Page 54 of Stolen Vows

She swallows hard. She stares me down for a moment. And then, at last, she speaks.

"It’s Miranda."

The world stops for a moment.

"Miranda?” I hiss back, as I snatch the phone off of her. Cara glances between us, no clearer on what is going on.

"Who’s Miranda?”

"You didn’t tell her who Miranda is?” Maya asks me incredulously, her eyes widening.

Doesn’t she get it? There are some things we just can’t get into, some things that I thought were so far in the past they would never matter any longer. She is on the other side of the damn world, all the way in Italy, as she has been since the night that call came through—the call where she told us that she couldn’t come back to the family, the call that changed everything, the call that tore another gaping hole in my heart...

I lift the phone to my ear, and pause for a moment. I can hear breathing. Is it her? I stand there for a moment in silence, no idea what to say, no idea what to do.

"M-Max? Is that you?”

I squeeze my eyes shut. It’s her; there’s no doubt about it. Hearing her voice tosses me back in time, to the years that we grew up together. We were the two oldest. We had been a pair for so long, until she had turned her back and left...

"Yeah, Miranda," I reply, after a long pause. "Yeah, it’s me."

"Max, I?—"

In the background of the call, I hear what sounds like a gun cocking. My ears prick up at once.But she’s meant to be out of all of this. She's meant to have left this all behind...

She has to catch her breath, her fear getting the better of her. And, if there is one thing I remember about my sister, it’s that she doesn’t scare easily.

She speaks again, her voice low and urgent.

"Max, I need your help."