Epilogue One
JETMIR
One Month Later
Istood barefoot, wearing nothing but my gray sweatpants. My wife loved me wearing those and bought me one for every day of the month. Fuck, I was so fucking lucky to have her.
My palm rested against the glass wall of the Miami penthouse—the very same one I used to stalk-slash-protect my wife during our separation—while the city glittered beneath me against the gray sky.
We stayed at this place whenever we were in Miami.
She loved the space and it was close enough to her parents' house. More importantly, it gave us privacy.
Of course, occasionally we stayed at the Santos villa too. Needless to say, I had to be on my best behavior there which meant, I couldn’t have my hands all over my beautiful wife.
Raphael was slowly, but surely warming up to me, but I started to suspect kissing his daughter in front of him would never fly. Whenever Anya made an inappropriate, sex joke, my father-in-law would wince, then grumble in Spanish something about killing me.
Yeah, he loves me.
I was happy, but there was one thing that damped that happiness.
My twin.
She was still somewhere in China. We’d done considerable damage to the Triad, and I was ready for her to return, but she kept refusing. It worried me and our family. Nobody seemed to get an inclination of what or who she was after, because there was definitely something else afoot here.
The laptop on my desk rang, signaling incoming FaceTime.
I rushed back to my desk and sat down as I pressed the answer button. My sister’s face filled the screen.
“There you are. I’ve been messaging you for a whole week without an answer,” I grumbled. It was hard not to worry. “When are you coming back?”
She rolled her eyes. “Hello to you too.”
“When?” I demanded.
“Not sure yet.” Her eyes darted away from the screen, and my stomach twisted. “I told you to stop worrying.”
“How can I when my sister is in danger!”
She sighed. “I promise, I’m not.”
“Then come back,” I insisted.
“Trust me, Jetmir. My business here isn’t finished.”
“Your business?”
“I meant our business.”
“Elira, what are you really up to?” I asked somberly. “Don’t you trust me.”
“I trust you explicitly," she retorted. “And I’m not up to anything.”
“I’m your twin. I know when you’re lying.”
She smiled faintly. “You’re getting annoyingly in your blissful stage of life.”
I leaned forward, studying every line of my twin sister. She didn’t look hurt, exhausted or unhappy, but something was definitely off.
“Come home,” I repeated. “Please. I’m about to propose to Anya and then we’ll have a wedding with family and friends. I want you here for it.”
Her brows furrowed. “Why would you propose to her again? You two are married.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I know she always wanted her papa to walk her down the aisle. So I want to give her that.”
“You’re so whipped.”
I grinned. “It’s a great feeling."
“So what is your plan?”
“I’m taking her to dinner, then to a bookshop that will be closed to the public. After book shopping, I’ll get down on my knees and propose. Hopefully, she says yes.”
“Of course she will. Especially considering you’re already married.” She tilted her head pensively. “I’m happy for you.”
That was my opening to try again. “If you are, then come home. So you can be here for it all.”
“Jetmir—”
“Come home.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“I’m too close.”
My jaw tightened. “Close to what?”
“Nothing.”
“The Triad isn’t worth your life,” I grumbled, getting irritated. “We’ve damaged their operations beyond repair. Let them lick their wounds. They won’t be back to operations in our lifetime.”
“This is something I’m doing for me.”
“But what is it that you’re doing exactly, Elira?”
She sighed and looked away from the camera.
“Please, it’s better if you don’t ask questions. Just trust me and don’t worry about me.”
I let out a sardonic breath. “Now I am definitely worried.”
“I can handle this.”
“I know you can, whatever this is that you’re talking about.”
“Then let me be.”
“I can’t.” My voice dropped. “You’re my twin. We’ve been through so much together. I cannot just turn off the switch and stop worrying about you.”
“I love you too, my brother.” Her eyes softened. “Trust me, I’m not helpless.”
“I didn’t say you were helpless.” I dragged a hand over my face. “Promise me you’ll call me if you need help.”
“I will.”
“And promise me you will come home.”
Her expression crumbled for half a second before she steadied herself. “I swear to you, Jet, I’ll be back and we will see each other soon.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“That’s very vague.”
“It’s the best I can give you.”
I stared at her for a long moment before reluctantly nodding. “Fine. But send me updates more often.”
“Bossy.”
“Every day if you can.”
“Fine. If I can send you a text everyday, I will.”
“And if you get so much as a scratch—”
She laughed.
“What? You’ll fly across the world?”
“Without hesitation.”
“I know.”
“Okay, enough about all this.” She tilted her head. “Tell me how are things with you? How many books are you buying your wife today?”
I chuckled. “As many as she wants.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Spoiling her, I see.”
I shook my head, unable to stop myself from smiling. “I love seeing her happy, and books… they make her happy.”
“You aren’t jealous?”
“Ha, not when they give my angel so many ideas.”
Her nose wrinkled.
“I don’t even want to ask what kind of ideas.” But then her smile turned sincere. “You deserve her and I’m so fucking happy for you.”
“Thank you.” I cleared my throat, slightly uncomfortable with my display of emotions. Elira and I went through a lot of things together, but we rarely showed our emotions anymore. When we were children, yes. Adulthood taught us to hide them. “I want you to find that too. I want you to be happy.”
A shadow crossed her face, but she schooled it too fast for me to zero on it.
“Maybe one day,” she said vaguely.
I let out a slow breath.
“You deserve to find love, Elira. I’m going to struggle to accept any man in your life and probably criticize him and glare at him at every turn.
” Shit, that would make me like my father-in-law.
I guess we were more alike than I cared to admit.
Ignoring that newfound revelation, I continued, “Loving Anya has taught me that we are worthy of just as much happiness as anyone else. It doesn’t matter who our ancestors are or what they’ve done. Their sins aren’t ours.”
“I’m so happy Anya finally saw you for the good man you are. She loves you very much, after all she chose you over her own family.”
It had been a month since Raphael held the gun to my head on that island and every day I wake up in disbelief. Anya really chose me.
Elira’s smile grew and she scoffed. “I knew it.”
My brows furrowed. “You knew what?”
“That you’d become pathetic.” Then she grinned. “I’m sorry, I had to ruin the moment. It was getting too emotional.”
I shook my head.
“Nothing anyone says or does will ruin any of my moments with Anya.”
She grew somber again. “Then hold onto her.”
“I intend to.”
For a moment, we simply looked at each other. We’d spent our whole lives depending on each other, and it meant a lot that she was happy for me.
Before I could tell her all that, a sudden noise came from somewhere behind her.
My smile disappeared and her expression sharpened. “What was that?”
“Nothing.” She glanced toward whatever had made the sound. “Jet, I have to go.”
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
“I’ll call you.”
“Wait—”
“I love you.”
“Sis—”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Then the screen went black.
My instincts screamed that something was wrong, but maybe Elira promised she would ask for help if she needed it. Right?
I stared at my reflection on the blank screen and was reaching for my phone to call her when I heard footsteps approaching.
I lifted my head and found my angel. Anya stood in the doorway, one hand resting against the frame, dressed for our date.
My breath caught, and all I could do was stare at her while all the worry for Elira took a backseat. For now.
I stood up and came around the desk, approaching her slowly.
“Hello, my beautiful wife.” God, I would never get tired of calling her my wife. I wanted it to be every other word I spoke so everyone knew she was mine.
“Hey there, handsome,” she greeted me. “Is that how you’re taking me out?” Her gaze roamed over me slowly. “Don’t get me wrong, I love you in gray sweatpants, but I might have to kill every woman that looks at you.”
My eyebrows arched. “So possessive. I like this side of you.”
She chuckled.
“Damn straight. Although, I’ll need your help killing them since I’ve never killed anyone.”
I bent my head and brushed my lips against hers. “You got it.”
After a heartbeat, she asked, “What were you thinking about just now before I came?”
I hesitated before answering. I didn’t want to worry Anya with it too, but I wanted to share everything with her. All the good, the bad, and the ugly. Although, I hoped it would be mostly good stuff as we grew old together.
“Elira,” I finally said. Anya’s eyes softened. “She Facetimed me. I’m worried about her.”
“I know.” She slipped her fingers into mine. “But Elira is strong and smart. Whatever she is doing, I’m sure she has a handle on it.”
“I know, but if she needs help—”
“She’ll ask for it,” Anya said with conviction.
My mouth curved.
“I married such a smart woman.”
“Don’t forget beautiful too."
“And loving,” I added. “And so kind. I scored big time with you. God knows I don’t deserve you.”
“Ah, so full of compliments.” She laughed softly and pulled me down for another kiss.
I relished in it, setting my worries for my twin aside for the moment. Anya was right. My sister was smart and badass. She knew when it was time to ask for help.
“Now, go get dressed,” Anya murmured against my mouth. “We have to stop at my gallery and then you promised me a day out.”
I smiled smugly. “I did.”
“Can you share some details on what we’ll be doing during this day out? Is it a date?”
“Maybe.”
“Can I guess what we’ll do?”
“Guess away, my angel.”
“Book shopping?”
I chuckled. “Always.”
Her face lit up. “And I can get a book?”
“You can get them all.”
She peppered kisses all over my face.
“And then?” she asked.
“A stroll downtown,” I drawled.
Her eyes darted to the window. “It’s drizzling.”
I followed her eyes to the glass. Tiny droplets had begun their descent and I smiled. Today would be perfect. Rain was exactly what we needed.
“But we love the rain, don’t we?”
Her expression softened. “We do.”
We had so many memories in the rain.
Our first dance. Our last argument before I kidnapped my wife. Moments when the rest of the world disappeared and it had only ever been us.
I reached for her hand and pulled her against me. “I love you, Anya Santos-Vokov-Tijuana..”
She touched my cheek.
“I love you too.”
I brushed a strand of platinum-blonde hair away from her face.
“I love waking up beside you. I love hearing you laugh. I love when you get excited about books. I love the way you look at me like I’m worth something. I love you so much that I’m terrified I’d burn down the world without a second thought only to keep you next to me.”
Her eyes shimmered.
“No need to burn down the world, because I’ll never leave you,” she murmured as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Her forehead touched mine. “I love you. Forever.”
My arms tightened around her and I kissed her tenderly. I’d finally been given everything I’d ever wanted and I wouldn’t take it for granted.
Our kiss deepened and the world disappeared along with its troubles. There was only Anya and I.
One heart. One soul. Forever together.