Lost for You (Lost #2)(33)
Author: B.J. Harvey

Just as I’m about to leave my kitchen with some iced tea and sandwiches, my cell phone starts ringing. I answer it without looking at the screen, not even thinking about the fact that I’m supposed to be screening my calls.

“Hello?” I ask. There is only silence on the other end of the phone.

“Hello? Are you there?” I hear his heavy breathing. Okay, this is getting weird now.

“Listen, if you aren’t going to talk, then don’t ring me,” I say forcefully.

“You’ll get what’s coming Elise. I’ve waited this long to have you. It won’t be long now,” a low, creepy sounding voice announces over the phone before the call abruptly ends.

I pull the phone away from my ear, seeing “unknown number” staring back at me.

“Darlin’, what’s happening with-” Brax walks into the room, stopping when he sees me staring at my phone with a grim, confused look on my face. “Elle, what’s wrong?”

“I just had the creepiest call.”

His whole body stiffens before he springs into action. “Give me your phone,” he says with his hand outstretched. I place it in his upturned palm and move around his hand to wrap my arms around him, burrowing in close and resting my head on his chest, under his chin.

“It’s okay, Elle. You’re safe with me,” he says, his brows furrowed. “What did they sound like?”

“He had a really strange voice. At first it was just heavy breathing down the phone, then he said that he’d been waiting a long time and that he’d see me soon. Brax, this is starting to scare me.

I’m wound up so tightly. I can’t imagine how I’m going to relax enough to help Brax through Sylvia’s visit. Funny enough, though, I don’t feel the familiar crush in my chest when I have an impending panic attack. I’m shaken, sure, but I feel grounded, somewhat safe now, but only because Brax is by my side.

“Shay, can you trace a call that was just made to Elle’s cell a few minutes ago? You need any more info from me?……..Yeah, it was an unknown number but you never know…..Okay, talk soon. Thanks, man.”

He moves his hand between our bodies, gently pulling us apart before placing his finger under my chin and lifting my gaze to his. “Shay’s got this, Elle. He’s dealing with that, and I’ve got you. We’re not going to let anyone hurt you again.”

Gently kissing my lips, he pulls back and smiles. “Now, are you still okay for Sylvia to come over, or shall we postpone?”

“Brax,” I say, giving him a knowing look. “If you’re not ready, you just need to say so.”

“Honestly, darlin’, I’m beyond ready. I just want to get past this shit, no, I need to get past it.”

Then, the intercom buzzer goes off.

This is it.

Time to find out how I came to be. Since I was two years old, I’ve always wondering what I did wrong and why my birth mother chose to abandon me to the foster care system. If it wasn’t for Mom and Dad adopting me, there is no way that I would be the same man today. But hey, don’t they say that your past doesn’t have to dictate your future?

Elle gives me a final quick kiss for good luck, “It’ll be fine, Brax. You’ll see,” she says encouragingly before walking towards the intercom and releasing the downstairs door lock.

I carry the food and drink into the living room, setting them up on the coffee table before sitting down on the couch. Elle goes outside onto the landing to meet Sylvia; probably trying to prepare her for the emotional get together that is about to take place.

She walks in and immediately locks her eyes on me. Her eyes are the same as the ones I’ve seen in my own reflection for the past twenty seven years. They’re identical to mine, along with her dark brown hair. It’s crazy and mind bending, like a piece of the Brax James puzzle just snapped back into place after being missing for so long.

“Hi, Braxton,” she says warmly, a mournful smile caressing her face. I can tell that she’s just as unsure about this as I am. In a way, that pisses me off.

“It’s Brax,” I say stoically. Fuck, this is already screwing with my head more than I thought it would. Seeing the woman who brought me into this world for the second time in two days is too much. Pull yourself together, man!

“Take a seat, Aunt Sylvie. Would you like a drink?” Elle asks, cutting through the awkward tension that has suddenly engulfed the room.

“Thank you, Elle. That would be lovely,” she replies.

Elle puts her hand on my shoulder as she walks past, giving a supportive squeeze; her way of letting me know she’s here for me. God, I love this woman.

“I don’t know what to say,” Sylvia begins. “I’ve been thinking about this moment for the last twenty-five years. There is so much to explain.”

“How about you start from the beginning,” I say quietly, willing my voice not to crack. Fuck, this is more emotional than I thought it would me. I need to take a concrete pill and harden the f**k up!

“Well, I met your father when I was employed as your brother Devon’s nanny when he was first born. He was such a sweet little boy, too. Everything was going fine until Michael Evans seduced me. I fell in love with that man overnight. He was powerful and debonair, yet caring and sweet to me. I was so naïve that I believed everything he told me,” she says, reminiscing.

“Go on,” I say, my voice sounding a bit stronger this time.

“Well, our affair continued for a few months before I found out I was pregnant with you. I don’t know how it happened-”

I scoff, which earns me a hand squeeze from Elle. “Brax, please let her explain. You need this,” she says, looking at Sylvia and urging her to continue.

“I wasn’t supposed to be able to have children. When I was eighteen, I found out that I had severe endometriosis and that it was likely that I’d never get pregnant. But then you came along, my little miracle.” She looks up at me, and I can see tears forming in her eyes.

Shit. If she loses it, I’ll probably lose it.

I look away from her to stop myself from cracking.

“Anyway, I told Michael that I was pregnant with his child. He was happy, of course. Over the moon, in fact, but he told me that he couldn’t leave Maria. He told me that she would not cope with a public divorce and the embarrassment that it would bring, so he persuaded me to quit and move into an apartment nearby. He said that he would visit us whenever he could, and that one day, we could all be a family.”