My twin brother, even though born a few minutes before me, hadn’t felt safe enough to come to me before finding no other way than to fake his death. That carved out half of my soul with a dull blade. I missed him, but how do you relearn to breathe around someone when you've been drowning in their absence?
I clear my throat, “I couldn’t sleep. What are you doing?” I deign to ask.
We haven’t really had time to talk yet. It’s an awkward packed conversation waiting to happen that was momentarily paused when I got shot and perhaps the only silver lining so I could shuffle through alotof rage.
“The Velastra manifest. Something doesn’t add up.” Joe rubs at his temples, massaging a tight knot of tension.
I sink into the leather chair across from him. “Kind of like how you didn't add up the cost of your disappearance to the people who love you.” His gaze snaps up to my accusation, and I hold his stare.
“Liam, I did what I had to do to keep her safe."
“And I did what I had to do to keep her whole,” I blurt out. Joe pauses at my words, watching me.
I sit up and take a few steps forward to set my hands on the desk. “She still takes her coffee with two sugars. In case you were wondering.”
His jaw clenches. “And you, Liam? What changed aboutyou,while I was gone? Besides falling for my girlfriend. Who I thought you hated,” he asks, leveling his chin on his hands with elbows on the table.
“Fuck you. You were dead. I kept her together. I’m the one who protected her when you played God with all of our lives.” My words come out bitter. “Why didn’t you talk to me about these poker games? How was I left in the dark?”
“I was going to tell you, Liam. I didn’t know at first that these people were connected to the trafficking, but I got in over my head with them.” He exhales raggedly.
“Who?” My voice comes out as a growl, I’m done messing around.
“That’s the thing, he’s nameless, a ghost. I don’t know who runs the show. I’ve gotten threats or instructions from some middlemen. His name Charles Wayne and a few others. The same men that were on the boat when Sara was on it, and thenight underground. I've kept a track record of all of them since day one, but whoever is behind all of this never shows.”
“How do you know Sara was there those times?” I bark.
“Because I was there.”
A chill runs through me. “You’re the one who shut off the electricity underground?”
“Yes, and I led her to the exit, but she took the wrong path, and for a quick second I noticed a man I hadn’t seen before, so I followed him.” He pauses. “I told you I was protecting her.”
I move up to his face so fast, he barely has time to flinch, but Joe doesn’t back down and he stands up, staring me down.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I hiss in his face.
“If we're going to solve this Velastra case, we need to work together, Liam.” He warns back in my face, and it’s taking a lot of effort to not punch him dead into that casket that has his name on it.
“Oh yeah,” I spit, “how does that work? Like brothers? Like colleagues? Or like two men who love the same woman? Because those are very different things now, Joe.”
“Love. You love her?” he repeats slowly.
Silence stretches between us, except for our ragged exhales, both of us waiting for the other to break. My fists tighten, the only thing keeping my hands from his throat, but deep inside, he’s my only brother. This is seriously messed up.
“All of the above, bro,” he says exhaling, breaking the tension. My jaw unlocks and the vein at my temple pulses.
“Hey…” Sara is at the doorframe, watching us as we both come out of the storm ravaging through us.
Joe flicks his tongue over his teeth. “We didn’t mean to wake you, baby.”
My gaze snaps to him at the endearment, and I’m going to dig up whoever the fuck is underground with his name on it and reorganize the cemetery’s burial Excel sheet.
Sara’s eyes grow wide like saucers.
I observe them and I need to risk asking. “Have you guys—”
“We kissed,” Sara answers as if she needs to get it off her chest, clearing her throat and looking at Joe. My whole-body tenses.
