Page 100 of Tempting Fate

“No way.” I force my best smile as I exclaim, “I’m in the market for a new pair of Louboutin’s… tell me they had some?”

As Nadia launches into an in-depth description of the YSL heels that caught her attention, I glance at Sander. He hits me with a look of gratification that comes right from the heart, and I find myself, not for the first time, wondering exactly what went wrong between my twin and my best friend.

18

VENOM

“Whose soul did you sacrifice to the devil?” I ask Sander when he plonks next to me on the floor.

Despite the humour in my voice, I’m still being rocked by my memories of the last time we were at this hospital. Lily. Close to death. Alex. Guarded by the Maddison’s. As a high school dropout, I’m not sure of the exact meaning of the word irony, but this must be the most ironic situation I’ve ever found myself in. Five and a half years later, we find ourselves almost right where we left off. Alex is tormenting the woman I love and I’m not sure how I’m supposed to stop him.

After dragging in an endless breath through my nose, I shake myself free of the ghosts of the past and concentrate on the two women who are giggling together. From the look on their faces, it’s either over shoes or embroidered dicks.

Lifting my chin in the direction of Lily and Nadia, I add, “Only Satan coulda made that happen.”

“It’s a twin thing,” Slash drawls.

“Yeah, and it’s none of your business,” Sander retorts with a laugh. His expression sobers, and he levels me with a pointed look. “I just told her the truth. Maybe you should try it occasionally?”

“Really,” I snap at him, arching an eyebrow and scowling when he inclines his head with the piousness of a newly minted priest. “After all the bullshit I’ve told to cover your arse, you think you have the fuckin’ right to judge me?”

He sniffs. “She barely mentioned the whole Nads thing as it relates to you… that tells me you’ve kept somethin’ else from her.”

“Fuckin’ twintuition,” I joke. “Mind-read anythin’ else? Somethin’ useful, maybe.”

Slash and Toker exchange a look, seeing straight through my attempt to deflect Sander’s attention to the telepathic connection he swears the twins share. They grin, first it’s at each other, then they turn their focus on me. At the sight of their troublemaking expressions, I growl. It’s a warning they should know to heed by now, but I hold little hope they’ll listen.

They’re too intent on shit stirring to back off.

I try a verbal caution. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Toker raises his hands in mock surrender. “Don’t tell him that you hid that fucker’s early release from her, or don’t tell him that you intercepted a bunch of love letters from the psycho prick and didn’t tell little Cherub about them?”

“I think he meant both,” Slash helpfully adds.

“Fuck. The. Pair. Of. You.”

Spying the ire that flares in Sander’s gaze as the two idiots laugh at their flawless setup, I prepare to receive it from him with both barrels. He’s been overbearingly protective of Lily since the night he forced us to drive him to Alex’s estate, even though it’s on Maddison turf, because he knew something was wrong.

While Slash argued with the butler at the main house, Sander led me straight to the smaller house a hundred metres away. Stubbornly resolved that his twin was inside the building, I’d allowed him to talk me into busting through the front door.

Inside we found Lily.

Half beaten to death.

Being violently violated by Alex.

I immediately knew that it was my fault.

My decision, that night, to tell Lily that Alex was the grandson of the boss of the Maddison clan was a catastrophic error. The choice to avoid war between the mob and the Shamrocks thew Lily into the crosshairs. Brutus’ games condemned her. Sander’s addiction provided Alex the rest of the ammunition he needed to gain her compliance.

Drugs. Lies. Sex. Blackmail. Violence. Rape.

It had all the makings of a Shakespearean tale.

Days later, lost in a haze of grief and guilt, Sander overdosed.

Hence the hypercritical condemnation I’m on the cusp of receiving.

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