Suddenly feeling cold, Carter wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m not a … I’m not,” she whispered, shaking her head. His words were having a horrible effect on her. For some reason she cared about the way he perceived her. It wasn’t like her to care so much about what people thought of her—especially from someone that didn’t know her—but for some unknown reason, Gabe’s opinion mattered to her.
“Do you do what he does? Do you sell people? Use them? Treat them like they are objects and not human beings?”
“No!” Carter screamed, absolutely outraged that he’d even think she’d do such things. “I’m not like him. I had to do this, don’t you see that? Scott would have killed me. He would have taken my life, and then they would have thrown you back in that basement, or worse, killed you, too!”
“What about that guy?” Gabe bellowed, pointing to Naveed’s body. “He did what you’d said. He was running, but you still killed him!”
“I had to,” Carter shouted. “They wouldn’t have taken me seriously, Gabriel. I’m sorry that you disagree, but this is just the way things are. It’s the world we live in. Things are not always flowers and daisies out there. There are killers, thieves, kidnappers, liars, and rapists! All types of bad people.”
“And where do you fall in there?” he asked accusingly. “What are you?”
“I’m a survivor!” Carter shouted, as sudden tear fell down her face. “I’ve survived a lot of shit, and I’m not going to stop now. I may lie when I have to, and I will kill any motherfucker that dares hurt me or my family, but I am nothing like Silas Steele. Silas is a coward. He’s a sick, twisted, perverted little bitch! I would never harm nor take the life of an innocent. Believe it or not, I do have morals. This,” she pointed to the locked door that she knew had people behind it, “is something I do not tolerate. I don’t stand for it. My father was taken as a child and thrown in a house where men paid to
rape him
! When I was
seventeen years old
, and living on the streets, I woke up from sleeping in an alley to a man dragging me down the street into an abandoned building, where he proceeded to rip off my clothes and try to rape me. If I didn’t break his fucking neck, he would have succeeded. Do not
ever
call me a monster again! I am not a monster, and I am
definitely
not Silas fucking Steele. I am Carterina Anastacia Stone … I’m a survivor, a fighter, a daughter, a friend, a wife, and in a few months I will be a mother. I will not let anybody take my life from me. I did what I did so that we—
you and me
—can walk out of here and never be brought back again. I did it so that
we
can survive!”
Carter couldn’t even continue; she broke down.
What the fuck?
She had no idea where the fuck it all came from, it just happened. She hated that she was crying, but she couldn’t stop … couldn’t control herself. Between the dramas of the day, the revelation of a twin brother, extended separation from her husband, and hormones, Carter was a complete mess. She stood in the middle of the hallway in the castle weeping, wishing that her husband was there to hold her, which caused her to weep some more. Falling to the floor, she pulled her knees to her chest and let the sadness overtake her. She didn’t hold back either. She hated this, being here in this stupid castle, and the ridiculously hard floor. She wanted to go home! Dear sweet Jesus, she wanted her husband.
As Carter continued to weep, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and flinched. She looked up into Gabe’s teary hazel eyes just as he sat down next to her.
“You are just a normal girl, aren’t you?” he asked softly, running his fingers through her hair. “Past the psycho killer bullshit, you’re just a normal, twenty-three-year-old girl?”
Carter nodded her head.
“You have a family?”
Carter nodded again.
“A husband?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Does he know you’re with child?”
Shaking her head she sniffled. “Silas attacked him when he was on his way to a plane to come home to me. Last I heard he was shot, and then I woke up here. I don’t even know if he’s okay. I’m so sorry, Gabe, I just want to go home to him.” She wiped her eyes. “I need to go to a hospital to see if my baby is okay.” She was scared out of her mind. She didn’t know what they’d put in her body four days ago, but worst of all, she didn’t know how it would affect the baby.
Gabriel brought her into a tight hug. “Oh thank God,” he sighed. “You are a real person. I was so doubtful for a moment, but here you are. A real, honest to God young woman that just wants to get home to her family.” He kissed her cheek softly. “I’m so sorry, Carter. I didn’t mean to say all those things about you. I shouldn’t have judged you before I’ve even gotten a chance to know you. I understand if you’re upset with me—”
“I’m not,” Carter injected. “I’m not mad at you at all.” She smiled at him. “I’m not the easiest girl to understand, but I promise that if you give me a chance, I can be a good sister to you. I want you to come home with me.”
“With you?”
Carter nodded yes. “Yes, Gabriel. You can live with me and my husband while we get to know each other. This way we won’t have to be apart. We’d love to have you. Our home is huge. You can live inside of the main house with us, or we have a pool house you can live in if you want privacy. It’s a one bedroom with a big bathroom, living room, and a full kitchen. It’s gorgeous. We can spend every day with each other.”
A grin spread over Gabe’s face, but disappeared almost as quickly as it had come. “That sounds like a dream, Carter, but I don’t know,” he said sadly. “I don’t really have money to pay for anything. I cannot contribute to the household.”
Carter laughed softly and wiped the remaining tears from Gabe’s face. “Gabe, you have plenty. You are a Stone. You and I have billions from our mother’s estates. Plus, you don’t have to contribute anything. Your money is yours to do with as you wish. You can stay with us for as long as you want for free. We’re family.” Carter stood from the floor, and then extended a hand to help him up. “Come, we must find a way out. Is there a phone line here?”
Gabriel shook his head no. “This place is secluded, no phone line, no guards. Silas has always been secretive about this place …”
Carter nodded. “Good. That means we have time before Silas returns with reinforcements. We have much to discuss, but we’ll have plenty of time to do that once we get to a safer area.”
Gabe took her hand and stood from the floor. “Come on,” he said, and pulled her down the hallway. “I know where we can get you some clothes to change into. Plus, there are some keys to one of the Jeeps in the south basement garage.”
“Jeeps?”
“Yep, Silas is old school. He doesn’t like change.”
Carter smiled and turned to hug her brother again, just because she needed to. Gabe chuckled and hugged her back warmly.
He looked into her eyes. “What was that for?”
Carter smiled. “I’m just really glad you’re here,” she said truthfully. “I couldn’t imagine going through something like this alone again.”
“Again?”
“I’ll tell you all about my life later.” They held tightly to each other’s hands as they began to stroll down the hallway. “Let’s get the hell out of here, shall we?”
Gabe smiled wide. “You have no idea how ready I am.”
Chapter 5: The ex
“So how far along are you?”
Carter focused on loading the guns she’d found in Silas’s office, but she knew her brother was smiling. He was so sweet, good, and innocent. The complete opposite from herself, their mother, and her father. They had both found clothing to change into. He found some of Silas’s clothes in a closet, and Carter had found a box full of extravagant dresses. She wasn’t excited about walking out of here looking like she was going to a wedding, but it would do. She’d chosen the simplest dress she could find. It was off-white and long sleeved with a subtle gold belt. The only downfall was the length. The dress was chiffon, and it fell all the way past her feet. She loved the way it flowed when she walked, but now wasn’t the time to be pretty.
“I’m seven weeks,” Carter answered her brother. “It’s still early.”
“Are you excited?” he asked with excitement in his voice. “I have to say that I kind of am. I mean, I know we’ve just met, but I’ll be living with you and all. So it will be nice to have a little niece or nephew to play with and love and stuff, especially since it’s something I never thought I’d have.”
Carter peeked over at him with a smile on her face. “I know you’ll be great, Gabe. The baby will love you. He or she will never know what it’s like not to have you in their life.”
“That’s the best part,” he said as he began packing more clothing and supplies for them in a duffle bag they’d found. “The baby will never be able to imagine that there was a time when, you know, we were apart.”
She glanced over at him, discovering he was looking at her. They both smiled warmly at each other, already feeling this experience alone pulling them closer together.
Carter broke the eye contact and went back to her task. There were four guns to load and ammo to pack up, just in case they ran into some more problems on the way to the south basement. Carter had already pored over a map and stored it into her memory. They were in Germany in a town call Rigton. In a few hours she could be in the next city over, which happened to be a city that one of she and Nathan’s friends lived in with his family. His name was Rashid. Carter had only met Rashid once, but she’d talked to him over the phone numerous times. He had a convenient little business that helped people acquire new identities. She knew he could be trusted because the man had invited her and Nathan to dinner at his home, which he lived in with his family. An untrustworthy man wouldn’t do such a thing.
“Do you need
all
of those guns?” Gabriel asked her.
Carter nodded her head, but continued her task. “Yes, Gabe, I do.”
“I thought you said that you already got through to them. Maybe nobody else has to die … well, except Silas. But everyone else can live, right?”
Carter sighed and looked up from the guns to her brother.
Gabe continued speaking. “Killing may be a means to survival, but it’s also an addiction, Carter. Especially for people like us …”
“Like us?” Carter asked, confused by his statement.
Gabe nodded. “Silas and Anastacia’s kids.”
Carter pursed her lips. “How much did Silas tell you about our mother?”
“Silas didn’t have to tell me, Carter. Everyone else did the moment they noticed I was her son, which was the moment they saw me.”
“Well, regardless of the fact that both of our parents are killers, there’s a possibility that I may have to kill more people. If anyone that I don’t trust tries to come at us, I won’t hesitate. I will kill them, and I won’t feel bad about it either. These people will kill us,
all three of us
, without blinking. Do you understand? I have a responsibility to you and this baby. I will protect you both. If I have to kill to do so, then so be it. We are getting out of this country,” Carter said with firm confidence. She knew her brother wasn’t comfortable with weapons and the possibility of her killing others, but she couldn’t let that keep her from protecting him and her baby. Carter was getting them home healthy and in one piece by any means necessary.
Gabriel nodded his head and gave her a smile of understanding. “Okay. Just remember what I said. I’ve never killed anyone personally, but I have,” he cleared his throat uncomfortably, “done something I’m not particularly proud of,” he whispered as he went back to organizing the supplies as well as the money they’d found.
Carter frowned. “Umm … I’m going need to know exactly what you did.”
Gabriel nodded. “I’ll tell you, but you must promise me that you won’t let it define me. I’m not a killer.”
“What did Aziz say about you in the hallway?” Carter asked. She’d been thinking about it non-stop since it happened.
Why hadn’t Gabe translated that part?
Gabe continued his task. “I’ll tell you once I tell you more about myself.”
Carter accepted his answer for now. They were both preparing quietly when Carter heard Gabe say something quietly. She looked over to him again, her brows furrowed in confusion. “Did you say something?” she asked.
He glanced over at her with gratitude in his eyes. “I said … thank you. Maybe if I was as smart as you are, I wouldn’t have been in that basement for eight years …”
“Gabriel, you
are
smart.”
He shook his head. “Not like you, Carter. I’ve never gotten this far before. You do what you have to do to survive and protect the ones you love. Here I am, your bigger, physically stronger brother, and I’m useless. I honestly have no idea what to do. Our survival is all on you because I know nothing outside of these walls anymore.”
Carter packed the loaded guns and ammunition into the backpack in her hand, put it on her back, and walked over to her brother. She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. “Gabe, I need you just as much as you need me.”
Gabe pursed his lips. “How?”
“For one, you translated what Aziz was saying to Silas in the hallway. Now I know that we need to look around a little before we leave. You knew how to find Silas’s office. You are packing us supplies and food, you found the money, clothes, and you taught me an easier way to read a map …”