“We’re coming to you with breaking news,” she said while adjusting the papers on her desk. “It appears a private plane has crashed off the coast of Sydney. The chartered flight was coming here from the United States. We have just received confirmation of who was on the flight.”
I shivered. Flying was the worst. I seriously wanted to avoid it at all costs for the near future. That was another reason I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the flames of Gavriel’s plane burning through the air.
“Billionaire Gavriel Moretti and his wife, Sunshine, were confirmed to be on the flight,” the news anchor continued, as if it was a normal thing to say. My mind was sluggish to process her statement. No.
My heart fucking stopped. No. Certainly she didn't…
“What?” Alessandro croaked. “Turn it up.”
My trembling hands couldn’t grip the remote. I slipped off the mattress and fell to my knees while watching a photo of Sunshine and Gavriel appear on the screen. They were holding hands and walking into Gavriel’s apartment building, both wearing sunglasses and a secret smile. “A search and rescue team is currently scanning the area, but officials are not anticipating any survivors.” The screen transitioned to Callum, then Blaise, then Ryker. “Celebrity MMA fighter Ryker Hill was reportedly on the flight, as well as Blaise Bennett and Callum Mercer.”
“No,” I sobbed. “No. They’re wrong.”
“Flight logs have been released, and authorities are trying to get in contact with family members now. Gavriel Moretti has been on an international watch list for the last eight years. His father was a well-known criminal and is currently serving a life sentence in prison. We don’t know the details of the crash, but we do know that it caught on fire in the air.”
It caught fire in the air…
The Ringleaders send their highest regards…
“Turn it off,” Nix’s voice roared. I couldn’t see through the tears streaming down my face. Sunshine. Gavriel. Callum. Blaise. Ryker. They were all gone.
The baby.
The Ringleaders send their highest regards…
“Turn it off!” Nix screamed. His booming voice echoed around me as I clutched my ears and curled in on myself. A booming crash sent glass shattering around me. He’d thrown a lamp at the screen.
The Ringleaders send their highest regards…
I rocked back and forth. Someone’s arm wrapped around me. “Everyone leaves,” I whispered. “Gavriel…” He was my brother. We might not have been close, but he was family. He found me. He’d saved me.
And now he was dead.
The Ringleaders send their highest regards…
“Shh,” Alessandro whispered in my ear. Adrenaline laced with grief shot like needles through my veins. It pricked me. It stabbed at my gut, my chest. Each inhale felt stunted, like the air was leaking out of my lungs. “We’re gonna figure this out,” Alessandro assured me.
I cried out, letting the pain crush me and break through a curdling scream filled with sorrow. My throat was raw. I didn’t believe it. I couldn't believe it. Another crash sounded. I couldn’t even look.
The Ringleaders send their highest regards…
Alessandro left me to help Nix. “Calm down,” he ordered.
“Calm down? I can’t fucking calm down!” I opened my eyes and turned to look at them both. Nix was punching holes in the wall. Alessandro was trying to hold him back. Boom. Boom. Was that the sound of fists or my heart breaking? “Sunshine is dead. She was my person!!” Nix roared. “She was my fucking soulmate!!”
The Ringleaders send their highest regards…
Alessandro let go of Nix and took a step back. I tugged at my hair, pulling the strands to keep me grounded. The stinging pain helped me stay present in the moment, even though my brain wanted to protect itself from the grief and trauma and just shut off for a little while. “She was pregnant.”
Nix punched the wall again. His fists created holes in the sheetrock, and spiders fled the punctures he made. “I know,” Alessandro croaked. He sounded helpless. “I know.”
“You don’t know. This is your fault!” Nix screamed. “Both of you. You should have never gone after me. You shouldn’t be here. If you wouldn’t have come here, the Ringleaders wouldn’t have done this. I hate you!” he screamed before looking at me. “I hate you both!”
I sobbed harder. My chest felt like it was cracked in two. What was left of my heart was suffocating in Nix’s clenched hand. “You don’t mean that,” I sobbed.
The Ringleaders send their highest regards…
“I fucking hate you. I hate that you came after me. I don’t want you. I don’t want either of you!” he yelled.
Alessandro held his hand to his chest. “Nix, I know you’re hurting.”
Nix scrubbed his hands down his face. “You know nothing of hurting. Hurting is being ordered to set up a hit on a family of four. Their youngest child was three, Alessandro. Hurting is knowing you have access to a cure for cancer, but not being able to do anything about it. Hurting is hiring a chemist to poison crops for an entire town and watching them starve to death. Hurting is losing your best friend—the person you love most in this fucking world!”
I fell over to my side and curled up in a ball as I cried. It was like the night my mother died. I clutched my knees and sobbed. Alone. Everyone leaves you.
The Ringleaders send their highest regards…
“I’m so sorry,” Alessandro croaked. Both of their voices were distant now. I wished I could make myself smaller. I wanted to disappear.
“You’re not sorry. You selfish bastard,” Nix growled. “You always wanted me to yourself, huh? Well, you might get your wish. The Ringleaders are going to kill everyone I care about. Are you still going to love me when Grace is dead? Are you still going to want
