Page 56 of Heart of a Villain

“Eesh, you’re lying.”

“‘If I’m lying, I’m crying,’” Ayesha said, hand raised. “Okay, how about this? Do you know what your father looks like?”

The light turned green.

Ayesha carefully pulled off.

“I don’t remember his face. The last time we would have seen each other, I wasn’t even five yet, but my aunt says he reminds her of a man from a music video.”

“A Janet Jackson music video?”

Sayeda clapped her hands together. “Yes! The music video for the song ‘Again.’ Same eyes, complexion, and he had locs. Apparently, Aron Price was fine as hell.”

At the same time, they both said, “Evidently.”

Sayeda burst out laughing.

Ayesha laughed until she briefly lost her voice.

“Yo, I don’t think we need the DNA test,” Ayesha insisted. “I didn’t think so before, anyway. At least, not to see if we’re related.”

“But to see how related we are. I was thinking the same thing.” Sayeda resettled in her seat. “Okay, okay. Was your Aron Price from the Caribbean?”

“Yep. My dad’s family’s from the Bahamas.”

“I’m about to scream.” Sayeda tapped a finger with each piece of information. “So, our fathers have the same name, are from the same region of the globe, and reportedly resemble the same man. You and I look like we could be twins, and we both sing. Now let me ask you this: how do you feel about pretzels dipped in chocolate sauce?”

“If pretzels dipped in chocolate sauce manages to one day become a man, Joel might have something to truly worry about.”

Sayeda allowed a slight squeal to slip through through. “Okay, so back in Morocco, Adrían set up this midnight snack picnic for us. I guess, looking back, it was one of our first dates. Anyway, he set up a chocolate fondue station, and one of the snacks was pretzels. Before that, I’d never dipped pretzels in chocolate, and although it’s one of my favorite dessert snacks, I eat the combo sparingly.”

“Because it makes you think of him.”

“Yeah. And I like savoring those memories.”

Ayesha tapped the steering wheel as they left the highway. “So, what do you think of Adrían now? Are your feelings for him anything like they were back then?”

“Did he send you?” she asked.

“I might be a spy, yes.”

“Honestly, Eesh, I don’t know. Back then, I was in love, and I know part of that was probably because he was my first, but…he’s sweet and caring and charming. I hope this doesn’t come off wrong, but he reminds me of Joel in a lot of ways. Adrían made me feel beautiful, sexy, desired, treasured, supported, and then he’s got this sense of humor that seems like it shouldn’t fit somebody as good-looking as he is. But ten years is a long time. In a perfect world, we would run into each other again and pick up where we left off. If this had been four or five years ago, I could see us married by now with at least one baby. For the longest, I felt a certain kind of contentment knowing I was only his.”

Greenery came into view.

She melted into her seat.

“What do you mean?” Ayesha asked.

“It’s stupid.”

“I’m your sister.”

“The way my heart leaped just now.”

“I am, DNA or no DNA. And I promise you, I’ve done and said stupid shit, so there’ll be no judgment here.”

“What I meant was…he was my first and only.”

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