"Here we are Sam! Wake up!", Nicholas nudges me.

Huh? Nicholas? I thought I fell asleep on Eric's shoulders.

My eyes fly open and comes in contact with two very beautiful blue eyes. I smile for a moment and then remember that Nicholas has been such a dick lately and I immediately scoot over.

I look at the driver's seat and there's no one there. Where's Eric?
Immediately my gaze flutter outside and there he is, making a call.

"Um Sam, I have to tell you this just so I'm free. I'm sorry for everything I said before the plane and after that. I got jealous of how close you and Eric are"

"Why would you get jealous?", I ask rather very confused.

"Because I love you Samantha"

"Huh?"

"I love you Samantha! I think I fell in love with you the moment we got on the plane and you told me you were Simone. I don't intentionally hurt you. Hurting you hurts me and I guess I feel the need to hurt you because I lost my wife and how could I move on so quickly? So please forgive me Sam", he says with a glint of tear in his eyes.

This is news! I don't know what to say. I blink a couple of times and open my mouth to say something but I say nothing.

Who falls in love in such short notice. What do I say? Anything. Say anything. Don't just keep him waiting else the situation is going to get more awkward. Why should it be awkward?

"Guys we have to go", Eric says not only reminding us of the situation on ground but also saving my ass. I immediately jump out of the car and give a toothy grin to Eric who just stares at me indifferently.

"I have located the Montero warehouse and we have to leave now on foot. It's a five minutes walk and we can't risk being seen", Eric says and I just nod. Nicholas comes down of the car and I immediately scoot over to Eric's other side.

We silently walk to the warehouse, each of us absorbed in our own thoughts.

What do I say to him? I love you too? Do I actually love him? Good question. Do I love him? How do you know when you love someone? Is it like in the movies? Butterflies in the stomach? Is there a spark?

How can you tell if you're in love with someone? What are the signs and symptoms?

There are signs and symptoms of pregnancy, Malaria, HIV... So why aren't there signs and symptoms of love?

"Sam darling, here we are", Eric announces.

I try the door handle and voila it opens.

"This is creepy!", Nicholas voices out.

"I know right!", I say just walking carefully around.
An abandoned warehouse that's practically empty.

Why would a Montero warehouse be lying around a deserted alley?

"Hello", I call out and my voice echoes across the room. Nothing is heard or seen.

We walk around for a bit before slowly reaching a small stairway that leads to some sort of alley downstairs.

I'm probably that character in a movie where everyone is screaming from the top of their voices, while staring at their TV screens to not go down the stairs but now I have nothing to lose.

"Hello", I call out again.

"Hey Sam be careful", Nicholas calls and catches just in time before I trip on my own two feet.

"Thank you", I murmur breezily and hurriedly scurry away from him.

Suddenly we start to hear muffled noises and we trace it to Damien being strapped to a chair.

"Oh my God, Damien!", I whisper fiercely and rush towards him.

"Wait", Eric yells.

"What now!", I ask rather impatiently.

"It might be a trap. Take the rag off his mouth first and move at least ten feet away from him", Eric says.

Well that's pretty smart.

I do as I'm told and Damien breathes out in relief.

"Oh Samantha", he says so smoothly with my name rolling off his tongue with pure gracefulness.

"Damien", I say as my eyes fill up with tears.

"Samantha mum is not here and it's not a trap. It's a delay tactics. She's on her way right now back to Chicago", Damien in one breath.

"Woah woah woah! Calm down", I say and move forward to untie him.

After untying him he looks at me in the eyes and tears starts flowing.

"Oh Sam", he says and pulls me in for a hug.
I inhale sharply and exhale slowly. Tears rush down my eyes.

"How do we know he's not lying and tricking us?" Nicholas asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. I mean he's our biggest suspect considering the fact that you did try to kill him by accident" Eric adds.

"Well I did fuel her anger that day and she DIDN'T kill me. It was all staged plus are we really out here wasting precious time when the real person you should be questioning is Mrs Montero?", Damien yells in frustration.

"But how can we know for sure..."

"I put a tracker on her okay and she doesn't even know about it okay", he counters.

"Alright guys. Let's just take down the rising testosterone a notch okay", I sharply say getting really pissed".

"Yeah sure", Eric says shrugging, putting his hands in the pocket of his jeans and visibly reclining.

"Thank you! Okay so technically it's a five hour flight from Nantucket to Chicago and we have to be one step ahead of her. Me getting a disguise is going to take a whole lotta time and as it is already, I'm tired to my fucking bones so if there's anyway we can get back to Chicago as fast as possible, please do suggest", I say leaning my head against the wall and sniffing back unshed tears.

"I have a private plane here in Nantucket", Nicholas says and we all look at him shocked.

"Let's go then" Damien says without hesitation.

"Good and while we're at it can everyone like not argue at all while we're on the plane? I really do need this five hours sleep in my system, so bad" I say yawning while intertwining my arms with Damien's.

"It's good to have you back sister", Damien says patting my hand with his.

"Well I never really left but yeah. Why did you leave again by the way?" I ask with a very sleepy eyes.

"I was forced Sam", he says curtly not giving me any further details. I just nod my head in understanding.

"Let's see the tracker she has on shall we?", Eric demands and Damien gently obliges.

Why now? Why is he back now? Is this some sort of plan? Did mother put him up to this to deceive us and throw us off balance? Can I trust him? Should he be trusted?

Well what else do I have to lose now. It's not like I have anybody depending on me for survival.

If I do end up in jail after all these efforts, I'm just gonna relax there and just y'know make that my retirement home.

"Up you go", Damien says holding me by the waist and helping me up.
I giggle lazily and from the corner of my eyes I notice Eric eyeing my brother.

Oh! My brother!
That sure does have a nice ring to it.

"Um excuse me a moment. I need to adjust by zipper", I say grabbing Eric's hand and dashing for the bathroom.

"Why do you need Eric?", Damien asks raising an eyebrow

"Well seeing as there is no female here and I could really use a hand", I say dashing off immediately.

"What's the matter honey? Your outfit certainly has no zipper" Eric says once I shut the door behind us.

"Are you gay?" I ask straight to the point.

"Um.. wh.. where is this coming from?", He stammers a little which only proves my point.

"No offense. I saw you eye raping Damien and Nicholas earlier on so I was wondering if you were..."

"Gay? Yes Sam, I'm gay. It's not easy for me to come out you know. With our stereotyped world and bullshit thinking ", he says covering his face with his palm.

"I'm sorry Wilder but you shouldn't have to apologize for who you are. You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are. You've been a very good friend to me and I want to be there for you so I'll support you, no matter what Eric" I say with a smile while also addressing him by his first name for the first time.

"Well seeing as you addressed me by my first name, that has to be something", he says with a grin and I chuckle heartily

"Don't get too ahead of yourself Wilder. So tell me, you like Nicholas or Damien?"

"I've loved Nicholas right from the moment we shared a can of Sprite in my family house at Thanksgiving dinner when I was seventeen", Eric says with a sad look on his face.

"I'm sorry love", I say with a smile and give him a hug.

"Yeah but Nicholas has always been straight. Your typical kinda guy who fancies boobs and ass. No offense. And then he met his wife. They had a pretty matured relationship with a lot of ups and downs. He did love her though and he was devastated ever since her death. And then, he met you Sam. I saw that glimmer in his eyes everytime he looked at you. You get why love stings now?" Eric says while leaning his head against the door.

"Not quite. We really should start heading out now else they're gonna wonder if we're banging", I say adjusting my hair and my dress.

"Well I'm not finished. When I saw Damien at the warehouse, I felt my world spin in slow motion and then our eyes met. It was like an instant connection. The only hitch is, I don't know if he's gay or..."

"Don't worry Wilder, I got you. Now let's get out of here before someone comes here" I say dragging him out of the bathroom.

"Missed me?", I say with a grin at Damien

"Took you long enough", he smiles back and gestures for me to take a seat beside him.

I do just that and exhale slowly. I'm exhausted.

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The thump of the plane landing jolts me awake.
I groan slightly and hold my head in pain. Good Lord! I have a terrible headache.

"You okay?" Eric asks giving me his hand. I take it and he helps me up.

"Yeah" I wheeze out my reply.

"Now let's go question mummy dearest", He says with a charming smile.
I simply nod politely in response.

I guess it's time for the truth then.

The real truth.

A/N:
Author: Looks like we're finally going to confront mummy dear on what's actually happening.

Samantha: Or you could just spare us and tell us now

Author: that's no way to end a story is it. I don't even know what's going to happen yet.

Samantha: whatever! Well dear people. I'm tired and sleepy so if you want me to rest from all these cumbersome shenanigans please do me a favor and hit the star button and comment box. It'd really mean a lot to me. Thank you 🥺