you tried.

No one says anything, lost in the moment .

Then Gabriel clears his throat, keys already in his hand. “We’ve gotta go.”

Nash blinks, like he’s surfacing from underwater. He presses a kiss to Franklin’s head before carefully getting to his feet and holding his hand out to me.

I take it with a soft smile.

Isaac brings our bags out and hugs us goodbye.

We pile into the car; I’m in the back seat with a new baby seat, which Hayden installed the other day. As Gabriel drives towards the airport, Nash glances back at me from the passenger seat and smiles.

In a couple of hours, we’ll be on a flight to Boston.

To a brand-new life.

One where Nash is living out his dream of playing in the NBA. One where we get to figure out what this thing between us is, without hiding. One where Franklin grows up knowing he’s loved.

I don’t know what’s waiting for us on the other side of the world, but for the first time in a long time, I feel hope.

Like maybe we’ve made it out of the dark.

Now we get to see what the light looks like.