In the beginning, I watched LeAnna out of amusement. Had she found me and not him, she’d have died long ago. The conclusion to her life changed when I saw the mariposa photograph in her room. As El Santo, I give second chances. Her text about the tapas bar had been a third redemption as well.
“Fuck, I’m tired of saving my ángeles. You could have saved me, LeAnna!” My hand plows against the bowl. It clatters off the TV tray. Milk, oats, and ceramic turquoise fragments scatter across the floor.
Pounding a hand at my chest, I growl. “You could’ve stopped my addiction, LeAn—”
“My twin,” LeAnna murmurs.
My head tilts. Twin? She’s a twin? What twin? I muse, gawking at the screen eager for her response.
“You ready to talk about it?” Dominic asks.
“No, Dom.”
“Sometimes, it helps to—”
“Oh, sure. My gramps had me prayed over. I’ve had a shrink since I was six. Pretty much all my life. Wanna know the most valuable lesson I’ve learned?”
“Sí,” I whisper at the same time as my twin does. It’s been a long, long time since I addressed him as my hermano gemelo—twin brother. We share no connection unless deep-rooted hate is involved.
“I’ve already told you. I shouldn’t be happy, Dominic.”
While she utters his name, I hear Dario.
I come to my feet and move toward my desk with the towers of desktop computers. I’m prepared to complete an investigation of my own when LeAnna’s voice stops me.
“Sarah Beckett. That’s the name of the person ReAnna walked away with. We were at a family reunion—huge park in Texas. Sarah overheard me mention chocolate sundaes. My favorite. I was the fat, awkward twin while Re was perfection.”
My knees buckle. The feeling in my limbs had started to return to me four years ago. But I drop my hands behind me, clinging to the end of the bed to stop myself from falling, from being fully paralyzed.
She was overweight.
She was awkward?
Different?
We are different.
With my attention glued to the screen, I murmur, “Tell me more, LeAnna.”
Why did she change her name? I did a thorough background of Aria Jones the day I sensed her presence. My extensive background spanned the past decade, not her entire life.
I have questions! Dominic sits there, holding her. “You’re useless, pendejo! Inquire. Show LeAnna that you give a fuck about her, idiota.”
A hard laugh stutters from my lips, and I rub the back of my neck. “You keep surprising me, LeAnna. First, I humored you, waited to break your fucking neck because you found me. But you didn’t. Then . . . I grew fond of your meaningless attempts. Enter Dominic in the scenario, and you became collateral. Break you, break him.”
Do I want to break her now?
The verdict is still out.
“Re went to get the ice cream for me. I was always eating my food and half of hers too. When my mom would mention I needed to slow down on this or that, ReAnna squeeze my hand under the table.” LeAnna’s voice breaks into a sob. “I always thought she was wise beyond her years and nurturing. The little sister and I was afraid of the dark—afraid of everything.”
Emotion breaks across my face. A connection that no man on earth nor under it will ever break collides together. She’s the older twin. I’m the older twin! I run a shaking hand through my wavy hair, goosebumps rising over my muscular forearms.
“Sounds like the two of you were close, Aria.”
“No shit, cabrón. That’s what twin power is. Your head is stuck up your ass, Dominic.” I sneer at the television. “That’s connection. You don’t understand that.”
I stand up, chest puffed out, strolling around the room. “As a matter of fact, hermano, if I could turn back time, this would be us. Me and LeAnna. You’d be the one who wandered off with some sick fuck. She’d be in my bed. I’ll have her in my . . .”
My voice trails off as I respect LeAnna and listen keenly.
“Every day of my life, I miss Re. It got to the point where I regret my accomplishments, Dario.”
I’m drawn to the screen as she speaks to me. “Sí, mami. You regret hurting your twin. You’re better than the pendejo holding you tight.”
“Dario, that’s why I was hesitant after our weekend together. I had the best time of my life with you, yet I let guilt drown me again.”
“Sí, mami?” I press my thumb across the screen, imagining the silk of her lips.
“I got scared. You made it perfect. You made—”
“Oh shit.” I gulp, glaring at the television. If she mentions the restaurant, I’m fucked. “LeAnna, listen to me, no talk of the restaurant. Keep that between me and you, mami. We have our secrets.”
“Every time you touch me, Dario. It’s so good. So, so good, like I’ve betrayed Reanna all over again. Maybe she’s alive, or maybe she never experienced this level of ecstasy. This level of happiness.”
On the screen, my arms encircle around LeAnna, holding her close.
“Tell her you love her!” My fingers curl around the edge of one of the big screens. “Tell her. The second you do, I’m snatching her, Dom. I’ll rip her out of your clutches. You’ll see what it’s like to love and have lost. I’m gonna keep her forever! In this life and the next.” And the next life might come all too soon for our little LeAnna.
Wood splints beneath the drywall, and I blink in astonishment. Torn between lifting LeAnna’s soul or anchoring her here with me, I’ve pulled the bolts of the mounting for the TV out. I lean against the wall, confirming the television is on the brink of falling. But it’s possible it may hold for a while. At the sight of him in the position created for LeAnna and me, I shrug.
“Fuck it.” I grip the edges and rip it off the wall. The flat-screen plops to the ground, shards of glass scatter everywhere beneath it.
Cracking my knuckles, I settle down at my desk to search the disappearance of the Jones girl. Contentment breaks across my face as information flits across the screen.
“My sweet LeAnna. Something deep down in my soul drew me to you. All the times I could have snapped your neck, uncertainty stopped me. Dominic stole Alejandra from me, LeAnna. This time, I win. You will meet my ángeles.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Dominic
Somewhere in the house, a loud bang sounds off. Fucking Dario. Mi hermano estranged himself from his team of doctors a few years ago, especially when Dr. Anderson suggested that his paralysis might be more psychological. Psychotic fits him too.
I hold Aria tighter as she lifts her head, eyebrows furrowed.
“Is that your brother?”
“Sí, Dario.” My smile stretches in irritation.
“You think he fell?”
“I wish he had, mami. I can distinguish the sound of mi hermano falling and him pitching a dish, for instance, across the room.”
She presses her hand on my jaw. “I’d love to see the two of you interact. Are you like an old couple already?”
“You don’t know the half of it. Ahem, enough about my bipolar brother—”
“Is he?”