Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
KAMILA
C ameron and Ana have been standing perfectly still, staring at each other for over a minute now. Meanwhile, I’m in the middle of my living room, feeling…I don’t know what this feeling is, actually. A combination of nausea, tachycardia, and trepidation.
After swallowing my bile for the third time in a row, my hoarse voice finally decides to work.
“Ana, I can explain.”
“You don’t have to explain anything to her,” Cameron says, not taking his stare off my sister.
What?
“No, Cameron, of course she deserves an explanation. She's my sister.”
Ana’s body starts visibly shaking as she slowly turns to me.
Good God, I made her cry.
“What did you do?” She meets my eyes, and what I see in them is not what I expected. I pictured sadness, tears, betrayal, anything but hatred, disgust, and unadulterated rage.
She’s shaking from anger, not crying. It’s worse, much, much worse.
My twin walks over to me slowly, Cameron following a foot behind, observing her closely. My stare travels back and forth between them, and before I know it, Ana throws herself in my direction. I put my arms up in self-defense, and after a couple of seconds, when I feel nothing, I open my eyes. Cam has his arms around Ana’s waist, who’s now squirming, trying to get out of his hold.
“What did you do, Kamila?!” she yells.
A tear glides down my cheek. “I’m sorry,” I say weakly. “I was going to tell you everything over winter break, I swear.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to her, Kamila,” Cam says again while trying to restrain Ana.
“Oh yes, she fucking does.” My sister then attempts to elbow him in the gut, failing. He grabs her arms and pushes them together on each side of her body. When she sees that there’s no getting out of his hold, she relaxes, but the same murderous look remains.
“Now, if I let you go, will you stop behaving like a wild animal?” Cam asks in an oddly calm tone.
After a moment, she dips her chin.
“If you try to attack her again, I’m not only dragging you out of here myself, but I will call campus police, understand?” He’s practically growling.
Her shoulders deflate and she nods again, still not taking her eyes off mine.
Cam lets her down, but doesn’t look away. Instead, he stands between us, close enough to interfere yet far away enough to give us proper space. And right now, I have never felt farther from my sister.
He looks at me, and his face immediately softens. I see the apology in his eyes and shake my head, attempting to convey my unspoken message.
There’s no need to apologize.
And then, I see a flicker of a new emotion, an expression I’ve never seen before .
It’s the closest look I’ve ever gotten to one of those that Rafael has given my mother.
I gasp quietly when I realize what he’s trying to say and now is possibly the worst time to be doing this, even if it wasn’t intentional. My eyes plead with him.
Not here. Not now. Please.
His face goes stoic. He gives me a small yet understanding nod.
“Oh. My. God,” Ana sneers. “I thought you two were just fucking, but no, you,” she points to Cameron, “ love her.”
He doesn’t acknowledge her and continues to look ahead, his face remaining neutral.
He’s not denying it.
Attempting to focus on the whole twin sister situation at hand, I manage to glance her way.
“None of this surprises me. I always suspected you two were doing shit behind my back years ago.” She shakes her head in disbelief.
“We never did anything in high school. We were just friends. I love you, Ana?—”
“No, you don’t,” she spits out quickly. “Or you wouldn’t have done anything with the boy who broke my heart when I was only seven-fucking-teen.”
“What the fuck do you mean I broke your heart?” Cameron looks at me and then back at his ex-girlfriend. “What did you tell her about that night, Ana?”
“The truth.”
Big brown eyes turn to me. “Kamila, I need to know what she told you about that night.”
“I told her everything there was to know, asshole.” Ana’s eyes are no longer full of anger when she says her next words. “Right, hermanita?”
I tilt my head in confusion at the sudden change in her demeanor.
Cam snaps his fingers, and I watch him once again .
“Eyes on me,” he says softly. “I need to know every detail she told you about that night.”
Ana attempts to speak until Cam lifts a finger, shutting her up.
“Say one more word, and I will haul you out of here. I’ll take you to the fucking station myself and you will be escorted off the grounds immediately.”
I sense Ana’s gaze on me like she’s trying to get me to defend her, but I don’t utter a word. I’m thankful for Cam’s presence. My sister scared me earlier and is confusing me now. She tried to cause me physical harm, which has never happened in all of our twenty years of living together.
His stare meets mine.
We both nod our heads reluctantly because we knew this was coming.
It’s time.