Chapter 42.

**Narrator's POV**

It was barely afternoon of the next day when Kevin received a phone call from a familiar number, “What is it, Drew?”, he asked into the phone as he pressed it on his ear,

“I’ve been trying Gabriel’s line for the last thirty minutes, is everything okay?”, the man said, Kevin wondered if he could trust the man as much as he wanted him to, was it safe to tell him about the day before?

“We got into a bit of a… hurdle, but I assure that he is fine… now”, he really wanted to tell the man but whether he liked it or not, the man still worked for his father and besides, it wasn’t his to tell,

“Okay…”, Andy dragged unsurely but decided to drop the topic to start a new one- the main reason he had called, “Your father received a call yesterday while I was with him, I heard him say Tessa’s name and before I knew it, he was talking about flying to wherever she was”, Kevin’s heard started to beat rapidly in his chest,

“Are you serious? Did he say where he was going?”, he asked hurriedly as he jumped off his bed,

“I asked”, Andy sighed, “But he did not say anything other than he had business to attend to and that he would be back in a few days. I don’t think he trusts me as much as he used to- he knows that something is going on”, Kevin could hear the fear in the man’s voice and he understood it- their father was a scary and horrible man.

“Your life could be in danger Drew, you should leave that place because if the bastard finds out, you are dead”, he warned, “We could arrange for you to get here”,

“No. I promised that I was going to help you find Tessa and I will, you need me here to report to you so I will. Hopefully, nothing will happen to me”, it was a silent prayer because he knew what he had gotten himself into, “I need to go but I will try to get something out of the pilot, please pass this information to the others”, Kevin nodded his head as if the man could see him,

“Sure, I will”, the line went dead and he tossed his phone on the bed, raking his hand through his already messy hair, he began to make his way to the door but paused once his hand reached for the handle of the door, why did he have to tell them when he could keep this all to himself? What was he going to lose for not telling them this? What had they ever done for him? Especially that asshole named Gabriel, he acted like he was the most perfect person in the world every single time and purposely got on his nerves.

He could just keep this to himself, after all, knowing this gave him leverage over the others, he could actually find Tessa on his own and make her his. He could somehow lie to her that Gabriel was never looking for her and only he was- he could tell her that Gabriel had moved on and was no longer interested in her, he could be the shoulder she would cry on when that happens. He would be there for her just like when he was there for her during her break-up with Alex.

He had been the cause of Alex and Tessa’s break up; he was the one who sent that girl after him. He wondered why Gabriel had taken the fall at first but soon, he realized that Gabriel was just being the manipulative fuck he was destined to be. When Kevin hired the girl to sleep with Alex, it wasn’t because he wanted Tessa at the time, it was because he was tired of seeing Alex happy- he did not deserve to be happy, none of them did.

Then, he thought he could dig deeper into Alex by being with Tessa, not realizing that she was so goddamn easy to fall in love with. When he fell in love with her, he was so sure that she was in love with him too but all that confidence fell to the ground when she chose Gabriel over him.

It made him realize that even if he was the one who saved her, she will always think about Gabriel and love him, sure, he would be the shoulder to cry on but that was all he would ever be- just a shoulder to her and nothing more. He let out a loud sigh before pushing the handle down and opening the door- his hands were tied, he had to tell them what Andy had said because if they found out he did not, he would be cut off from them and like it or not, they were all brothers- unfortunately.

He first went to the door beside his and knocked, “Yo! Gabe, it’s Kevin, come out”, he did not wait for a response before trudging to the next door, “Alex, get your ass out here”, he went to the living room, knowing they were going to come in there. As predicted, they did,

“What’s up?”, Gabriel asked, the look in his eyes was heartbreaking, he looked completely empty inside. This made Kevin feel like a complete ass, as much as he disliked Gabriel, he realized that he actually didn’t deserve all this; the mini and huge breakdowns, the lack of sleep, the looking into space and overthinking, the loss of appetite and every other thing that was happening to him.

Thinking about all this made something else come to his mind- how come only Gabriel was acting like he had genuinely suffered a loss? He looked to Alex who still appeared to be the same as when Tessa was around before looking at Gabriel again, how was he just noticing that Gabriel had suffered a massive weight loss? “You should really get some food inside you”, he was actually worried about his brother’s wellbeing for the first time in his life.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at him, “Excuse me?”,

Alex had the same expression on his face, “No, excuse us?”,

“That was not why I called you here”, he defended raising his hands up, “But I just realized that you were losing weight and I had to say something”, was it possible that only Gabriel was *in* love with Tessa while he and Alex just loved her? There was nothing deep attached to their relationships with her like she and Gabriel.

“Thanks for the concern but I am fine”, Gabriel shrugged, he wanted to know where all this was coming from,

“No, you’re not!”, he counter defended, “You are starving yourself and Tessa would not like it!”, the anger rose inside Gabriel as he stood to his feet,

“You do not know what Tessa wants!”, he exclaimed, staggering back as he began to feel dizzy, what was going on with him?

“I know that she would not want you to starve yourself, dude, you look unhealthy”, Kevin pointed out and that was when Alex saw it as well,

“Bro, I think he is right”,

“Both of you don’t know shit about me- fuck!”, that was the last thing Gabriel said before his vision blackened out and he fell to the ground with a loud thud.