“Jesus,” I say, rubbing a hand along my jaw as I stare at them. “This reminds me of that movie with the twins where they swap places.Freaky Friday.”
“That’s notFreaky Friday,” Camilla says instantly. “You’re talking aboutThe Parent Trap.”
“Ignore him,” Lucky butts in. “He likes to fuck with people.”
It’s true. I do. I like getting facts glaringly wrong. Anything from movies to books to names. It amuses me to watch people struggle with the question of whether they should correct me or not. Some people are too polite. You can see it eating away at them. I guess I’m a perverse bastard that way. It’s also entertaining, and sometimes, the air is so heavy, you just need someone to smash it with a hammer of stupidity. I’m usually that guy in my family.
“Bianca is the same way,” Camilla tells me. “She likes to play that she has no idea what’s going on.”
I shake my head, realizing I’m still staring like a deer in headlights. “This is a shock to me, to say the least.”
“We should sit,” Lucky adds, playing host.
We all settle in his living room on spacious, cozy couches. I’m anything but comfortable, though. Now that the shock is wearing off, I’m keenly aware that even though Camilla and Bianca are my half sisters, they’re not any more trustworthy than Antonella. They could be part of her angle. It’s possible she’s using them to get to us.
“So,” I start out, palms on my thighs. “What brings the two of you here to our little corner of the world?”
“Mom,” Bianca says. “She found out that your father died and Priest has taken over. She finally felt safe to come back.”
“That happened two and a half years ago,” I point out.
Camilla nods. “She came across it randomly. She’s tried her best to stay out of this world, given that she’s been in hiding this whole time.”
“How did she come across it?”
Lucky shoots me a look like I should take it easier on them.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” I add. “Or things happening randomly. I also don’t trust Antonella Rossi.”
Camilla and Bianca share a meaningful look with each other.
“Fair enough,” Bianca says. “There’s also been weird stuff happening.”
My interest is instantly piqued. “What kind of weird stuff?”
“A guy showed up at our place,” Camilla tells me. “Bianca and I share an apartment. A few days ago, a man with a Russian accent knocked on our door, claiming he lost his dog. He wanted to know if we’d seen it.”
Bianca nods. “It was creepy.”
“A Russian accent,” I repeat, turning back to Lucky, a trickle of dread rolling down my spine.
He gives me anI told you solook back.
Shit. It’s obvious that he didn’t want to tell me this over the phone. He must have had the time to dig more into the twins’ background and their reason for suddenly appearing in the city since yesterday.
“You saidweird stuff,” I say to Bianca. “What else, besides the Russian guy with the lost dog?”
“Mom thinks someone has been following her around town,” Camilla adds.
I have a sudden, visceral reaction to Camilla casually referring to Antonella asMom. These two have had a mother their whole lives. She never walked out on them. Never disappeared from their lives and left them to be raised by a monster. It’s not Camilla’s and Bianca’s fault, but I can’t help thesharp pang of jealousy. My mother’s absence from my life left a gaping hole inside me that I tried for years to fill in all the wrong ways.
Alcohol.
Sex.
Violence.
Nothing worked.
