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That cracked the calm façade, and the man glared at my ex. “I don’t answer to you, boy. Best remember that and listen to her.”
A fraction of a movement by the door showed Nate looking between the newcomer and me like he was trying to decide where he fit best. He glanced at me, and when I shook my head, he settled back in his position, more alert than I’d ever seen him. Dominic stepped forward, everything about him screaming aggression and angst. He was ready and willing to pull that trigger, regardless of the consequences.
I kind of liked seeing the bloodthirsty side of him. Too bad he hadn’t shown me while we were together.
Don’t think about it.
Since we needed answers more than we needed a pissing contest, I turned my attention to the man. The ghost. “You aren’t my brother.”
The man inclined his head in agreement. He didn’t have to, though. Drugged or not, I knew my brother was dead. I’d carried his body home myself. But the way this man looked was uncanny and too similar to be a coincidence.
“You planning to spell this out for us, or should we start guessing?” Grey drawled from his spot next to me. He hadn’t let go of my hand since I’d woken, and the grip he kept on me said I’d scared the absolute shit out of him.
“Rafael Osorio.” The man leaned forward in a caricature of a bow. “Your uncle.”
Not just my uncle, but my mother’s twin. The resemblance to my own made more sense now.
Dominic ground his teeth, and it struck me that he’d known exactly who Rafael was the moment he stepped inside. Considering I didn’t have a single memory of seeing even a picture of an Osorio, I was surprised. I’d always known Dominic was aware of the cartel—my father had told me as much when our parents were engaged—but my instincts said there was more going on than just a good memory. It felt intentional for my father to have told Dominic this over me. For the first time, I wondered just how close Dominic and my father had actually been before he’d left the city.
Had he been the second heir Mario was looking for?
Nate’s whole body tensed at Rafael’s announcement, his hand drifting to his side, where I spotted the barest hint of metal. Very few people knew about my mother’s family, and half of them were in the room. The Osorios and the Wolf, my grandfather, were good at keeping noses out of their business. Greyson squeezed my hand, and I was aware he’d seen Nate’s reaction too, and I knew we’d all need to have a talk later. Flashes of memory came to me. The cold of the floor, the ache in my fingers. Whispered words that barely registered over the pain. “You called me tesorita.”
Little treasure. He’d said it with such fondness too, like he’d meant it. Odd for a man I didn’t remember meeting.
Softness washed away some of the tension the face-off with Dominic had left in his expression. “It was my nickname for your mother when we were children. When she told me she was pregnant with you and your brother, I knew you’d be the same. But your mother died before she could make it back home.”
Shock made my fingers spasm. I hadn’t realized that she’d tried to leave Mario.
I must’ve said it out loud because Rafael nodded, the whole act reeking of bittersweetness and pain. As a remaining twin myself, I knew the feeling intimately. The knowledge that you weren’t quite whole anymore. That the other piece of you was just gone. Snuffed out. It ate at you.
“Bianca wanted to raise you and your brother in Colombia. She meant to make you a princess.”
“Mari was always a princess. Now she’s a queen.” Greyson’s eyebrow lifted as he feigned relaxing, comfortable and confident in the hospital chair, but I could see otherwise. He favored his side, and the shadows of his eyes said he needed rest as much as I did. He was hurt, and the anxiety and rage that had forced me to keep moving slowly eked back into my system.
As if he felt it, Grey ran his thumb over my skin in slow, soothing movements. Rafael tracked it but said nothing.
“So you are.” The hint of a smile crested his mouth, but it died soon after, as all the others had. It was like happiness didn’t know how to survive on his lips anymore. I wondered if he felt as if grief colored the world differently as I did. “Your mother would be proud.”
I had to trust him on that. Bianca Marcosa, formerly Osorio, was just as much a ghost in my life as my brother was. There had been no mention of her anywhere, no stories to be told, no pictures to see. My father had every trace of her removed from his presence the moment she died. At first, I’d thought it was grief, but I knew better now.
He’d only cared about her until he’d gotten what he wanted. When she was carrying us, he doted on her with whatever humanity he possessed. The second we were born, he had no use for her anymore. The only person who actively told us about Bianca was Amara, and even those moments had been rare and stolen.
“Why are you here, Rafael?”
“I came to help you.”
Dominic scoffed, but we all ignored him. There was no time for temper tantrums with an Osorio in the room.
“You’ve been watching us.” Admittedly, I believed in fate, karma, and justice, but unless the Osorios were watching me, there was no way Rafael should’ve gotten to me before the boys did. None.
“Since your second died.”
Rey. The twinge of grief was still there, buried under my breastbone, but it didn’t feel debilitating anymore. Instead, I just felt angry at myself. The loss of one of my most trusted people had shattered me, and I’d let it. Secure in the knowledge that we were at peace, I’d thrown myself into that ocean of pain like I had no responsibilities. I’d let Greyson shoulder the burden of an empire he didn’t want because I was too hurt to see anything, and in the interim, Cash had come to play.
Never again, I vowed. I had to be stronger, to hold myself up when I felt like falling. Cash was a needed reminder that I didn’t have the luxury of burying my head in the sand. I had to be present and survive, or everything would go down in flames with me.
“You know about our problem, then.”
