On impulse, I press the call button. My heart begins to sink after six rings and I’m expecting voicemail to pick up again but then there’s a click, followed by Gabe’s sleepy voice. “Yeah?”
Air leaves my lungs in a whoosh and my soul lightens. “Gabe, it’s me.”
He yawns. “Hey, Cici.” Bedsprings creak on his end. A woman’s voice whines something unintelligible. Gabriel mutters, “Shut up, it’s just my sister.” He coughs and returns to the line. “What’s going on?”
“Well, I’m here. In Wyoming.”
Another cough. And a long pause. “So how is it?”
The effort to keep my voice upbeat is almost painful. “So far it’s been kind of interesting. The ranch is enormous. Remember how we used to wonder about the kind of wild lives the Tempesta boys must lead?”
“Uh, sort of.” There’s the sound of a door closing, and then a faucet is switched on. “Are they being cool?”
“They’re being…polite.”
This is sort of true. They were mostly polite at dinner and they left me alone all night. Could have been far worse.
“I can handle the Tempesta brothers,” I say. “But how are you? I’ve been so worried.”
He sighs. “I’m kind of going stir crazy but Ange says I’ve gotta stay put here for a while.”
“As much as it pains me to say it, you should listen to Angelo.”
“Fuck.” He sniffs and clears his throat. “I hate this, Cici. All of it.”
“I know. But as long as you’re okay, I can deal with anything else.” I feel my lip tremble and shut my eyes for a few seconds until the wave of emotion passes. I’m glad my brother can’t see my face. “You know what I was thinking about the other day? How Daddy was always so hopeful he’d pass along his love of astronomy to us. That giant telescope he had was practically NASA-worthy. Sometimes I’ll look at a night sky and try to pick out the Gemini constellation. That’s us up there, Gabe. Twins born under the Gemini sign.”
I’m still talking when I hear him get distracted, murmuring to whoever was sharing his bed last night. “Just give me a minute,” he snaps, then says, “Sorry, Cici. Look, I know you’ve probably got plans today so I won’t keep you. But you be careful out there.”
“I will. Like I said, I can handle them.”
“Sure you can. You always knew how to deal with shit. Much better than I ever did. I’ll call you, okay?”
“Okay.” I fight off a wave of panic. “Gabriel?”
But he doesn’t hear me say his name. The connection has already been broken and a hollow sense of foreboding hasn’t disappeared.
I’ve never known life without my twin. He’s never asked me for anything and now he needs me. He has faith that I can succeed in navigating the Tempestas’ world.
I’ll prove he’s right. He’d do no less for me.
With new determination, I flip through my journal and locate the pages where I’ve written the names of the four Tempesta brothers. I start with the youngest brother and work my way backwards.
FORTUNATO TEMPESTA:
Definitely not the most obnoxious of the group but he has his moments. At times he seems to be annoyed when his brothers act up but will also strike back when tested. Smirked without a hint of shame when I caught him openly staring at my breasts during dinner.
GAETANO TEMPESTA:
Chaos takes a human form. He’s the Angelo in this family, only worse. Appears to take genuine delight in offending people and I’m his newest target. I have no idea if Getty believes he’s flirting or if he’s just totally deranged.
TIBERIUS TEMPESTA:
Kind of like an oversexed circus bear. Perpetually laughing at things that aren’t funny. It remains to be seen if he’s constantly drunk or if this is just his personality. Due to his brief career in pro hockey, there’s more internet material on him than his brothers. He enjoys public fist fights the way other people enjoy eating candy bars.
JULIAN TEMPESTA:
Julian is….
