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“How are you holding up?” Riley asks.
“I don’t know.” I run my fingers over the pictures still laid out on the kitchen island. A sense of guilt fills me, even though I know I’m not responsible for any of this. I knew my twin wasn’t a good person, but I never imagined he would resort to this.
“All right.” Riley scoops them all up. “This isn’t on you. In fact, you heard them: Since we became friends, they found out about this, so you can help stop it.”
“Not really, but okay.” I let out a humorless laugh. It’s a lot to take in. But it does give me a little bit of a reprieve. “He’s always been off,” I admit. I have never said that out loud before.
“Yeah, you guys don’t have the twin thing.”
“I don’t think we ever did.” I can’t recall us playing together when we were little. “He always tormented me. Got a thrill out of it.”
“One of those red flags.”
“Yeah,” I sigh. "I used to rationalize it as typical brotherly behavior, but he took it too far."
“It’s weird that he and Becky do this together. When they cornered me in his bedroom…” Her voice trails off.
“Oh God, Riley, I’m so sorry.” I walk over and give her a hug.
“It’s fine.” She squeezes me back. “It will all be worth it, if it stops them.”
“You’re right. My life is really going to change.” I’m sure this will be everywhere. I’ve already had early acceptance to a few Ivy League colleges. I bet they get yanked for sure. They were going to be my ticket out of here. I’d picked colleges on the other side of the country on purpose. To start a new life away from all of my father and brother’s nonsense. I didn’t want to live a life in the eye of the public. But thinking about leaving now doesn’t seem so appealing. Not when Abel is here.
“Some for the good?” Riley wiggles her eyebrows. My cheeks start to warm. “So,” she hedges.
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Abel is a bit surreal.”
“He’s intense.”
“What do you know about him?”
"I've only heard of him. My brother-in-law or Nikolai mentioned him.”
“And what did they mention?”
“Ah—” Riley doesn’t meet my eyes.
“What? You’re freaking me out. He told me he wasn’t married.”
“Oh, I don’t think he is. People are just kind of leery of him. I think he handles situations that need a certain set of skills.” I snort a laugh at that. “I don’t know.” She shrugs. “But Nikolai did say he was acting differently with you. I pushed Nikolai to bring me with him to come over so I could check on you.”
“I really like him,” I admit. “Like, a lot.”
"He seems to be interested in you too. I’ve never seen Nikolai be so surprised by something.”
“Yeah, I think so. But it’s only been a short time, and I think he’s kind of stuck with me right now.” It makes me wonder what will happen when all of this is over. Heck, he might even like me, but it doesn’t mean he wants me all up in his space. I have even taken over his bed. Hadn’t he said it was his job to keep me safe?
“I’m pretty confident he’s into you.”
“Didn’t you think Nikolai hated you?” I tease her.
“Maybe.” She laughs.
“We might not be the best at reading men.”
“You’d think with all the reading we do, we’d be top-notch.”
“Riley, I don’t think reading romance novels counts as research.” We both burst into laughter. If that were the case, we would be seasoned professionals by now. If anything, it might make us a bit too dreamy and living in another world that is nowhere near reality.