Page 79 of Heart of a Villain

Alessandra pointed to his crotch. “You can put that away until after we’re married.”

“I apologize,” he said. “I was thinking of how lovely you look tonight in that dress.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

“Julien,” Mike said, yawning, “it’s not even five in the morning.”

“I mean, you guys showed up, didn’t you?” Julien pointed out.

Gage, eyes closed, leaned the back of his head against the wall the sofa was pressed against. “Well, yeah. You said it was a ‘nuh-emergency.’”

Joel had succumbed to his fatigue and was sprawled on the floor next to the coffee table. Seeing as how he was the only one with a newborn, they gave him full leeway. Giorgio had shown up with Aleksi, who had a tendency to turn into a barnacle when it came to his father. Aleksi was asleep, but Giorgio looked like he’d been waiting for someone to call him.

“What’s the emergency?” Dez asked.

Julien cast two images onto a projector screen that descended from the living room ceiling. “Look at this, and tell me what you see.”

“The backs of my eyelids,” Mike said.

“No, seriously. Look.”

All of them, except for Joel, complied.

“It’s the results from the swab,” Julien explained. “Ayesha and Sayeda are indeed sisters and Aron Price’s daughters. Notice anything else?”

“Is same,” Giorgio said.

He pointed to Giorgio. “Somebody give this guy a medal. You see, there’s no difference between their DNA. I had the test run multiple times to make sure, which is why it took longer than usual, and the results were the same. This is as close as Ari and Mo’s DNA. Anybody care to guess why that is?”

Gage perked up. “Wait, what are you saying? Eesh and Seda are twins?”

Julien snapped and pointed to him. “Boom.”

“First of all, mate, try diluting your coffee every once in a while. Second…explain. My brain can’t process DNA helixes, base pairs, and matching chromosomes at one o’clock in the afternoon, never mind five in the morning.”

“That’s the thing,” Julien said, one eyebrow raised and the opposite eye twitching. “I have no idea how to explain any of this shit!”

“Who’s their mum?”

“No clue!”

“So, is Sayeda younger than she thinks, or is Eesh older?”

“Still in the dark!” He slumped in his chair. “I fucking hate this. I’m not used to being stumped. Still, this is pretty damn huge, isn’t it?”

Dez ran his fingers through his hair. “I mean, they look exactly the same. It’s not that shocking.”

“There are siblings who look alike that aren’t twins,” Julien argued. “Ari said that their faces were only one part of it. Apparently, they mirror one another. There’s something about the way twins move.”

Mike and Gage groaned a response.

“You did good, kid,” Dez said. “You did good.”

“I will no longer accept the designation as ‘kid.’”

Mike snickered. “Come on, little guy. Don’t pout. Aww, look at his wittle face.”

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