Page 52 of We Are Yours

“Isla…” I muttered, my voice laced thick with uncertainty and concern.

My mind battled my heart, raging a war I never had a chance to survive. It was her loneliness that ate me alive, swallowing me whole, and that was when it clicked, that was when I understood…

We were one and the same.

It was why we pushed people away.

It wasn’t about her not wanting to speak to anyone. It was her trying to hide from everyone.

She was the first to break our trancelike state.

She turned, finally ready to leave without hearing my response. The Uber drove us back to the house.

Home.

Neither of us spoke. I jumped in the shower and then lay there in my room, staring at the ceiling. I knew she was in my brother’s bed. I could hear and feel her through the wall that separated us. Needing to make something right between us, I was suddenly sitting at my piano, playing the first song she ever heard us play at the subway station that evening, where we first met.

Knowing deep in my heart…

This song meant everything to her.

And I could give her that.

* * *

Even if it was only for tonight.

Chapter

Twenty

Julius

The drive from the Bronx hotel to the club was quick. People went there to party, and it was the only reason I was there. I was already in a shit mood when I hopped off my bike and made my way up to the entrance.

I lived under the same roof with two of the closest people to me, and I had to keep secrets to protect them. Playing this double life was taking a toll on me. I was losing my mind, and they had no clue.

As I approached the entry, the air crackled with cosmic energy, and the bouncer eyed me up and down. From my boots to my collared shirt to my leather jacket, his stare stayed intently focused on me.

I cocked my head to the side, informing, “I was invited. I’m Julius Knightly.”

“By who?”

“Your boss.”

Talking into his earpiece, he announced, “I got a Julius Knightly here.” Seconds later, he narrowed his gaze at me, nodding for me to go in.

The massive club was packed, making it difficult for me to enter without waiting for the crowds to disperse. The farther I stepped into the building, the worse it became.

The music pounded through the speakers around me, vibrating deep in my bones as I tried to move quickly. I’d been there before. The owner’s office was located in the back, and this was the only way to reach him. This club was just one of his hot spots where he could push his own drugs without having to worry about the repercussions.

I tried not to pay attention to all the bodies grinding up against me, dragging me into the mass of people dancing to the house music that was blaring above the crowds.

I hated this scene. For the past two years, I’d sold drugs off and on at clubs, and I couldn’t separate partying from working. The first time I sold drugs for Marco, I was only fifteen years old. I met him through Joe. He used to come by the house when I was a kid. Sometimes he’d stay and party with my parents for days on end. Other times, he was there to collect money. They’d run up their tab until he tracked them down.

Unfortunately, he was only one of several numbers on their speed dial. It was how I figured out he was one of their dealers. After you had a few threatening people pound on your front door a couple of times, shoving demands in your parents’ faces, you’d want to know who you were dealing with, too. It was safer that way.

I’d take Kraven into my bedroom, lock the door, and throw headphones on him. One of the most traumatic memories returned in a rush, triggering a shiver down my spine.