Page 14 of Life

I shake my head and stand. “No way. I can’t.”

Gigi stands and grabs my hand. “Ria, please.”

“No. I’m sorry. I can’t have any harm come to you, Chase, or yourniños. Besides, I’ve overrun my stay for the past several months. I need space. We all do.”

Gillian’s lips compress into a thin line, and her eyes darken in what I can only assume is sadness. “I never need space from you.”

I tip my head back and laugh, hard. “Cara bonita, that’s sweet, but you know that’s not true.” I pet her shoulder and hug her into my side. “Promise. I’ll be fine in my building. There’s a doorman, and Antonio doesn’t know which apartment I’m in, just the building. How he even knows that is a mystery since I’m unlisted.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’ll stay with me.” Eli’s voice is close and grating, like a saw blade cutting into metal.

Again, laughter bubbles up and out as I adjust the girls in my tank and cant my head to the side. Chase, Jack, and Austin look at me as though I’ve gone loco. Maybe I have. All of this is too much. It’s too damn much.

“Okay look,Red.” I emphasize the name he prefers. “I am not your problem. This desire to ensure the safety ofmujercitaon behalf of your brother is admirable, but not necessary. I’ve dealt with Antonio before and survived.”

“Barely,” he huffs.

The single word strikes a chord so hard in me I lash out.

“Screw you! You don’t know me. You don’t know my past. And from what I gather, you probably didn’t even know Tommy!”

He doesn’t even wait a beat before running off at the mouth. “In some ways you’re right. But I knew my brother. In case you’re forgetting, we’re twins. We shared everything up until a few years ago. I think twenty-five years of being inseparable counts for something. Definitely more than a nine-month fling.”

Can the blood inside a perfectly healthy human being actually boil?I lose it. And when I say lose it, I mean I am about to go batshit crazy on his ass.

“Howdareyou? I cared about Tommy!”

Eli steps closer to me. One step and then two, until we’re face-to-face, only inches away from one another. “I know he loved you. That’s easy. Even I can see through the bravado and grit. I’ve known you half a day, and I’d jump in front of a bullet to make sure not one hair on your head was touched. But babe, you wouldn’t know what true love is if it slapped you in the head with a sledgehammer.”

My eyes sting as his words hit their target. The hairs on my neck stand at attention, and my nose runs.

I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry.

“You don’t know me.” My comeback is fast and raw with emotion.

He flinches and then shifts his head so his mouth is a scant inch or two away from my ear. “I know you better than you think. We’re the same, you and me. And it’s going to be a helluva lot of fun proving it.”

I lift my arms up and push against the solid wall of muscle. He steps back a few feet. “Do you want to head back to your pad and get your stuff, or do you want to stay here? Those are your only options, Spicy. Pick one.”

In a few quick strides, I grab my purse, kiss Gigi on both cheeks, and then hug Chase. “Gracias por tu ayuda.” I thank him for his help.

“Always. Anytime. You know that, right?”

I smile briefly. “I do. Take care of my girl.”

“With my life,” he promises.

Such an honorable man. I wink and fling my coat over my arm.

“Ready?” Eli asks.

“For the record, I hate you.”

He snickers. “That’s what they all say.”

“Does not surprise me at all.”

Eli drivesus through the middle of downtown San Francisco until we’re across the street from Golden Gate Park. I’ve made it a point to avoid any and all conversation with the overbearing, annoying, and infuriatingly demonstrative man, preferring instead to look out the window and brood. This is not at all what I’d planned to do with my time after I’d buried my boyfriend the day before. Most people would be wallowing in their own self-pity. Sitting back looking through pictures trying to remember the good ol’ days. No, not me. I get thrown right back in the middle of assholes wanting to control my life or end it. One brand-new and the other a ghost.

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