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She never texted me back and I kind of knew she wouldn’t. Even to this day, she never returns a single phone call or text from me. If I ask her a question, she calls her brother or the other guys and answers through them. If I call her, she sends the call straight to voice mail. Not only did I lose Lucy, but I also lost her friendship.
Chapter Four
Lucy
The echoof the 9mm Glock reverberates, bouncing from the walls in the gun range as each round chambers and fires. The smell of gunpowder assaults me with each sound. I squeeze the trigger and practice my breathing. After I fire my last round, the pistol locks, and I release the magazine, clearing my weapon before I holster it, showing I’m empty. The buzzer sounds and the target slides forward.
“Damn, killer,” Khalani says behind me. The holes in the target on the paper show a perfect group as it stops.“I’d hate to be thevatothat pisses you off,” she teases.
“Yeah, I guess. Ijust get angry and zone out.”
This has been my weekly therapy since Khalani was almost killed. If not for Leo, we could’ve lost her. My brother blames himself for being stubborn and pigheaded and makes it up to her in any way he can. Their love is so strong, a bond that is impenetrable. I am so happy for them both. My brother has his soul mate, and I got a sister I never had.
“Ready? Linda says the Kings are out on arun. She’s alone in the house and wants us to stop by. You down?”
We walk toward the exit with our target papers in our hands.
“Yeah, Let’s go. How’d you do?” I raise my chin toward her paper.
She flips it over. “I shot them all center mass. My brother has been taking me here since I was twelve.”
“I just wish my brother thought the same way when I was twelve, instead of letting my parents send me to learn how to singand play instruments so when my mother had her little parties, she could show me off like a pet. How ironic, don’t you think? My father and brother being who they are.”
She snorts. “Yeah, like what the fuck is singing and playing an instrument gonna do when somepinche cabroncomes in to retaliate and holds a gun to your forehead?”
“Exactly.”
If she only knew. I hate not being able to tell her my father taught me the same way he taught my brother. Maybe it’s even worse because I am a female and men have an advantage. They are bigger and stronger. Well, some of them. I told her being around Aiden and the guys, I picked up a few things. My father forbids me from telling anyone, so I didn’t. No one knows except whoever he wants to know.
* * *
Khalani parks her Range Rover behind Linda’s classic low-rider, but before we head inside, I turn to her. “Don’t tell anyone who I am or that I’mEl Demonio’ssister,” I blurt.
Her brows pinch, and I place a hand on her arm. “Can you tell them I’m just a friend from school or that I just go to the same college or something?”
She smiles and sighs, leaning her head against the leather headrest. “One condition.”
“Name it.”
She turns her head toward me. “You tell me why.”
I squirm in my seat. I’ll confide in her about Mason because she has the hint that something went down between us like everyone suspects, but I won’t tell her about miscarrying my little angel. Telling her that would put Khalani in a bad position, being my brother’s wife. She would feel compelled to tell him what I went through before she came along. She couldn’t keep something that monumental from him.
“Because of what happened today after class, I know that being my brother’s twin will scare everyone away. Mason and the guys will allow no one to get close to me.”
Her eyes soften. “Lucy, what happened between you and Mason? I see the way he looks at you and how you avoid him. The way you snap at Gloria. Well, that doesn’t count. We hate those bitches, so that is normal. If you decide to tell me, I won’t tell Aiden,not about that.You have a personal life and I’ll respect it. I see you all alone and the songs you ask me to mixare full of sadness. Trust me, I know what loss and pain are, and so does Linda. I’m sure you will like her, and she will like you. We can confide in her and she won’t tell anyone.”
“You already know Mason has been friends with the guys since our parents introduced us when we were all about five. We all formed an instant bond. Except, the bond I formed with Mason was different. It was like we knew each other in another life and had found each other again. He looked out for me and alwaysfelt bad I was the only girl among the boys. When we were kids, I never felt left because of him. Before senior year, we talked and hung out all the time.When I was in eighth grade, I took notice of the way Mason looked and felt things I felt for no other boy. When I had my first kiss from another boy, Mason broke his nose.He always protected me because I was his best friend’s sister, but it wasn’t like Leo or Colton. It was more. And then I secretly fell in love with him. The summer before our senior year, the guys went out on a run while my parents were out of town. I was home alone and after they did whatever they had to do, Mason showed up in my bedroom.”
“Did he always show up like that?” Khalani asks.
My hair slides forward when I look down and I slide a strand of hair behind my ear when I look at her. “Yeah, he was the only one that would hang out with me, but notwhen my parents werehome. Aiden knew we were close, but since they were best friends, he never said anything. Anyway, he showed up covered in blood. I never asked for details when they went out and disappeared. After they were done, Mason always visited me in secret. He’d be reserved, and I know he needed someone to just be there. He never went home right after, and I never asked questions. That night he needed a shower. One thing led to another, and we had sex. I gave him my virginity… and my love. I never said the words, but the actions were there. It was like something snapped.”
“Lucy, you guys are in love.”
I shake my head at the concern etched on Khalani’s face. “Correction,Iwas in love. He just wanted to see what it was like to have sex with me.”
Khalani gives me a look that tells me I have it all wrong. “I doubt that. But then what happened?”
