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7. Raon

Jayden

I had stopped seeing Alya. After Kate showed me the picture in the company's newsletter, I wasn't able to conjure up Alya anymore. I was going to severe Alya withdrawals and I needed to find her quickly. I needed to talk to her, ask her a million questions and most of all, I wanted to hold her in my arms again.

I didn't know if this was a twisted joke the universe was playing on me though. What if the woman in the picture was a doppelganger? What if she wasn't my Alya? I needed to get to the bottom of it.

I looked at the watch and then at Kate who was sitting in front of me. "They're late."

The moment I said those words, the restaurant door opened and Grayson walked in, looking around. He met my eye and a smile spread across his face. It felt like a punch in the gut. He looked exactly how he did back in college. The same happy-go-lucky Grayson. I couldn't remember why we had stopped talking. I didn't remember the last time I had seen him.

I stood up and we shared a hug. He patted my back. "It's been a minute and a half, Jay."

I agreed. "It has been a while. How have you been?"

"I've been great." He looked genuinely happy when he said that. I was happy for him but I also envied him for it.

He greeted Kate with a kiss on her cheek and then looked at both of us. "How have you two been?"

"I've been better," I replied.

"Same as him," Kate replied.

His smile turned sympathetic. "Well, I'm glad you guys reached out." His eyes fell on Kate's ring and he looked surprised. "You're engaged?"

"Yup," Kate replied. "The wedding is in four months."

"Wow, it's coming up fast. Who's the lucky guy?" He seemed to have known that it wasn't Ajax. They must have kept in touch. That, or I was too out of it to know something that was common knowledge.

"It's Fe-"

"What the fuck is he doing here?" I didn't realize that Cameron had arrived too. And he didn't look too pleased by the presence of his twin brother.

Gray turned around and gave his brother a look before looking at us. "I think I'm going to head out. Great seeing you two."

"The two of you seriously need to grow up. You guys are brothers...twins, for Godsakes. It has been three years. Let it go!" Kate groaned.

"Am I missing something?" Those two were closer than any brothers I had seen but apparently, they weren't even on talking terms anymore. They hadn't been for three years. I clearly had missed out on a lot of things.

"Grayson fucked my fiance behind my back, lied about it, refuses to accept his mistake and apologize," Cam said. "You're all caught up now."

"Isabelle?" I asked and he nodded with a clenched jaw. Shit. They had been dating since high school senior year and all through college. I hadn't known that they had gotten engaged though.

"I have told you multiple times that I didn't do it. I will not apologize for something I didn't do," Gray snapped and then they started arguing like little kids.

"I don't have time for this," Kate muttered under her breath and then announced, "Alyanna is alive."

Both of them went silent, obviously in shock.

"I have hired a PI who is going to meet us today to tell us what he found. You can leave if you want but if you wish to stay, start behaving like adults. Jayden and I will leave you out of this if you keep fighting like children."