Total pages in book: 184
Estimated words: 186756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 934(@200wpm)___ 747(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 934(@200wpm)___ 747(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Especially in the face of something else.
The fact that she lied too. And it makes perfect sense that she’d do that.
She’s in love, isn’t she?
She just told me.
She’s been telling me for weeks now.
Love makes you lie.
Love makes you do crazy things.
Things that you’d never thought you’d do in a million fucking years.
Like when a girl flirts with the twin brother of the man she wants to make jealous. When she lies about the whole relationship with the said twin brother.
Like when a man deceives that girl for weeks on end, pretending to be his twin because that’s the only way he can bring himself to get to know her. When he blackmails her all because he wants to touch her once. And when he realizes that he can’t hurt her that way, he makes up excuses to touch her anyway under the guise of helping her move on.
It makes perfect fucking sense.
Because I have done the same.
Because I’m in love with her too.
Holy fuck.
I love her.
I’ve always loved her.
Since the moment I saw her.
She’s right. That’s why it hurt so much, seeing them together. That’s why it tortured me and tormented me. And I’ve denied it. I’ve ran away from it. I’ve hidden away from it.
But it’s here.
Standing in front of me: my reality.
I’m in love with Isadora Agni Holmes. The girl with the kind of fire to melt me. To make me forget my rules, my morality.
My Lolita.
Who just said that she can handle my secret.
Except she has no clue what my secret actually is.
And she should, shouldn’t she? She should know the man she’s in love with. She should know the man she’s so ready to give up everything for, her happiness, her dreams.
Because as I said, no one gets to hurt her.
Not even me.
And if this is the way to keep her safe, then so be it.
So I turn away from her and look at my brother. I think he’s been staring at me this whole time, his eyes grave, his features graver.
But there’s something there.
Something akin to resignation.
As if he knows what’s coming and he’s accepted his fate. As if he knows why I have to do this: for her.
Good.
That’ll make it easier.
Twisting my fists in his collar, I say, “I’m sorry.”
He clenches his jaw and shakes his head once.
Before I lay my first of many and many more punches.
Act 3
Him, Her, and The Fire Between Them
Chapter 1
The Wildfire Thorn
He’s signing autographs.
This is his fifth since I arrived at his room at the hospital. There’s a long line of people – women – coming out of his room and snaking down the hallway, all waiting to meet him and get him to sign things.
All of them eye me with trepidation. Some because they saw the security being called and nurses getting upset when I initially came. And I’m guessing there are others who heard the news of what happened only a few hours ago at The Horny Bard.
Of how I beat my own twin brother up.
And how I attracted a crowd and had to be pulled away from him. Someone called 911. And while he had to be rushed to the hospital, I was holed up at the police station for the last however many hours. While doctors were taking care of his injuries – injuries that I visited upon him, knowing full and well what I was doing – the cops were interrogating me. And while I accepted my guilt, he refused to press charges and wave it off as a little tiff between brothers. I’m not sure how he was able to convince them of that but he did.
And here I am.
I know he knows I’m standing at the door, waiting for him – he was the one to call off security and calm the nurses down when I first showed up – and I know he’s deliberately making me wait.
As he should.
He has every right to make me pay for what I’ve done. He has every right to string me along, jerk me around. He has every right to refuse to see me. In fact he should. I don’t deserve an audience with him but I’m still hoping that he’ll give me one.
Because I’m only now coming to find out that that’s how my brother is.
Loyal.
So I settle in for a long wait until it’s my turn to see him but surprisingly, after that fifth autograph, he dismisses everyone.
“Sorry, guys,” he calls out, his eyes landing on me. “As much as I love spending time with you all and appreciate how you’re all here to cheer me up about missing the championship game, I need a little break. As you can see, I’m kinda indisposed.” He looks at me pointedly. “But thank you so much for showing up. Or I don’t know what I would’ve done, how I would’ve coped during this difficult time.”