Her house was one of those older, pint-sized boxes that had been refurbished and refinished. Everything about it was cozy, light, and warm. Beneath my breath, I chuckled. It basically looked like a Pottery Barn catalog had exploded in it.
Couldn’t help the way I was drawn to the big bookshelf nestled in the corner of the far wall. Curiosity held me, and I edged closer, needing to get a closer look into this girl. To dig a little deeper. Once I got started, I found I couldn’t stop.
The square slots were cluttered with trinkets and stacked with books that were obviously well-worn and well-loved. All of it was mixed with a scatter of picture frames that tightened my stomach and sent this foreign feeling through my chest.
Because there was this girl I couldn’t get off my mind, smiling out from every frame, face shining with belief and ambition. With courage and faith.
Wasn’t sure I’d ever met someone who shined so much light. So, how the fuck did she end up in that kind of darkness?
Dishes clinked in the kitchen, and I took a step closer, letting my gaze drift across the faces that obviously meant the most to this girl. It took all of a second to realize it was her family.
The breath punched from my lungs because they were everywhere. Three faces showcased again and again. Alexis with the same woman who’d been with her outside the station.
Then there was another—a face identical to hers.
My hand was shaking when I reached out and picked up a frame. Two little girls with white hair were grinning at the camera, smiles exact, eyes the same.
I jerked from the pained voice behind me. “That’s Avril.”
I glanced back at Alexis, torment shifting through her features, those blue eyes a storm of grief and love.
“Your twin.”
She nodded slow. “Yes.”
I couldn’t stop my smile, even though I knew it probably came across as sad. “It always feels amazing to me…that two people can look exactly the same. Have always wondered if their souls are the same, too.”
She sucked in a sharp breath, and my jaw clenched when I realized I’d just stepped out of bounds. “Fuck. I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to say something I shouldn’t.”
I set the frame back in its place.
“No. It’s okay. I’m just surprised you’d think something I believe.”
“Yeah?”
“I do.”
Unease spun around us, this awareness that was never missing when she was near, all mixed up with questions and confusion.
“Why don’t we sit?” She gestured to the loveseat situated in the middle of her living room.
“That’d be nice.”
Far too nice, which was probably why I should have refused, but there I was with my boots thudding on the hardwood floors as I edged to the loveseat piled with a bunch of mismatched pillows.
I settled on one side, and Alexis handed me a cup. “Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome.” She curled up on the opposite side, her back on the armrest so she could face me, one knee drawn to her chest.
She blinked at me with the power of those eyes, intricate, keen, and knowing, her lashes so dark the almond shapes appeared to be rimmed in black.
If I stared too long, I was afraid I’d get lost. Fall right inside, never to be found.
I twitched with the shock of lust that pulsed through me as I took her in, my eyes tracing the slight quiver of her throat and caressing across the delicate collarbones exposed where her thin sweatshirt draped off one shoulder.
Everything about her was so simple and sexy.
The sight of her sitting there spun through me like the makings of a song.
Apparently, this girl inspired me in a way that should be impossible, because threads and wisps of beauty rose in the confines of my mind and shivered through my veins, twisting and winding until it became something powerful and magnificent.
It itched my fingers with the need to play. Itched my fingers with the need to touch.
That was a sensation I hadn’t experienced in such a long damned time. A sensation that was dangerous. But it didn’t matter how hard I tried to shake it off. Shun it. It was right there.
Didn’t know what it was about her.
I’d been tempted a million times and in a thousand different ways.
But she had gotten under my skin.
She blew at the steam billowing from her cup, her voice soft. “How did you know where to find me?”
I laughed a little. “Let’s just say I have friends in high places.”
She buried another one of those sweet grins in her cup. “That sounds sketchy.”
My brow rose. “And now you’re gonna start asking the questions you should’ve asked when I showed up at your door?”
“Trust, Zachary, trust.” I could feel the mischief playing through her words, though there was something more about it as she made the statement. Like she wanted me to know something.
She cleared her throat as a little of that heaviness leaked back in. “I’m glad you came. I…I know they’re just words and they really don’t mean much. I know there’s no way I could ever repay you, but I need you to know how grateful I am for what you did for me that night.”
Anger tightened my chest, that feeling that consumed me every single time my mind strayed back to the girl pinned to that grimy wall, the girl sobbing on the dirty ground. “What else could I have done?”
Her lips tightened. “There are so many people who would have turned a blind eye.”
My hand fisted. Guess that pissed me off, too. “And how the hell could I have slept at night if I had walked away? Knowing you needed me?”
Her voice was hoarse. “I did…I needed you. And I’m sorry I did, that I put you in that position. I chose to go down there, and because of it, I put you in danger.”
“And I chose to help you.”
Emotion brimmed, so fucking profound I was sucking it down with every shaky breath I inhaled.
Moisture glimmered in her eyes. “I’m so grateful you did.”
“You ready to tell me about it?”
So maybe it wasn’t any of my business, needing to know, but I didn’t think I could force myself from that spot until I understood what had led her to that obscene place that night.
She looked across at me. Honestly. Openly. “There’s a part of me down there I can’t leave behind.”
Their souls are the same.
“Your sister…Avril.”
Her nod was jerky. “Yeah.”
And I got it. I fucking got it on a level I wished I didn’t. That helplessness of loving someone and having to watch them whittle and erode until there wasn’t anything left but destruction.
Agony trembled her lips, and she clutched her teacup like it might have the power to shield her from all the pain. “Sometimes the people we love most end up in the places we never imagined they’d go.”
“And no matter how much we want to stop it, there’s nothing we can do,” I said, the words nothing but gravel.