Page 12 of Heart of a Villain

She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. Julien’s the smartest person I know, and Curtis was my everything. If they both think this woman looks so much like me that she could be mistaken for me, maybe there’s a reason for that.”

“You can favor someone and not be related to them.”

Ayesha favored someone he’d known and cared for, deeply, once upon a time. She favored that woman so much that their resemblance was likely why he fell for her as quickly as he had. It was probably also why he wasn’t ready to fully let her go.

“Then I’m a little bit worried about what she might think of me,” she went on. “My mother was the ‘other woman.’ The home wrecker. She didn’t know my father was married, but my ‘sister’ might still see me as the thing that broke up her family.”

“What do you know about her?”

“Other than what Julien’s told me? Nothing, but I’m pretty sure he’s intentionally withholding information. He won’t even tell me her name, but I’m starting to piece some stuff together. Still, I’m an overthinker, and he knows that. If I mentally fall in love with the idea of having a sister, and it turns out she’s not?—”

“—it will crush you,” he finished.

“Exactly.”

“And this is what has been bothering you? We could talk more if that would help. We’re still friends, I think.”

She smiled. “We are.”

“Then, what is it?”

“I have this sinking feeling,” she cradled her stomach, “that Joel’s about to leave me.”

His brows shot up. “Leave you?”

Joel wouldn’t leave Ayesha in death.

Joel’s soul would find a way to crawl into another body, cross oceans to find her, and make her fall in love with him all over again. Given that he was partial to believing in ghosts, magic, mythical figures, and folklore, it wouldn’t be hard to convince him that Joel and Curtis shared the same spirit in some way. Back when Joel was an FBI agent, he’d gotten shot while on duty and flatlined. If the incident had happened anywhere around the time of Curtis’ death, that would be proof enough for him.

Strangely, hope didn’t come.

He wanted her to be with Joel.

If Joel ever went insane and left her, rather than swoop in and make her his, he would probably find a way to get them back together. It made zero sense.

“No, no. I mean, leave Sweden. Civilian life doesn’t suit them. Honestly, I’m thinking about taking on clients again virtually myself.”

“What if I take Joel’s place?” he offered.

“Adrían, I’ve already explained it to you. I do love you. Yes, it’s more like the way I would care for a best friend, but it’s there. I don’t want anything to happen to you, either. And, as much as I love Joel, I would never ask the team to go without him. Joel’s my husband, but the guys are my brothers. It’s just that, whenever he has to leave?—”

“You remember Curtis.”

“Yes.”

He patted the back of her hand, but then his palm settled on top, his fingers curling around hers. She stared at him, and with a sigh, he removed his hand and returned it to his side.

“Adrían, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

It wasn’t that he wanted her to reciprocate. In truth, meeting Ayesha had been like reviving his heart from the dead, and getting over her would mean accepting that death was finite. If the same spirit lived inside Joel and Curtis, Ayesha shared a spirit with someone he’d buried under six feet of emotions. Someone he missed more in these past few months than he had in years.

“Ayesha, I’m not expecting anything except that, with time, to sit across from you like this and not want to hold you until all your pain melts away.”

“Why, though?” she asked. “Why do you think you feel that way?”

“Because I don’t want you to be in pain.”

---