“It came in the mail a couple days ago. I thought it was odd, it was in the lockbox, but then I looked at the back.”

I grab the manila envelope from her hands and flip it over.

Written in cursive on the back flap, it reads:

I’m trusting you as you trusted me.

Only if she’s gone.

Something stirs in my gut, twisting and turning at the emptiness inside.

Maybell’s hands come up to pat my cheeks as she’s done so many times in my life. “Go on home, my sweet boy. Someone wants you to see what’s inside that envelope.”

“Who sent this?”

“I have an idea,” she says, but nothing follows, and with an encouraging smile, she walks back into the Bray house.

Thankfully my dad has Zoey in the pool house watching movies this afternoon, so I’m able to rush right home, up the stairs and into my room. I slam the door closed behind me, and tear open the envelope, pouring its contents onto my comforter, and then I freeze.

A single folded piece of paper.

One rounded diamond.

I stare at the items, and my throat tightens with uncertainty.

I tug at my hair, scrub my hands down my face and in the end, I can’t fucking do it.

I yank my phone from my pocket and press number three.

It rings once before she answers.

“I need you.”

“I’m coming.”

My phone falls to the floor and I wait.

A little less than a half hour passes, and then my door is thrown open.

Maddoc enters first, his eyes flying around the room before settling on me, and then he pushes the door open farther, stepping aside so Raven can slide past him.

“Cap.” She rushes over, and the door closes right as she plants her feet in front of me.

Before Raven, it was only me and my brothers and while we have always been enough for each other, understood and listened as a team, had the others’ backs no matter the situation, even if we were the fuck-ups, adding Raven to our family was a necessity we didn’t know we were missing.

I can be weak in front of my brothers and not be judged, but there’s something about having a female to confide in that settles us a little differently. Not better or more just… different.

“Sorry it took a minute.” She hugs me. “We had just climbed out at the warehouses, Maddoc had to drop off something, but we jumped right back in the SUV and came home.”

I squeeze my eyes shut as she pulls away, dropping my head back.

Her hand comes up to brush along my hair. “What happened?”

I jerk my chin toward the bed.

She follows my line of sight, a frown instantly forming. “What is that?”

“Can’t bring myself to look.”

Her eyes come back to mine.

I’m fucking terrified, Raven.

She sees it, understands as she always does.

Her Brayshaw item is a knife, and I think I understand it now.

Her blade, it holds the pain.

She’s the true strength between us all.

Her hands fall and she steps away, moving to my mattress.

She lifts one leg, sitting half off the edge, her gaze meeting mine as she first picks up the envelope. She reads the writing there before flipping it over and seeing the message on the other side.

Her chest inflates. “It’s about Zoey, isn’t it?”

“I think so.”

Her eyes find mine once again as she blindly grasps the thin piece of paper, her other hand reaching out for me.

Anxiety tugs at my muscles, and at first I don’t move.

Raven slowly shakes her head, her chin tipping the slightest bit. “Come on, Cap.”

Slowly, I make my way over, sitting on the opposite side so we can face each other, and her hand slips into mine as she holds the paper open between us.

We look at the same time.

Captain,

If this is in your hands, my daughter is not.

This means she’s everything I hoped she’d grow to be, everything your father once promised she would, despite the ugly life she lived and the little chance the world gave her.

You may know, if she allowed herself to open up at all, she saw the darkest parts of it but in a light she didn’t then understand. Maybe that’s what molded her, her ability to see beyond the obvious, into someone’s soul.

I never got a chance to earn her love, and if you’re reading this, I never will, but that’s not why I write you this letter.

I write to give you a gift, a gift I stole.

It’s not mine to offer, I have no right, but it was created for you, so I have no reservations.

It is my hope that this will ease your soul, give you peace and relieve you of the guilt your heart holds.

Zoey gave me this, she mended all that was broken inside me, and while I know her being in my care when she should have been in yours caused you grief, I am grateful for my time with her.

I wish I could watch her grow, but fate has other plans, and beautiful, bright ones for her. And you.

If you are wondering if my daughter knows of this letter, the answer is no.

I have placed all my faith in Maybell, in her trusting my words, and that you are only reading this now because she is gone.

So here, sweet Captain, is my gift to you.

All my love, Maria.

Raven’s hand is shaking, so I grip her wrist and gently take the paper from her fingers.

Our eyes meet, and the moisture in hers has me swallowing.

She reaches for the large, fake diamond, and as she spins it in her fingers, her thumb pushes along the edge, and a flash drive pops from the other end.

Both of us freeze.

“Cap...”

I grab it from her, flipping it over to find the bottom is a flat silver.

She jumps up, searching my TV for a way to turn it on but she has no clue what to do next.

I stand, pulling it from the wall a bit to slide it in the open space behind it, and instantly, the screen turns a bright blue.

I hold my breath as I grab the remote, my eyes on Raven.

She grips my elbow, towing me back to the bed, and together we sit.

It is my hope that this will ease your soul...

A shaky breath leaves me, my eyes on the ceiling.

Without a word from me, Raven stands, exiting my room only to come back with my brothers’ hands in hers.

I swallow, nodding as they enter, tense and unsure.

They drop onto the bed behind me, and Raven comes right back to sit at my side.

She takes the remote from my hand and presses play.

What’s only seconds aches like hours, and then...

“You’re so annoying, do you have to do this every day?”

My muscles lock when Mallory’s voice fills the room before the picture comes into view.

You can’t see her face, like the camera is behind her as she sits against a headboard on a bed I don’t recognize.

The wall in the background of the shot is a large open window, overlooking... a garden.

“Stop complaining, it’s not for you.”

Victoria.

“Oh shit,” comes from Royce.

Suddenly she’s laying on her stomach, right beside Mallory. As she does, Mallory shifts, her body coming into full view.

Her stomach round and...

My ribs constrict, everything in my body tightening.

Zoey.

My eyes fly to Raven’s belly and back to the screen.

This. This is what my daughter looked like, growing safely inside her mother.