You Have Us... Always.

Chapter 18- Tense and Suspicious.

The Verlice brothers sat around their dining table at four am, minus the two youngest two. All was silent until Jacob entered, immediately having the attention of everyone in the room.

He only looked at Zayne, who looked at him expectantly. Jacob's face said everything he needed to. They found nothing.

Zayne's right elbow was leaning on the table in front of him, his hand over his mouth and chin. That same hand clenched dangerously hard, as his lips formed a straight line. Somebody wanted to piss him off and they managed to use his sister to do that with.

So somebody wanted to die.

He nodded once in understanding at Jacob, who looked down. Callan stood next to Zayne's left, arms crossed and face pissed off. Brayden sat down on the other end of the table, opposite Zayne, looking stressed. Ezra and Silas sat next to each other at the side of the table on Zayne's right. They each had coats on, bar Zayne, to warm them up from being outside.

"Fucks sake," Ezra muttered, slamming his fist on the table, not meaning to do it so hard that it shook it.

Silas sighed and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his cigarettes and lighter.

"Silas," Brayden scolded, disappointed at his brother's habits. "What?" Silas scoffed, bringing the cigarette up.

The cigarette got closer and closer, before Zayne intervened, not at all interested in having Silas stress smoke. "Silas," he warned, making Silas pause and look at him.

Zayne clicked his finger and held his hand out, waiting for the cigarette to be placed in it. Silas handed it to him, very reluctantly and angrily shoved his lighter back into his pocket.

"Thank you," Zayne curled his fingers around the small item and brought it closer to him. He brought it to his own lips and got out his own lighter. Cupping the lighter around the cigarette, he lit it, inhaling the toxic.

He placed the lighter on the table and took the cigarette out, puffing out the smoke. Fuck.

He leaned back in his chair, taking another drag; Silas scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Callan, I want you to check all the security from now and yesterday. See what you can find. Take someone with you to help," Zayne ordered. Callan followed his orders, not wasting any time.

Zayne turned to his three other brothers, "do you guys have any idea who it was? Has anybody spoke to her or been close?"

"Why're you asking us? You're the one who has fucking eyes on her twenty four seven. Aren't you on top of everything?" Ezra sneered defensively, taking Zayne's question as an accusation. This was not his fault. He would never let anyone harm Brynn-

Zayne stood up from his seat and rested his hands on the table. "Ezra, would you like to watch your tone. I am merely asking you a question," Zayne warned, although understanding his brother's defensiveness. He, however, will not take kindly to being spoken to in any other tone that is not respect.

Ezra leaned back into his seat and sighed, "no. There was no one."

Zayne hummed, taking another drag. It was back to tense silence. You could practically hear the knuckles cracking from clenching so hard and Brayden's leg was bouncing violently.

"I'm gonna go check on her," Jacob murmured from where he came in. He was no longer able to handle the tense atmosphere that the brothers emitted.

He made his way upstairs to her room, stopping in the doorway of it. Her door was to be kept open right now.

Brynn no longer had the heated blankets, now back to her appropriate body temperature. The only thing on her was her covers and blankets, which were cocooning her, giving her no room to move. Swaddled like when she was a baby, courtesy of Brayden.