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“Hello, sister.”
My brother’s husky voice rings out, and I stand, staring at him, sure I’m having some sort of hallucination. Maybe I got drugged at the club? That’s the only way that this could be explained away. I saw Cohen kill my brother all those years ago. I stared at his dead body. There was absolutely no way that was fake.
“Alarick,” I croak. “Did someone drug me?”
“No,” he growls. “No, they did not. That is your brother.”
I meet the eyes of the boy I grew up with, the boy that turned into a man and followed in my father’s footsteps, slowly losing his love for me and becoming the monster who was in on the plan to sell me.
The years have been very, very kind to him.
Gone are his young man features, now he’s rugged and incredibly masculine. His dark hair is slicked back, shining under the streetlight. His brown eyes are deep, almost black, and his face is chiseled and strong. He’s tall, well-built and, wearing the dark suit he’s currently sporting, he looks powerful.
“I don’t understand,” I say, grabbing the side of my head, checking it’s still there because to be honest, this must be a nightmare. “I saw you die.”
Manny smiles, showing perfect white teeth. “You saw Manny die. I’m not Manny.”
Excuse me?
What did he just say?
Is this a joke?
What?
I shake my head. Cohen steps up beside me, his body pressing against mine, almost protectively. “Who the fuck are you?” he growls.
“I’m Romeo. Manny’s twin brother and the family’s biggest secret.”
Three other men are standing behind Romeo, but until now I hadn’t even noticed them. My focus has been solely on him. They’re standing like loyal servants, arms crossed, all their eyes on me. The club has gathered in front of their women, all of them on high alert, creating a line across the sidewalk, Alarick standing slightly in front of the rest.
“I don’t understand,” I say, shaking my head. “I’m hallucinating. I think I was drugged. This isn’t real.”
Romeo steps forward, and Alarick does, too. “Take another step, I’ll make sure you don’t walk away from here,” he growls.
Romeo looks to him, his smile cocky. “Calm down, biker. I’m not here to hurt her.”
“Then why are you here?” Kendric barks. “Because as far as we’re concerned, anyone in that family is fuckin’ dangerous and this is a fuckin’ bad situation to be in.”
Romeo’s eyes flick to Kendric, then back to mine where he locks with them. “I thought I was the only one left. I thought you were dead until I got word you had returned and someone had seen you. I had to come and see for myself.”
What is happening?
What the fuck is happening?
“I don’t ... I don’t understand.”
I shake my head, swallowing the thick lump in my throat. This man, this man who looks exactly like my brother, is standing before me saying he is Manny’s twin, that we’re related and basically saying I still have family alive and well. This can’t be real. It simply cannot be real.
“I was given away when Manny and I were born,” Romeo begins, his voice silky smooth and incredibly calm. “A deal your father made with the woman who gave birth to us.”
“Excuse me?” I shake my head. “My mother would have never given her babies up.”
“Your mother isn’t my mother,” Romeo goes on. “He was having an affair. Your mother found out and to make the woman go away, that was the deal made. She took one of the babies, our father took the other. He paid her out, and they went on their way.”
“You’re not making any sense,” I say frantically. “My mother would have never stayed around if she knew he was cheating on her. I don’t believe it. Is this some sort of trick so you can take me and take everything I’ve got? Is it?”
I’m screaming now, my voice high pitched and frightened.
Cohen’s hand goes to my shoulder where he squeezes and pulls me back a little, so I’m closer to him. “Calm down,” he murmurs into my ear. “Take a deep breath. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“I’d like the chance to talk to you, Aviana. We can help each other out.”
“How?” I whisper.
“Because I have the power to finish what you’re all here for, and you have something I want.”
“No,” Cohen barks. “You are not fuckin’ takin’ the only thing she has left. That money is fuckin’ hers.”
Romeo looks to him, his face stern. “Back down, biker. This doesn’t concern you.”
“It does fuckin’ concern me.”
I shake my head, putting my hands out in front of me. “Can we do this somewhere else?”
“Agreed,” Alarick mutters, never taking his eyes off Romeo.
“Fine with me,” Romeo says calmly. “I have a lot to talk about.”
“There is a quiet restaurant downtown, I saw it earlier,” Briella says. “Maybe we can go there? Get something to eat?”
Romeo steps aside and extends his hand. “Lead the way.”
What the hell is happening right now?
I stare at my “brother” as I walk past, and when his eyes meet mine, I see something that I never saw in any other family members eyes—kindness. He smiles at me, but it’s not cold or cruel, it’s warm.
Is he different?
Or is this a trick?
I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I do know one thing for sure ...
Things just got very fucking complicated.
~*~*~*~
“TELL ME EVERYTHING you know,” I say, stuffing a hot fry into my mouth.
I barely taste it, even though it’s covered in salt. I’m mindlessly eating, sitting at a large table with my brother sitting across from me, watching me with a certain level of curiosity. One thing is for sure, I sobered up damned quickly. Cohen is sitting to my right, and Alarick is to my left. Everyone else is sort of scattered out across the table, all of them eating.
“As I said earlier, a deal was made with my mother to separate Manny and myself. Your mother found out about the affair, and at first, I am told she didn’t want anything to do with it, but, as you know, our father was an incredibly powerful man. Somehow, he convinced her to take Manny, and raise him as her own. I was left with my mother, and she was paid a lot of money to disappear with me.”
“I don’t understand, why wouldn’t he just keep both of you?”
Romeo gives a bitter laugh. “My mother wasn’t going to just go away without her babies, that was the only way he could get what he wanted. He didn’t want a mistress hanging around, causing chaos for him. She accepted the deal because she had nothing else at the time. She was in love with a man who was using her, pregnant with twins, and she had no money. He had promised her things he simply wasn’t going to deliver on.”
“So, she gave Manny up?” I whisper, horrified at how hard that must have been.
“She knew how powerful our father was, she knew if she didn’t agree he would ... make her disappear in other ways.”
Horrified, I stare at him. “He would have hurt her?”
“Do you believe he wouldn’t have?”
No.
I don’t believe that.
He treated my mother poorly, and he treated me poorly. He didn’t have respect for women, they were simply things he needed to make himself feel good or to make himself look better. It is very logical that he would have made Romeo’s mother disappear if it meant he looked good in the public eye.
That poor woman, to hand over her child must have been the hardest thing in the world for her.
“Did Manny ever know this?”
Romeo shakes his head. “No, he did not.”
“And your mother ... is she still around?”
Romeo nods. “She is.”
“Does she ... does she know about Manny?”
His face tightens. “Yes.”
“How ... how did you find me, and why?”
Romeo leans forward, placing his hands together on the table and meeting my gaze. “It wasn’t hard to find you, Aviana. I have been searching for information on you for quite some time, I thought you were dead but then ...”
“You learned I’m not.”
“Yes.”
“What is it you want? We both know it’s not to sit here and get to know me,” I snap.
He tips his head to the side. “You’d be wrong about that. I do wish to get to know you. You were—you are—my sister. That’s not the only reason I’m here though, you’re right. I am here to offer you a deal.”
“What kind of fuckin’ deal?” Cohen growls, glaring at Romeo.
“You have people after you for the money and assets you’re sitting on. I happen to know who those people are and exactly where to find them. I can make them disappear, I can take that away completely so you’re safe.”
“What’s in it for you?” I say, narrowing my eyes.
“Our father’s business.”
“Like fuck,” Cohen barks. “He’s just after you for fuckin’ money, we’re done here.”
I reach over and take Cohen’s arm, squeezing it. “It’s okay.”
“He’s fuckin’ using you, Aviana. He, like everyone else, is in it for fuckin’ cash.”
“You’re wrong, biker,” Romeo growls. “And you’re really starting to get under my skin. Back off, this has nothing to do with you.”
“Why would you want his business?” I ask, heart racing.
“Because it’s a solid business with a lot of potential. I’m a powerful man, I also have plenty of my own money. That is the only legacy left behind, and I would like it to be mine.”
“And that’s it?” I ask, glancing at my cold burger in front of me I haven’t touched. “That’s all you want.”
“Yes, that’s all I want. We can have it done legally, I’m not here to take what isn’t mine.”
“How do I know this isn’t ... this isn’t some sort of trick?”
He shrugs, slightly. “You don’t, Aviana. You simply have to trust that I am not like the rest of your family, I was raised differently, and I am not a bad man. I’m a smart man.”
“That business could be worth fuckin’ millions,” Alarick says, shooting daggers in Romeo’s direction.
“Billions, actually,” Romeo corrects him.
Billions?
Holy shit.
“And you want her to pass it all over to you?” Cohen shakes his head, horrified. “Fuckin’ no way.”
“I want her to sign it over to me, yes. I will also offer her a certain percentage of the turnaround, yearly. Besides, the accounts and real-estate he’s sitting on will leave Aviana with millions of her own, not to mention a constant income from what she will get out of the business. It’s a win-win, it’ll set you up for life.”
He’s looking at me again now.
I can’t wrap my head around all of this.
I don’t know if I trust him, I don’t know if what he’s saying is legit.
What if this is a set up to take everything from me?
But what if it’s not?
What if this man, my brother, actually wants to do a good thing here?
Does he want to be part of my life?
Does he want to be ... family?
“Can I think on this?” I ask, my voice low.
“Yes, of course,” Romeo says.
“What about those men after me, you can really make them go away?”
Romeo smiles, and it’s terrifying. “Without a trace.”
Jesus Christ.
“How the fuck do you know so much about who is after her if you have nothin’ to do with it?” Cohen questions, his voice more than a little skeptical.
“Because I was looking for her too, and in doing that, I stumbled across them. I told them who I was, I told them what I wanted, and I told them I’d help them find her. I never planned on doing that, I simply wanted to get close. They thought if they got hold of her, they would get her fortune. They agreed to sign the business over to me if I helped them.”
“How the fuck do we know you’re not helping them then?” Alarick snarls.
“Because if I wanted to do it that way, I would have taken Aviana and you never would have known about me. I’m here, because I want her in my life. She’s my family. It’s up to you if you choose to believe that.”
Family.
I’m his family.
“I want to meet your mom,” I say, suddenly.
Romeo jerks a little. “What?”
“I want to meet her. I want you to take me there, right now. I want to hear it from her mouth. If you’re telling the truth, you’ll let me meet her and talk to her. If you’re not, then you’re not going to. What’s it going to be?”
“You want to meet my mother?”
He looks quite confused by this.
“Yes. I do.”
Romeo stands and extends his arm toward the door. “Very well then, let’s go.”
God.
I hope I’m making the right choice here.
I’m terrified, but if anyone has the answers I need, it’s his mother.
The only way I’ll get to the truth, is to go back to where it all began ...
To the woman who fell in love with a monster and had her life turned upside down.
Here goes nothing.