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I might be his daughter…but I’m nothing like him, so I shake my head. “No,” I whisper.
Because I’m my mother’s daughter.
Octavius kicks Grayson as well. “It’s your call, Diego.”
Finally, I focus my attention on the stranger as he glances at me, our gray eyes colliding, identical to the monster who sired us.
My twin.
He’s my twin, isn’t he?
“I don’t want them dead. I want them to suffer.” He cocks his head to the side. “They have a lot of debts to pay. Prison is only the beginning.” He snaps their necks, and I gasp but still see them breathing. Whatever trick he used on them must have just knocked them unconscious.
However, all thoughts fly from my mind when Octavius rushes to me, and I wrap my arms around him, breathing in his scent while he hugs me tight. And finally, the pressure in my chest, along with the bottled-up emotions, becomes too strong. “I’m here, kitten. I’m here,” he whispers.
I cry as my husband holds me in his arms, because it’s over.
My nightmare is finally over.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“If there is any light in the darkness, then she’s mine.”
Octavius
Isla
“You’re very lucky, Mrs. Reed,” the doctor says, grabbing the tablet next to my hospital bed and scanning through the information. “The bear trap could have seriously damaged your foot.” He makes several clicks and then raises his gaze to me, smiling. “Thankfully, it was only badly bruised, and while we need to give you a course of antibiotics and a tetanus shot, you should be free to go tomorrow.” He places his palm on my bandaged foot. “How do you feel now?”
Sipping water through the straw, I shrug and plaster a grin on my face, despite the throbbing pain all over my foot that travels to my calf. “It hurts, but that’s to be expected, right?”
The body next to me grows tense, and my husband’s hold on me tightens as he hugs me closer, and I rest my cheek on his chest. “Give her some painkillers,” he orders, and the doctor’s brows shoot up while amusement flashes in his eyes. He clearly doesn’t hear orders often because he’s one of the most sought-after surgeons in the country. Octavius summoned his friend to help me out even though I told him there was no need.
That’s my man, though, and I sigh, curling into him, appreciating being alive and well to enjoy this moment with him.
All the pain pales in comparison to what could have been.
The guys arrived in two cars, so Octavius rushed me to the hospital while Florian and Diego took John and Grayson to God knows where. As my husband raced through the roads of Chicago while my foot bled all over his expensive leather, I wondered about my brother. Octavius filled me in on some of the blank pages of my past.
A twin brother.
The knowledge alone is surreal because we don’t look anything alike and the thought is scary… What if I met him randomly?
Whoever knowingly separates twins is a cruel person, and my heart pangs thinking about my mother. Maybe that’s why they say it’s dangerous to idolize your parents. Both of them fell from the pedestal and crushed all my childhood memories into nothingness.
Suzanne did the right thing in the end. However, it doesn’t wipe away the past. When she saw a girl who was so afraid…she should have helped her and not stolen her child, consoling herself with the knowledge she still had another.
My life has been a lie, and that’s hard to accept, but I’ll get there.
I have my own family now, which soothes the emotional and physical pain when they blanket me with their love.
“We’ve already given her some. They should kick in soon, and I want to keep her for observation due to the bruise on her head.” The doctor comes closer, touching my forehead lightly, and I wince. “The scans were clear, but I prefer to be on the safe side.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, and he nods, saluting Octavius before leaving us alone. “How is Braiden?” I shift a little on the bed, rolling onto my side, and place my hand on his scarred cheek, tracing my thumb over the tissue. He closes his eyes, kissing my palm. “I’m surprised the whole family isn’t here.”
“No one knows what happened. I called Antonio, and he says our boy went to bed after playing some video games and eating cookies.” He smiles. “I think he convinced the cook to bake more than he originally planned.” We share a laugh because Braiden’s expressive blue eyes can be very persuasive. “I don’t want to worry anyone or make them feel like shit.”
And by that, he means Santiago and Remi, who probably didn’t come to my rescue because no one called them. No matter what happened between them, I know they would have showed up if Octavius asked, and this alone tells me they will be all right.
