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“Don’t be sorry... Please. I didn’t mean to say it like that. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve gone through.” Lainey’s shoulders start to heave up and down.
“Tell me about your life,” she chokes out, changing the subject.
“Well uh, as you heard earlier, I have three boyfriends.” Pain ripples through me as I think about Greyson and his betrayal, but I shake it off and continue. “We met in college and fell in love. Our relationship is crazy and unconventional, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.” I smile, thinking about how much I love those three beautiful souls.
“So they’re okay with sharing you?”
“Yeah, weirdly they are. They all love me, but they have also grown so close to each other. With you gone and Mom being unavailable, I didn’t have anyone until I met them. They are like my family,” I murmur, as I reach out to touch her arm. Lainey stiffens when my warm palm reaches her cold skin, but she quickly relaxes when she remembers it’s just me.
“What else? I want to know everything about you,” she asks.
“When we were still in college, we started the tech business together. It started off pretty small, but it quickly expanded. When we weren’t growing the business, we usually spent all of our extra resources trying to find you.”
“You’ve been looking for me all these years?” Her eyes lift to reach mine.
“I never gave up, Lainey. I needed to find you.” She can’t hold her tears back anymore as they spill over onto her cheeks.
“You should have let me go. You have everything you could ever dream of in your life. Looking for me had to put a damper on what you’ve built here. I’m so proud of you Lya, for everything you’ve become and for everything you’ve done.” Now my cheeks are wet from her words.
“My career and possessions are nothing compared to having you in my life. You’re my sister. My twin. My other half.”
Lainey moves from her seat on the bed and wraps me in a tight hug. I breathe in her cherry scent from my body wash, hoping I never have to forget the way she feels in my arms again.
“I can’t stay here, Lya. I have to go back there,” she gently whispers into my ear. Her words cause alarm in my body all over again as I tense beneath her.
“No.” I pull back, grabbing her arms and looking into her eyes that I can now tell are sunken, without makeup covering the dark circles. “No, you aren’t going back. The guys and I made sure that he won’t find you. I promise.” Her brows furrow in confusion or pain, I can’t really tell which.
“He’s found every girl that’s tried to run and those girls either didn’t come back the same or didn’t come back at all.”
I realize why she’s so scared, but I would never let anything happen to her. I just need to get her to see that. I know it will take time, but I need her to trust me.
Lainey takes a step back, causing my hands to fall to my sides. “I’m actually exhausted, can we talk about this tomorrow?” she asks. I hate that she’s shutting me out.
“What about pizza?” I’m hoping that will get her to stay and talk to me more.
“I’m not hungry anymore. I think I’m just going to head to bed instead. I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Lya,” she mutters, as she heads to Thiago’s room leaving me alone and confused.
She just needs time, I remind myself. This is all new to her and it’s a lot to take in. Deciding to just let her be alone tonight to process everything, I head downstairs feeling like a new person. It’s like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders finally having my sister back, knowing that we will never be apart again.
Epilogue
“What are we going to watch?” I ask Lainey as I settle in beside her on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in my hands. I’m happy to be having a movie night with my twin sister. I made the guys go out for a boys night so I could have alone time with her.
“We could watchThe Princess Bride?”She grabs the blanket from the back of the couch and spreads it over us.
“Oh no, not you too! I have to deal with Thiago and now you?” I complain, in my best mock-annoyed voice.
A genuine smile spreads across her beautiful face. “Thiago knows what he’s talking about, it’s a good movie! Before that night three weeks ago, I hadn’t watched a movie in nine years.”
“I said you could pick, so I guess I can’t complain.” I give in to her and flip on the TV. I would do anything for her, so I guess watching this movie for the billionth time isn’t that bad.
It’s been a month since we rescued Lainey from Harvey Sutton’s clutches. Every time I think about the fact that she was only two hours away for the last nine years, I get so enraged. It usually ends up with me taking out my anger on the punching bag in the gym. I can’t help but blame myself for not looking harder, for not doing more, but Lainey and the guys keep telling me that it wasn’t my fault.
If I don’t move past this then it’s only going to make things harder for Lainey. This last month hasn’t been the easiest for her, but it’s gradually getting better. At first she was hellbent on going back to Harvey Sutton out of fear for what he would do to her and us if he ever found her, but we were finally able to convince her we would protect her at all costs.
She’s still trying to adjust to life outside of the prison walls she was living in. There are times where she will get scared by one of the guys, but then she relaxes, realizing they aren’t here to hurt her. Last week when she was in the kitchen, Rian was a little too quiet when he walked in, causing her to pull a knife on him. Thankfully, she didn’t actually stab him but it was a close call.
“What are you thinking about? I can see those wheels turning in that pretty head of yours.” Lainey’s voice pulls me out of my fog of thoughts.
