Final Debt (Indebted #6)(129)

“But no matter what I said or how excited I became, Emma shut me out. The closer to delivery, the more she’d cry, need space, and push me away. I was told by our local doctor to leave her be—that some women required time to come to terms with their body changing and the uncertain future.

“So, I gave her time. I was there for her, I left her notes telling her how amazing our life would be, how perfect our children would be, and how happy I was to grow old with her—”

Tex stopped, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. He stared at the awaiting bonfire and rushed onward. “She disappeared. I remember it so clearly. We’d just come back from our latest check-up and I’d left her in the lounge to make her a cup of tea. When I came back…she was gone. The front door was open, her shoes by the welcome mat. Just gone.

“She was seven months pregnant and padding barefoot around London. Winter was close, and the air was freezing. Terrified, I hopped in the car and patrolled the streets for her. It took me hours before I found her sitting in the cathedral where we were married.

“There she told me the most awful thing, the curse on her family, the debt she must pay. She tried to divorce me, telling me she’d made a terrible mistake. She tried to convince me to give up the children for adoption the moment they were born and let her run far away.

“Of course, I didn’t believe her. I thought she was tired and stressed from the pregnancy. I murmured and soothed and took her home to bed. She didn’t mention it again, and I stupidly thought it was over. Only, then the birth came around, and I rushed her to the hospital.

“Jacqueline was born first, then you, Vaughn, followed by tiny Nila.” His eyes glistened with paternal love. “I held you all in my arms. Three small bundles with tiny red fingers and squished up faces. I fell madly in love with you within seconds.

“I kissed Emma and handed over my newborn triplets for the nurses to weigh and measure. I trusted everything was right in my world.”

Tears welled in his eyes as he cleared his throat. “However, after forty minutes, when the nurses didn’t come back, I began to worry. I tracked them down only to find my three children had become two.”

My heart lurched, imagining such a tragic revelation.

“I rushed back with you and V, demanding an explanation from Emma. She merely shook her head and said she’d told me what happened to the firstborn girls of her family, and she wouldn’t let that happen to Jacqueline.

“Behind my back, she’d arranged a private adoption; she’d bribed the nurse and doctor to wipe all record of ever having triplets and listed her delivery as twins. She did it all. She stole one of my daughters to protect her, and for a time, she believed you would be safe, Nila. She said you wouldn’t be claimed as technically Vaughn was firstborn and not you.

“However, that plan showed its flaws when Cut came to collect her. She was my wife, but she had so many secrets from me. She’d told me you would be safe, but she knew better. She sacrificed you. She let them take you. And I did nothing to stop it.”

Silent tears tracked down his face. “I’m so sorry, Nila.”

I couldn’t move.

My mother had always been a perfect memory. I’d hated her for a time for leaving my father with no explanation, but then she became a saint when I found out the Hawks murdered her. She’d been a hard woman to love. And Tex had been there for her. He’d loved her so much even when she left. He lied for her. He did everything she asked. And he’d honoured her wishes and let them take me.

I had so many questions, but I couldn’t formulate them clearly. My brain remained fuzzy, slow to grasp the magnitude. All I could think about was—

“We have an older sister…” Vaughn murmured, stealing my thought. I leaned my head on his shoulder, slipping back into my body after living the past with Tex. Having my twin back and sharing the same thoughts was like wearing a favourite pair of slippers. I’d taken our ease for granted, and having him by my side while we learned something so monumental was a blessing.

My hand slipped into Jethro’s. He hadn’t moved. He stood on my left while my twin stood on my right.

I was the only female in an all-male gathering—apart from Jaz.

I’d been the only female for most of my life.

To find out there’d been another girl? A sister? A potential best-friend who had been robbed from me…it hurt. But excited, too.

I have a sister.

I could find her.

Swallowing, I asked, “Where is she now?”

Tex sniffed, reaching for the box in my hands, willing me to give it to him. I did, handing over the pieces of jewellery Emma had been wearing and whatever other knickknacks she’d treasured.

They belonged to Tex more than me. It would’ve been Emma’s wish for her husband to possess her last trinkets. “I don’t know. I’ve never known.”

“You never tried to look her up?” Jethro asked.

Tex shook his head. “I wanted to. But Emma made me swear I wouldn’t.”

“But you said you hired the mercenaries before I came to take Nila. What did you mean by that?” Jethro was deceptively calm, as if he’d been planning to ask that question for a while.

Tex swallowed. “You caught that, huh?” Sighing, he added, “You’re right. I’d enlisted the help of a P.I and protective team to track her down. I kept it a secret from everyone—even the men working for me. They didn’t know why they were searching for a girl with my strict criteria. They just hunted.