[ Tristan ]“Are you sure that your sister isn’t playing a trick this time?” I asked Caleb who was frantically yelling on the phone for last one hour.He turned around only to give me a frustrated look, I might offend him but Mia Jones is no less than a spoiled kid who throws fits to gain her family’s attention.“Mia’s phone is found beside the road in a broken condition. No one knows my sister better than I do. She is obsessed her phone and the only time she keeps her phone when she sleeps.” He said.I glanced at my watch, it showed around six. I should be heading back to my home but I couldn’t leave Caleb alone, he was dealing with everything alone and being his friend, it was my duty to help him.“Alright, please calm down. We can look for her with the help of police also. I know they haven’t helped us much in our previous matters but if her life is actually in some kind of risk, then it’s better if we inform the police.” I advised him and it was the most sensible thing to do.“You
[ Claire ]When Tristan came back, it was around ten in the night. Luckily, he was home just before heavy rainfall hit the city. He looked really depressed and it pained me to see him dealing with a lot all alone. I wish I could support him actively but he strictly told me to stay home and recover.“Hey, looking tired. Please, go and change, I’ll serve you the dinner.’ I said to him softly but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a hug. A smiled crept on my lips and I wrapped my arms around him.“Just stay like this for a minute. I need you close to me.” He murmured in the crook of my neck.“I am always here, Tristan.” It came out of my mouth on its own.“I know and you have no idea how much relief I am feeling right now, your words mean a lot.” He said breaking the hug but I was still in his arms and our closeness was making me giddy.“I am not hungry, my love but I will have a cup of strong coffee. I’ll make it myself, you don’t need to stress yourself.” He said giving a pat on my
[ Claire ]I stayed awake most of the time until the effect of medicines kicked in. My mind couldn’t find peace. My thoughts kept running back to my dysfunctional family. Harris died, my brother is torn between is own dreams and handling a disrupted family. Mia, who also wants to see me dead, is missing. I don’t care about her but she is pregnant and I don’t envy her child.“Hey, why are you standing here? You may catch cold.” I heard Tristan’s groggy morning voice but it sounded sexy. He wrapped my shawl around me and hugged me from behind as I stood in the balcony, the heavy pour turned into soft drizzles but temperature fell drastically.“Good morning.” I wished him, I didn’t want to sour his mood first thing in the morning.“Good morning, beautiful. I am thinking to skip office today. What do you say?” He inhaled my hairs.“Sounds like a good idea. I am also planning to escape office for a day but I want only three of us to spend the day together.” I said turning to face.His smil
[ Claire ]“Claire.”My brother pulled me into a tight hug, I was frozen, it was the first time my brother showed such affectionate gesture and a hug was out of the blue.“Caleb, how are you doing?” I asked him somehow when I recovered from the shock.He broke the hug, his eyes looked sad, “I don’t know, to be honest. Being a part of this dysfunctional family is a curse, Claire. No matter how far I run from home and try to leave my past behind. It will forever haunt me.” He said. I didn’t know how to comfort him. We were never close and our last memory was very bitter.“Let’s find Mia and then we’ll see how we fix this twisted family. I can’t believe how Mia fall for a guy like Ryan or her driver. We need to find him, I am sure he knows something.” I said with a shake of my head.“Since when you started caring for our sister?” He narrowed his eyes.“I don’t care about her, Caleb. I am not the same Claire and I have no feelings for either her and our mother because they gave me no rea
[ Claire ]“You can’t be serious?” I fired at my husband as soon as I came out of the restaurant where we met Caleb for a late lunch. Travis was inside the car.“Yes, I am serious, Claire. Do you really think I’d take you with us? I won’t be making the same mistake again.” He flatly denied my request to join him.I blinked my eyes at him because his tone reflected authority which he never used on me.“Now, get inside the car. I have to drop you two home safely so I can come back on time and help Caleb to find your sister.” He said opening the backseat of the car for me.“I am coming with you and that’s final. You may not believe me but I can be a great help since I have known my sister and her behaviour much better than any other person.” I said with confidence but it didn’t work on him.“Please, get in the car, we’re leaving.” He said again and I breathed out in frustration. Why was he acting so stubborn?“What is the guarantee that I will be safe in our house? I don’t trust your fri
[ Claire ] “Mr. Pierce, he quit his job a week ago and since then I have no idea where is he?” The hotel manager told us when we went to the hotel in search of Mia’s driver.“Thank you, sorry to trouble you during your working hours.” Tristan shook his hand with the hotel manager. We were disappointed since we only received failure for last two hours.“I am going to kill him with my bare hands.” Caleb groaned in frustration. I could understand. He was dealing with everything alone.“Let’s search his apartment. Maybe, we’ll find something there.” I suggested and their neck craned in my direction.“Are you out of your mind? If someone catches us, we’ll be labelled as thieves or worse as criminals. Do you really want to do this?” Tristan gave me a disbelief look.“Do you have any better idea?” I gave him a challenging look.“Let’s not fight among ourselves guys. If this fucking bastard is really a criminal then Mia’s life is in danger.” Caleb said to calm us down.“Tristan, I know it’s
[ Claire ]“Shh, calm down, I am here, you are safe now.” Caleb soothed a crying Mia. She looked really terrified whereas I and Tristan stood at a distance to give them space. It was a very awkward situation for me. how ironical it was, I couldn’t comfort my sister, not that I wanted but I could see how distant our familial relations were.“Mr. Pierce, we’ll look into this case from here. We have taken the prime guilty in our custody. We’ll investigate him to get more information but I am advising you to be more careful when you leave the house.” The police chief said to Tristan.“Officer, I shouldn’t be saying this but your team isn’t working seriously on this case, if it wasn’t my wife’s presence of mind, we would never have found Miss Jones. I have only this request to you, please, be serious on this case because my family is on someone’s target.” Tristan used a firm tone while talking to the police officer and I was agree with him.“Don’t worry, Mr. Pierce, we understand your conc
[ Claire ]“Why are you still standing here?” Tristan’s voice brought me back in the reality. I wasn’t thinking much yet I was not feeling at peace.“I am not sleeping yet. Maybe, after resting for almost three weeks, I am tired of resting.” I smiled while turning to face him.“Come here, we can do more productive activities to kill your boredom.” He said circling his arms around my waist.My heartbeats raced up as I felt his body heat radiating through mine when he buried his face in the hollow of my shoulder and inhaled my scent, his lips brushed on my skin, sending a cold shiver run down my spine.“What do you say, Claire?” He whispered huskily into my ear and I grasped my dress to level my breathing. My eyes rolled back when he began to drop dewy kisses on the side of my neck.“Tris..Tristan.” I whispered his name, his seductive actions were putting my hormones on fire. I felt a sudden need for him.“Yes, my love.” I sensed him smirking as his hand travelled inside my skirt and ru