He slams a hand on his desk, the sound echoing off the wood. “I won’t have you ruin her legacy like you’ve ruined all our lives,” he grinds out as I stalk away, letting the door slam closed behind me.
Her legacy.
Fuck him.
Fuck him, fuck her, and fuck that fucking noise.
I’ve had her death thrown in my face my entire life. For a woman I never had the chance to meet, she sure did cast a black fucking shadow over me.
My father can keep his money and my inheritance. As he’s told me a million times over the years, I don’t deserve it anyway—it’s her blood money. But am I willing to do this to Sabella?
I storm through the large oval foyer and head to the front door, my footsteps echoing around the large space. I had plans, big plans, and soon enough, he won’t be able to do shit to control me. Soon enough, my so-called father is going to regret ever pissing me off.
“Sammy!” Sabella calls my childhood nickname as I pass the curved staircase. “Sammy, wait.”
I stop and turn back to her, watching as she takes them two at a time, her long auburn hair flowing out behind her in dark waves. She comes to a stop in front of me, and I flinch at the look of disappointment in her eyes.
Sabella, my twin sister—the only person in this world who can make me feel bad for any of the shit I do.
“What did he say? Are you starting at my school?” she asks with concern.
St. Augustine is an elite school for only the very best of society. It was her school, not mine. Because I didn’t deserve to go there. She knew it, I knew it, Max knew it. Hell, the Dean of St. Augustine knew it. What none of them knew was I had a plan, and St. Augustine had always been it.
“He says so, yeah,” I grunt out. “Ain’t any other schools left to send me to.” I chuckle.
“Sammy, that’s not funny.”
I roll my eyes at her, and she tsks me, already moving on from my quip. She never stays mad at me for long. “My little brother is going to make the girls wild.”
I’m her little brother by three-point-four seconds, and she likes to hold that over me. She’s older and wiser than me and our father—the mom we never got. I hate that I’m going to her school. Hate that I might mess things up for her. There’s no doubt I’ll find a way to, whether it be sleeping with her friends, getting into a fight, or just tarnishing her reputation with mine. That’s what I always did.
Sabella and I are similar in looks—tan skin, dark hair, dark eyes, and full mouths—but that’s where our similarities end. While she buries herself in her studies, I barely make it to class. While she helps out at the Humane Society on weekends and fills her evenings with making coffee for anyone who shows up at the homeless shelter, I fill my weekends with parties, women, and booze, and my evenings with illegal underground fights.
We are complete opposites, yet joined by the inexplicable connection only twins have.
She leans over and pulls me into her arms like I’m one of her lost puppies at the shelter, and I let her, allowing her to mother me in the way only she knows best, making me feel both loved and wanted, despite being a complete and utter disappointment.
I finally pull out of her arms to find her smiling, and I can’t stop my own smile from mirroring hers.
“I promise, you won’t even know I’m there,” I say as I realize she isn’t sad about me going to her school and potentially ruining shit for her, but excited at the prospect of having me there. Her beaming smile tells me everything I need to know about how she feels.
She pushes my arm, though I don’t move even a millimeter. “I have no doubt everyone will know my little brother is there within the hour.” She laughs and flicks her hair back off her shoulder. “Just stay away from my friends.”
“That depends,” I say, “are they hot?”
She punches me in the shoulder, and I play wince, making her laugh. Her face lights up when she smiles, and I wonder if this is what our mom looked like when she laughed. I bury the thought before it gains substance.
God, she’s pretty. I hope to hell she meets a good guy who’ll treat her like she deserves. She’s clever and kind and beautiful, and she deserves the fucking world. Our mom would have been proud as hell of the woman she is becoming. Pity she isn’t here to see it.
“What are you saying?” I ask, feigning shock.
She turns and starts to head back up the stairs. “You’re not exactly the shy, reserved kind, Sammy. Girls will be fawning over you, and you’ll have the female teachers eating out of the palm of your hand.”
“If only I had them eating—”
“Sammy!” she laughs, cutting me off. “You’re disgusting.”
I chuckle and open the front door before looking back at her, only to find her gazing down at me, her expression sober. Jesus Christ, women are confusing, probably why I liked to fuck ’em and leave ’em.
