Page 48 of Stolen Love

“Yeah.” Rebel’s brows draw tight in the middle.

“Remember how I told you she called me Ruin on her last birthday.” I lift the bottle to my lips and let the whisky burn a path through my chest that loosens my lungs enough so that I can draw breath. “She asked about my girl, the one I was searching for, and we talked about Ivy.”

“Kinda hard to forget, considering what happened next.” Rebel wobbles his head from side to side as he alludes to the night I got so drunk I didn’t push that girl away when she kissed me in front of Ivy.

“Yeah, well, what if I’m not, have never been, Ruin?”

He arches back. “What are you saying?”

“You know what I’m saying.” I take another swig from the bottle and hand it back to him as his eyes widen. “What if Ruin is a real person?”

“Holy shit,” Riot says. “You’re a—”

Rebel glitches as his thoughts stumble. “You think we’re a—”

“Triplet,” I say.

“How?” Rebel drops into his seat. He covers his mouth with his hand. “Why do you suspect that?”

“Because I’ve met him and the resemblance is uncanny,” Ivy says. “He goes by West. And he’s a therapist.”

“And Dizzy’s brother,” I add. Wait. What the absolute fuck? “If he’s our triplet is Dizzy our half-sister?”

“I don’t think so,” Ivy says.

My brain is fucking melting with this overload. “How does that work?”

“It’s complicated, if I remember correctly.” A pained expression crosses her face. “The other night… he said that he was adopted. And that Dizzy’s mom was already pregnant when she met his dad.”

“Is that why that chick has been hanging around all the time?” Rebel asks. “Scoping us out for him? Weird vibes from that girl.”

I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed. “Possibly.”

“Oh.” Ivy touches her lips. “That didn’t occur to me.”

My girl believes everyone is sweet until proven otherwise. It’s a luxury we can’t afford. As much as she argues otherwise, we don’t know that this guy isn’t mixed up with the Hawthornes. Or that he doesn’t have an agenda. “Is this guy using my girl as an in to get to know us better? Or is he trouble on our horizon that we better prepare for?”

“Do you think we should visit Mom?” Rebel asks. “See what information we can find out. Try and work out whether this guy is legit or—”

“Yeah. We should do that.” We need to get in front of whatever this is. “And this guy has an office there. I want to see him with my own eyes.”

“Me too.” Rebel stands again.

“Should we alert Summer?”

“No. She’s napping. The last few days have been hard and…” He shakes his head. “This is insanity. We’re twins. We’re not…”

“Triplets.” Riot lurches to his feet. Sways. Fights with his jacket as he tries to straighten out. “God help me, three older brothers… that would have been fun growing up.”

“Go sleep it off,” Rebel orders him.

“Yes, Dad.” Riot salutes him with a middle finger and then, surprisingly, weaves his way toward a bedroom without argument.

“I’ll drive,” I say.

“Are we bringing the bodyguard?” Rebel asks.

“Better.” I pull out my phone and text Jackson to meet us at the elevator.

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