by C. A. Rene
“Did he speak about any children?”
“Just Carmelo, his heir.”
“I see.” I tap the knife against my temple, “I must’ve been a dirty little secret. Keep initialing.”
I turn back to the final folder and open it up, it’s Roberts last will and testament. Nice. I’m reading through all his documents and notice not a single thing is going to Sharla or Vin. He was just hoping to dump off his shady ass under the table business and that was it. This just won’t do.
“I’m going to need you to fix this up as well.” I say with a few tsks.
“How so?” His voice wobbles.
“For beginners, you will leave some money to Vincent and his mother, it’s the least you could do for fucking up their lives. Then I’m thinking this property you have on the Upper East Side would be convenient to own. I doubt he’ll take much more than that.” I hand him the folder, “make the changes and initial.”
His handshakes as he takes the folder.
He hands me back the original folder with the legal business documents, I go through it thoroughly and sign my name at the end. He finishes up with the will and hands that to me too. Once I am completely satisfied I hand him his phone and tell him to call his lawyer on speaker.
“He’s probably asleep.” He says.
“I’m sure you’ve woken him up before, Robert.” I stick out my tongue and run the knife along it.
He hesitantly takes the phone and dials his lawyer. After a lengthy phone call where the lawyer kept asking him why he made these changes, what’s motivating him, and if he’s under duress to which my knife pressed to his throat until he answered correctly, it was done.
“Now, I’m going to give you a choice, new buddy.” I stand up and pace along the foot of his bed, “I really can’t have you recanting everything once I leave.”
“I won’t.”
“You will.” I nod, “so, first choice, I give you my knife here and you end your life, with a written note of course. I don’t want Travis always wondering if you actually did it. Or… I pay a visit to Travis’ room before I leave.”
“What?” He asks astonishingly, “he’s told me you’re his best friend.”
“Even better, he’d let me in no problem.” I walk towards him, “I might’ve been raised a Craven, Mr. Greene, but my blood is Torres.”
I can see his trembling under the covers, his eyes closing briefly, “where’s the letter?”
“There’s a good boy.” I say with a chuckle and pull the letter from my pocket, “rewrite it in your own hand.”
I watch as he rewrites the letter, his tears coating his cheeks. I want to carve out their path with my knife so badly. He doesn’t get to cry because Vin cried as a child wanting a father. The thought hardens my resolve and I watch as he signs his name to the letter.
“Perfect, now I really want this knife to be coated in your blood.” I put on the latex gloves I had in my pocket.
I toss him the knife and instruct him to slice his wrists open. I have to hand it to him, he doesn’t flinch. I watch as he takes the blade and runs it down his wrists, just as I instructed. It’s a beautiful sight really, his blood pouring out of the wounds and soaking into the bed. I take back the knife with his blood on it and sit at his desk. I find the file on his computer with the security footage and download the virus Carm taught me. Then I watch as everything deletes and the computer crashes.
My eye catches on a letter opener on his desk, it’s ornate with the devil’s face on it, and it’s so perfect I could squeal. I pick it up and walk back to Robert. He’s on the brink of death as I run the letter opener along his wrists gathering blood then I wrap his hand around it.
“Goodbye Robert, it was nice doing business.”
And I stay at the end of the bed until his life is completely drained.
10
The late morning sunshine is gleaming across my face as I wake up from the best sleep I’ve had in weeks. I stretch out in my bed and feel my supple muscles and how good they feel after a real rest. No nightmares plagued me last night and I know why, the darkness was sated and it has curled back deep inside. I feel more like myself even though I committed murder, again. I mean, I didn’t exactly do it but I definitely caused it with my coercion, and it felt so good, so deserved.
After Carm gave me detailed instructions on how to wipe any surveillance program, he made me promise to meet up with them today before they leave to go back to New York. I tried to decline because, fuck, I will see them next weekend, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I fire off a text telling him to make it as early as possible because I know shit is about to hit the fan when everyone finds out about Robert. I give him the address to the fifties style diner Adri once took me to and get up to get ready.
After my shower I throw on a pair of light wash skinny jeans and a red off the shoulder blouse. I leave my hair to dry into its natural curls and apply a light coat of makeup. Once I am please with my appearance, I head downstairs to see what my parents are up to.
Since I’ve been back, I pretty much keep to myself. I barely spoke to them and ate most meals in my room, but today I’m feeling pretty great. I hear them murmuring in the kitchen and head that way. Before I enter, I catch a snippet of their conversation.
“Can you believe he would do that?” Ma asks.
“Robert was such a vain man, maybe he couldn’t stand for anyone to see him sick and weak.” My dad answers.
“Yeah, maybe.” She replies, “should we tell Ember?”
“No, I think we should let Travis do that, they are close.”
The kitchen falls silent so I take this opportunity to enter. Both of them are sitting at the table with coffee, the smell pulling a groan of pleasure from me.
“Oh! Ember!” My ma jumps up, “how are you?”
The surprise is evident on her face at seeing me and I feel a pang of guilt for my behaviour lately. “I’m feeling a lot better today.” I smile as I go to kiss her cheek.
Her eyes instantly fill with tears and she smiles at me widely. My dad gets up from his seat and moves to the coffee machine.
“Here ya go, Kiddo. We know how much you love it.” He says handing me a cup of coffee. I add some cream and lean against the counter.
“I’m going to go for a drive today, maybe stop by the gym to see Andrew while I’m out. Do you guys need anything?”
“No, no you go enjoy your day, and enjoy the weather.” Ma says, “I have to get to the office today.”
After saying goodbye to the parents, I settle into Shelby and smile in contentment. I missed this car and I missed just feeling free. I enjoy the drive to the diner, I forgot just how good the hum of Shelby’s motor felt as it vibrates through my body and how easy it is to lose myself in her speed.
I pull into a parking spot and instantly spot a blacked-out sedan parked a few spaces down. Can these fuckers get different cars? Does it always have to be a fucking blacked-out sedan? I should go over there and key it then piss on the tires. I get out of Shelby and make my way inside and I see them right away. They couldn’t blend in here if they fucking tried. I lock eyes with the one who shared a womb with me and again it hits me like a ton of bricks. He really is like a fucking mirror. I can see he has a similar reaction by his eyes. Someone should teach him not to be such an open book.
I head over to their booth and sit across from them both. Carm looks a lot like Raphael and I can’t see how I missed it the whole time I was held captive. His black-blue hair is slicked back just like his father’s and the caramel hue of his skin is bright against the ink black of his eyes. He’s dressed in a worn leather jacket and black t-shirt underneath. I look to the other one and his dark brown hair shows the mahogany highlights under the fluorescents. His skin a creamy mocha is a tad lighter than mine but that could be due to the fact I laid in the sun all weekend. He’s built just as wide as Carm and he looks to be just as tall. His eyes are two bright turquoise orbs s
hining bright out of his face and he’s sporting a slight mustache and a bit of hair on his chin.
“You either need to grow more facial hair or shave it all off, you look like a fucking douche canoe.” I point at my womb partner and break the silence.
“Shit.” Carm chokes on his water as he laughs.
The smile that widens on the twin’s face is contagious and I feel myself giving into one of my own.
“Emmett, this is Ember. Ember meet your twin, Emmett.” Carm says waving his hand between us.
“Emmett and Ember… cliché.” I shake my head. “Did Mom name you? Or Raphael?”
“I don’t have a fucking clue.” He answers. His voice is smooth and deep. It resonates with something inside me.
“Did you know I was your sister while I worked for you and The Rampage? While I was almost raped and killed numerous times? Or while my blood spilt for you fuckers?” I ask Carm.
“From the way I was told, you did more damage than what was done to you.” He shakes his head, “and no I didn’t know. I had never seen you.”
“When did you find out?”
“As I was driving Raphael to pick you up.”
“The proper word is kidnap.” I retort.
A waitress interrupts us at that time to take our orders. Carm orders a burger and fries with a pop and I notice Emmett staring hard at the menu.
“The milkshakes are good here.” I tell him.
“Never had one.” He shrugs.
“What are you? An alien?” I turn to the waitress, “we’ll each have a vanilla and chocolate swirl milkshake with funnel cakes.”
She nods and collects the menus from us and skates away, all the while Carm has his eye on her ass.
“What if I didn’t want that?” Emmett asks.
“Too bad, call it twin-tuition, if you hate it I want a DNA test done.”
Carm laughs and Emmett cracks another grin. I lean back in my seat and watch them both, Carm and Emmett are tight I can see that.
“Is this the little brother you were worried about Raphael killing?” I ask Carm.
“Yeah, he threatened me with Emmett all the time.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about him?” I ask, pointing at Emmett.
“Because Raphael said not to. And I couldn’t trust that you would keep that to yourself.”
I nod, I get it. When Raphael admitted to killing my mother I fucking lost it, and to be honest if I knew about Emmett at that time I don’t know if I would’ve kept it to myself either. The food arrives at the table and we are all quiet as we dig in. I watch as Emmett’s brows shoot up when he tastes the milkshake.
“Wow, that is good.” He says surprised.
“You pass, brother.” I grin at him, which in turn earns me a smile.
“So, you came all the way here for me?” I ask Carm.
“It’s not that far,” he snorts, “and we have business here.”
“Right, with Robert Greene.”
“How do you know that?” He asks becoming still.
“Our father, he was happy to rub it in my face when he told me about my mother. How the father of one of my best friends and boyfriend was his drug runner in Toronto.”
Carm clears his throat and shakes his head. He looks to Emmett and then back to me. “We came here to meet with him yesterday, he told us about his plan to have his son take over the business. His name is Vincent. Which one is that? Your boyfriend or best friend?”
“I’m also sure he told you that he was having trouble convincing him right?”
“Yeah.” Carm nods, “he wants us to come back next week and maybe rough him up to help with the convincing.”
“There are two problems with that,” I lean forward, “one: Vincent is my boyfriend and he doesn’t get touched and if he is by any chance ‘convinced’ I will kill you and anyone else. Two: Robert Greene killed himself last night.”
“Noted.” Carm replies, “if he’s yours we obviously won’t touch him. But Greene killing himself causes us a problem.”
“I heard he found a replacement and you’ll meet him in a few weeks. At the meeting of Heads right?”
“I don’t know whether to be impressed with you or worried.” He says scrubbing his hand down his face.
“After seeing her fight, I think it’s impressed.” Emmett says.
“You’ve seen me fight?” I ask him.
“Yeah, the fight with the cop. That was fucking brutal.”
“I don’t usually fight to kill, just incapacitate, but thanks to our big brother here and our late father, I’ve taken a liking to it.”
“Come back to work with us.” Carm implores, “you can get to know Emmett and also train each other. He’s really good with knives and guns and you are really good with combat.”
“I don’t know about the knife training, after seeing Father’s body I would disagree.” Emmett states. He doesn’t seem too torn up about our father’s death.
“Fine, teach her how to throw them and how to hit a target with a bullet.” Carm says patting his back.
“I’ll think about it.” Emmett and I say at the same. Fucking. Time.
“Oh, fuck no.” I breathe. Carm starts a fit of laughing as I point to him and say, “you got the bill.”
I get out of the booth and start walking to the door. “Peace out my G’s.”
I walk into the gym and standing at the desk is Shay in all her bitchy glory. She hasn’t spotted me yet because she’s looking down and scrolling on her phone.
“Ahem.” I clear my throat.
“Shit.” She looks up startled, “oh, hey Ember.”
“What’s up?” I ask, I’m trying to be nice and all that shit but looking at her still kind of pisses me off. I think I just need to uppercut her one time to get it out of my system.
“Nothing really, a lot of people are asking about your classes though. Are you coming back?”
“Probably, I just want to speak to Andrew first. Is he in the office?”
She nods and I let myself in and walk down the hallway to see Andrew. After our brief meeting we come to the agreement that I will start classes again the first week after school starts. I explained I needed the time off to deal with some family shit and I would gladly take the classes up again afterward.
“Are you coming to my party this weekend?” Shay asks as I’m walking by her.
“I have to be in New York this weekend.” I reply.
“It’ll be Friday night. Couldn’t you go on Saturday?”
“I will have to see and get back to you.”
She nods and I wave as I leave the building. I don’t really want to go to Shay’s party to be completely honest. I don’t trust her still and the thought of being in her house just doesn’t appeal to me, but on the other hand, keep your enemies close and all that jazz.
I haven’t heard from Vin yet today and I know why but I decide to text him so he knows I’m thinking about him.
Me: Hey babe, I miss you
It takes a few minutes but his reply comes through.
Vin: I need to see you. R U free?
Me: Just leaving the gym, meet me at my place?
Vin: K
I get back to my house and see the Hummer already idling in my driveway. I get out and cross over to his passenger side to get in. I pop up into the vehicle and lean over to kiss him. He looks handsome in a black dress top with the top two buttons undone and a pair of black slacks. He has a bandanna wrapped around his head and he smells like Dolce. My underwear is always in a state of flood around him. He gives me a quick peck and stares at me.
“What’s going on?” I ask. I already know but this is where my acting skills come in full force.
“Robert killed himself last night.”
“What?” I shake my head, “that’s hard to believe.”
“Yeah, it is.” He nods, “we were all summoned to a will reading this afternoon. So, I’m sorry I wasn’t in
touch.”
“It’s okay, I was busy trying to be normal.” I wave him off, “what will reading?”
“He left me and my mom a good chunk of coin and he put a condo in New York under my name.”
“Whoa.” I breathe, “was he trying to redeem himself?”
“I don’t actually care, but it looks like we have somewhere to stay in New York now.”
I nod because inside I’m elated that everything went to plan but on the outside I am stoic and in control. The are no boundaries to what I would do to keep Vin safe. “When’s the funeral?” I ask.
“Travis and his mom have decided not to have one. I think they are pretty ashamed of how he went out. He’ll be cremated and the rest I didn’t care to hear about.”
“I see.” I nod, “I will call Travis later to see how he’s doing.”
“He’s going to be hella busy now since he has a business to learn to run and a board to keep happy.”
“Poor guy, having control of all that money is just so stressful.” I roll my eyes.
Vin chuckles and leans over to press a kiss to my cheek. “We’re still on for New York this weekend? I’ll book the tickets.”
“Did you want to go Saturday morning? I kind of want to go to Shay’s party and scout out what my senior year is going to look like.”
“Sure. We can do that.” He looks slightly surprised but doesn’t say anything.
“Okay, I better go in and call Travis. Did you want me to come by tonight?” I ask him.
He nods and I lean in to kiss him. He grabs the back of my head and pushes his tongue into my mouth. I moan and deepen the kiss. His tongue ring slides along my tongue and I shiver with arousal. When we pull apart we are both panting and looking at each other hungrily.
“Get in that house now or your ass will be naked in your parents’ driveway.”
I snort and open the door. I blow him a kiss and watch as he circles around and drives to the end of my driveway. He blows his horn once and turns onto the street.
“How’s he doing?” I hear my dad behind me.
“His deadbeat father killed himself, he’s not too beat up about it.” I turn to come into the house. “But I bet Travis is. I should give him a call.”
