Page 62 of Tainted Love

Lights shine in through the windows, along with the growing roar of motorcycles racing up the driveway.

“Who is that?” I ask.

“Stay here,” he merely says.

“Oh, ha ha.”

I fasten the buttons of the old blouse with my free hand as he charges down the hall toward the stairwell.

Chapter 20

Dante

I go outside as the two motorcycles park next to my car. My little brother and sister pull their helmets off, almost completely in sync with each other — as they have been since the day they were born.

I look at Elijah’s head and cringe. “What the hell is that?” I ask.

He stares back at me through long, ash brown bangs. “What the hell is what?”

“It’s called a haircut, man.”

“What?” He flips his head, striking a quick pose on his bike while his hair shifts along his eyes. “You no like?”

“Luckily, I know exactly where Gram kept the scissors.”

“Piss off. I look good.” He gestures to Lilah. “Right?”

Lilah winces through her own blood-red bangs. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to mention…”

“Oh, piss on you both.” He laughs.

Lilah jumps off her bike and rushes at me with open arms. “Hey, big brother,” she says, squeezing my torso so hard my ribs give.

“Shit—” I force in a painful breath. “You really need to stop working out.”

“Not until I’m stronger than you.”

“Getting pretty close.”

She pulls away as Elijah walks over with his own arms wide open. “It’s been almost a year,” he points out. “Come here. We can resume the shit-talk post-hug.”

I chuckle and give him a hug, patting his back while my eyes linger over his thick shoulder at Lilah’s smile. It feels much longer than a year since I’ve seen my siblings. The last I saw Lilah, her hair was its natural shade of brown, just like ours. Now, she’s dyed it a radiant red — a look that definitely suits her personality in more ways than one. Elijah looks the same as always, just a mini version of myself with soft features stolen off his twin’s face. The protector in me always checks their faces for new bruises and scars. Thankfully, neither of them has any.

“You been keeping him out of trouble?” I ask Lilah.

“For the most part,” she mutters, pointing a sideways glance at him.

I pull back to look at him. “What’d you do this time?”

“Nothing for you to worry about,” Elijah says, firing a quick glance at his twin to shut her up.

I stare him down. “Eli…”

Lilah leans in. “It’s taken care of, Dante.”

“Fine…” I give up. “Did you bring your medkit?”

Elijah looks me up and down. “Yeah, it’s on the bike.”

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