“Do you have to leave?”
The words come as I reach into my closet, and when I turn around, I find my sister standing in the doorway, arms folded over her chest with a somber look that tugs at the guilt I’ve been trying to shove down. Guilt I always feel whenever I take a trip that keeps me from my sister for multiple days. Guilt I’ve always felt for not being a better sister—a present sister.
The last time I left, Uncle Gio broke into our home and almost killed her. I would have lost my sister if her bodyguard hadn’t stepped in and saved her life. I wasn’t there when our parents were killed either—Matilde witnessed it alone, hiding while I was safe somewhere else. All this happened while I was away, and the guilt of that ate into me for so long that I canceled all plans to travel out of state. And for months, I’ve stayed, keeping my sister company while trying to ignore how restless I’ve become.
But the world keeps calling.
I’ve tried to be here, to stay grounded in a city my twin sister clearly loves, and to film my content while I help her run the charming little bakery café she runs. I’ve watched her live her dream, with a man she clearly loves.
Does it make me a bad sister to want the same for myself? Not the man—God, no. I can’t afford to love anyone. But the dream? Leaving my sister in the safe hands of Luca Conti—a man who would kill to protect her and nearly did—puts me at ease.
Still, it doesn’t help with the guilt. “I’m sorry,” I say, walking back toward the bed where my suitcase sits open. “I wish I could stay.”I tried.
“I know,” she responds with a resigned sigh, walking toward me and dropping down on the bed. “I always knew you’d do this eventually. I guess I just hoped I’d have you a little longer.”
“I’ll only be gone for a few weeks, and besides, you’ll be too busy smooching with your bodyguard to even miss me.”
She laughs, grabbing a pillow and tossing it at me, but I see the flush on her cheeks. The pink stain she always gets when I mention her bodyguard turned boyfriend. “Luca will be busy with his own stuff too.”
I snort at that. Since we met the man, he’s never taken his eyes off Matilde, and thank heavens for that. With a murderous uncle trying to steal our inheritance, it helped that my sister had someone who cared about her enough to remove that obstacle from our lives. “Maybe I should talk to Luca about giving you a little more attention,” I tease her.
“Please don’t,” she winces. “The other day, he scared off a customer who was trying to flirt with me. Poor guy probably went home and cried into his pillow.”
“I don’t doubt that.” I laugh, tossing more clothes on the bed. A silence falls as she starts to help me pack, her movements slow and deliberate, as if hoping to extend the moment. I watch her lift a crumpled sweater from the pile, smoothing out thewrinkles with gentle fingers before she starts folding it, neat and precise. Just like our mom used to do. Something about my twin sister reminds me so much of her—how she loved baking and taking care of the people around her. Something people have attempted to take advantage of in the past.
A fresh wave of guilt floods in, strong enough to make me reconsider my decision to leave.
Should I stay?
“Don’t even think about it!”
“Huh?” My eyes shoot up from the top she’s now folding to her face, eyes similar to mine narrowing at me.
“You’re rethinking things, aren’t you?”
I shrug, “Why would you say that?” Can she read my mind? Do we have a one-sided twin telepathy?
“No, I can’t read your mind,” she says with a laugh. “I just know you, and I know you’re feeling guilty about leaving because of what happened with Uncle Gio. But despite my selfish wish for you to stay, I don’t actually think you should. You’re restless here.”
“Restless isn’t that bad—”
“But it’s not you,” she says, reaching for another top to fold. “You’re like Dad before he met Mom. He was a bit of a wild card. I mean, who would have thought that years later, we’d learn that he and Uncle Gio were involved in a heist, or that he’d been hiding an expensive piece of art for nearly twenty years?”
“I’m not planning on robbing any museums.”
“No, I don’t suppose you are. It didn’t end well for Dad either, but my point is, you can’t be tied down. Not to a place or a person. Not until you find ground solid enough to stand on.”
She understands. I don’t know why I thought my twin sister wouldn’t, but it seems she knows me better than I expected. “I’ll call you every day—no, twice a day,” I say, drawing laughter out of her. “I’ll send you tons and tons of pictures, and you’ll be the first I call when I need help.”
“Well, I expect you’re taking your bodyguard with you, so I’m not too worried.”
I firm my mouth, biting back the urge to point out that I don’t need a bodyguard on this trip. Besides, the danger that was Uncle Gio has been removed—which was why we got bodyguards in the first place. Still, this was a condition my family gave me if they were to let me drive across the country in my van. It didn’t seem to matter to them that my van barely has enough room for two people. So Amy, my bodyguard, would just have to get used to the cramped quarters. My cousin, Elena, the family’s genius, sent me nearly a hundred copies of articles on serial killers targeting women traveling alone. If that wasn’t enough to scare the hell out of me, Sofia and Gia left ghost stories on our group chat that were hard to ignore.
“Amy will be there,” I say with a sigh. “I would have been fine on my own, but Sofia and Gia are convinced some serial killer will snatch me in my sleep.”
“Serial killer?” Matilde scoffs, turning back to help me organize my things. Since she’s doing a better job than I am, I stop to watch her. The truth is, I don’t scare easily, and bringing a bodyguard with me is more for my sister’s peace of mind than mine. With our parents gone, we’re each other’s only immediate family. As twins, our bond is even deeper, and at times, I swear I can feel her emotions.
Her worries, her fears, and her happiness.
