Page 27 of Jessica, Not Her Real Name

Martín jerked his head toward the kitchen. “Arriba.”

His brother was upstairs.

Daniel straightened, feeling the older man’s gaze on him as he moved past the counter and into the back. The kitchen was a humid mess of sizzling oil and rapid-fire Spanish. Nobody looked up. They’d all learned that much.

Upstairs, he tapped on the door before pushing it open.

Sebastián was sitting cross-legged on his bed, a textbook propped against his knees. His dark curls hung over his face as he read, but Daniel caught the title:Applied Anatomy for Students in a Clinical Setting, Fifth Edition.He tilted his head, smirking. “Sounds riveting.”

Sebastián didn’t look up. “Caleb left it behind this morning.”

Daniel sat with that for a beat. His eyes flicked around the room. The same sparse furniture as always, just a bed, a chest of drawers, and a whole lot of empty space.

“So,” he said, clearing his throat, “this guy is spending nights here now?”

Sebastián’s gaze lifted, blank as a closed door. His little brother had always been like that, good at keeping his emotions locked down.

“I thought you said it didn’t bother you.”

Daniel exhaled through his nose, gave a quick shake of his head. Seb was seventeen. It’s not like Daniel had been celibate at that age. Far fucking from it. “It doesn’t,hermanito,” he said softly. “You know that.”

Sebastián studied him for a moment, then looked away. “We broke up this morning. So, I guess it doesn’t matter anyway.”

Daniel frowned. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to that, so he sat down on the edge of the bed. “You wanna give me his address?” he offered. “I’ll go round and return his book. Maybe shove it somewhere… anatomical.”

That earned him a tiny smile. “Thanks, Dani but I’m good.”

“You sure? I can send Terry round. Dude’s a fucking ninja with a bone saw.”

Sebastián’s smile faded. Daniel knew he hated it when he talked like that, when he let the darkness of his life slip into their conversations like it was normal. Bone saws. Bloodstains and bleach. The things he didn’t want his little brother to think about.

But the truth was, that was his life. And most of the time, it wasn’t the blood or the violence that got to him. It was the loneliness.

Sebastián sighed. “You know that guy creeps me out.”

Daniel smiled. “Terry creeps everybody out. That’s the whole point of him.”

Sebastián made a face but let it drop.

After a beat, Daniel swiveled toward him. “Escucha,hermanito. I gotta leave town for a couple of days.”

Sebastián looked up, closing his book. “Where?”

“Philly.”

He didn’t ask why. Sebastián never asked why.

Daniel rubbed a hand over his jaw. “You know that girl that was with me at the mercado?”

Sebastián frowned. “¿La chica rubia?”

“Sí.The blonde.”

“Julia,¿claro?”

Daniel nodded.

Sebastián’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you need?”