Page 13 of The Heart of a Villain

“Someday, we will travel the world, Rush. We’ll buy a yacht and go on all the adventures our great-great-grandpa explored.” He extends his hand and sways it back and forth along the horizon. “Twin pirates roaming the world. Free, brave, and careless.” He snaps his fingers. “We just need to get our hands on our trust funds, and all this”—he swirls a finger in the air—“will be nothing but a bad dream.”

Not this again.

For all his rational thinking, Rafael has a deep fascination for the legends surrounding this island, mainly about our ancestors. Ever since he learned about pirates, he insists we need to embrace our heritage and follow their path. He loves to read books about the subject and has many entries in his notebook, intending to find out for himself if that future is possible.

According to him, we can totally survive in the wild, which inspires laughter in me, because really?

We might know this island, but living without all the luxuries surrounding us would not only be difficult but impossible even.

Not to mention how the wild has a lot of dangerous things in it, and truth be told, I find all the stories about pirates exhausting and stupid.

Oceans, adventures, playing rebellious characters who have questionable morals—it all has no appeal to me.

I want to be a lawyer who fights for what’s right, having justice and laws on his side. One of the reasons why I study hard—and hope that by us doing excessive tutoring—is it’ll allow me to skip a few grades.

William said we will be sent to boarding school when we’re twelve, and from there, it should be a smooth ride to college.

Then I won’t let men like my father go unpunished while everyone keeps their mouths shut.

All this… if Father gives us our trust funds and doesn’t change his mind. Although the temptation to get rid of us would probably be too strong to resist.

“There will be no twin pirates, Rafael.” I dip my shoulder, and he loosens his hold on me, so I slide to the side, getting up while my twin glares at me.

“You’re going to leave me alone?” He puts a hand on his chest and exhales heavily, and I roll my eyes.

Here come the dramatics.

“No, because you will come with me and study.” I tap on his head. “After you get a degree, you can buy a yacht.”

“Wanna bet?”

My brows furrow. “Bet on what?”

“Who are we going to be? Men with degrees in suits like Dad and his friends?” He shudders, disgust crossing his face, which surprise me because he never voices his distaste toward our father. Maybe my twin has better ways of hiding his true emotions than me. “Or pirates who hate laws and make their own rules?” He opens his palm. “So?”

I place my hand in his, and he squeezes, cementing my agreement, and a smile shapes my mouth.

In such moments, I’m really grateful for having Rafael in my life, who makes it more bearable and always brings humor to any situation. Without him, I’d be lost in my grim thoughts and loneliness, staying quiet for too long.

Rafael, though, would never let me succumb to the dark abyss and will always be there with me no matter what.

Even if I go against our father someday.

“Okay, we have a bet. If I win, then you can’t practice law and be a famous lawyer without me.” It’s our first bet, so I guess the conditions can be stupid. We won’t remember it anyway, so all this is just for fun.

His green orbs narrow and then flash in amusement when I say, “If I win, then you can’t get a yacht and be a pirate without me.”

“Deal.” We shake our hands at the same moment thunder rumbles again, louder and more intense than the previous times, while lightning brightens up our shake.

As if the god of thunder himself approved of our bet.

We blink in surprise. And then burst out laughing. I hug Rafael close, rocking us from side to side.

“It doesn’t matter who wins,” I whisper.

His arms tighten around me. “Because no matter the outcome… we’ll always be together.”

“Always, Rafael.”

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