I walk into Taiya’s room without knocking, about to open my mouth to tell her about the plans I’d made for tonight. “What the fuck is that?” is what comes out, as soon as my eyes land on the bird sitting on her shoulder.
She smiles, and turns her face to the bird. “This is Leonardo, our new pet.”
I stay silent.
“I told you I was getting a pet today, remember?”
“Yeah, I thought you were getting a puppy, or a fish, or something,” I ramble, eyeing the bird.
“He’s a cockatiel. Isn’t he gorgeous?” she asks, cooing at the bird. Gorgeous. Not a word I’d use to describe a bird, but anyway. Taiya puts him back on his perch and stands.
“Give me a sec. I’ll go and get his cage,” she says, walking out of the room. Curious, I walk closer to the bird and put my hand out, the same way I saw Taiya doing. Instead of climbing on top of my hand, the little monster hisses and snaps at my fingers, trying to bite them.
“Vicious little thing, aren’t you?” I mutter under my breath, eyeing Leonardo with distaste. When he hisses again, I step away. Taiya steps back into the room with a cage, putting it on the floor in the corner of her room.
“He isn’t going to sleep in here, is he?” I ask her, dreading the answer.
“No,” she answers, laughing. “I’m going to put him in the front room.” Well, thank fuck for that.
“I have something planned for us tonight,” I tell her, wrapping my hands around her tiny waist. She puts the bird into the cage and spins around, giving me her full attention.
“What are you up to?” she asks suspiciously, leaning her head on my chest.
“Can’t a man spoil his wife?” I say, kissing her on top of her head. I love having her in my arms. It feels like everything is right in the world. Like I’m right where I’m meant to be. The last two weeks, since I gave her the ring, have been like a honeymoon. Taiya and I, together every day. Making love, going out for romantic dates, getting to know each other again. It’s been the best time of my life. She is perfect. Perfect for me.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve been spoiling me for a while now,” she says, looking up at me. I push an errant curl away from her face.
“You better get used to it,” I tell her, running my fingers down her soft cheek.
“I have to admit something,” she says, looking a little sheepish.
“What’s that?”
“I moved into this building because I knew you were here, and even if I was mad at you, I wanted to be near you,” she says, rushing out the words.
I smile widely. “I knew it!”
“You did not,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Okay, I didn’t. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. Summer said she mentioned the place to you.”
She nods. “She did, and she also mentioned that you lived here too.”
Summer failed to tell me that part. “That was a gamble,” I mutter.
“A gamble that paid off, clearly.”
“You’re right. And I’m so fucking happy with the way everything turned out. Now, I get to touch you whenever I want,” I say as my hands grip her ass.
“You have it bad, Ryan,” Taiya jokes, leaning up to kiss me on the jawline. Fuck, she’s sweet. I’m about to show her just how sweet she is when my phone rings, blasting that stupid fox song. Taiya starts laughing, and I know then that it’s her who put it there. I tickle her under her breast, before answering.
Then I head straight to Reid’s to find out what the hell is going on.
*****
Reid stands by the window in his bedroom, staring outside. He has a blank look on his face, and I know straight away something is wrong. He said nothing on the phone, just for me to come over because he needed to talk to me about something. Summer and Taiya are in the kitchen, giving Reid and me some space to talk alone. I love that the two of them understand that sometimes Reid and I just need to be there for each other. It may sound girly, or whatever, but being a twin means I’m connected to him in a way no one might ever understand. And I wouldn’t expect them to.
“What’s going on?” I ask, sitting on the edge of his bed. He picks up a piece of paper and hands it to me without saying a word. It’s a letter. From our father. I glance up at Reid and he nods his head encouragingly. I read over the letter, once, twice. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I growl, putting the paper on the bed and standing up. Reid scrubs his hand over his face, and then looks me dead in the eye.
“We need to find her,” is all he says.
I nod, smiling bitterly. “We will.”
I have a half-sister I had no idea about. And only now he wants to tell us, just spring it on us like this. In a fucking letter. Is she okay? Is she living a good life? Does she know about us? Did our mum know that he cheated on her? So many unanswered questions, and since I’m not going to go to the source to ask for answers, I’m just going to have to try and find them out for myself. Starting with her. Persephone Knox.
I put my hand on Reid’s shoulder, squeezing. “We have a baby sister, huh!”
He smirks a little. “I feel sorry for her already.”
“Tell me about it. So this is how Xander felt,” I say, and we both go quiet, lost in our own thoughts.
“What if she doesn’t want anything to do with us?” he asks suddenly, sitting down on the bed.
“We will worry about that when we get to it. First we need to find her.”
He tightens his lips. “We could have had her in our lives this whole time. Even if it was just on holidays. We would have kept an eye on her, make sure she wanted for nothing. He is such a selfish fuck.”
I nod. “I know.” What else is there to say? Our father is a dickhead; there’s really nothing new there. I have to wonder why he decided to tell us. Probably for us to come and see him to beg for her whereabouts. Maybe he needs money or something.
“How do we know he isn’t lying?” I ask. Reid stands and gets the envelope on the table. He hands it over to me, and I peep inside. Pulling out the small photo, I stare at it. It’s my father, another woman, and a little baby girl. She’s blonde, and cute. I turn the photo over, and it reads ‘Persephone’.
I swallow hard, taking in every detail on the photograph. I don’t know why it hurts, but it does. He had a whole other family. Is that why he hated us so much?
“Stay in the present, Ry,” Reid says, pulling me from my thoughts.
I go rigid. “It’s a little more complicated than that, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but we need to think about Seph now,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck.
I pause. “You’ve already given her a nickname?” I ask, my lips twitching.
“That name is a little long,” he pauses, “and ridiculous.”
I nod in agreement. “She needs an R name.”
He laughs. “That’s exactly it.”
“You know, I think we’re going to be amazing brothers.”
I flash him a look that says ‘well, duh.’ “So I guess we start with the internet.”
“We should ask Mia to help,” he says, surprising the shit out of me.
“What?” I ask, confused.
“She’s like the FBI. I remember when we were dating, she would hack into everything, my phone, my email, and track me down at random times.” We both laugh, and I know he’s only messing around, trying to lighten up the situation.
“Yeah, it’s funny now,” he says, clearing his throat. I laugh harder at the expression on his face.
“Come on, let’s go talk with our women,” he says, making me grin.
“Now who’s whipped?”
“Still you,” I reply.
He scoffs. “Well, yes, but now you can’t judge me for it.”
“Fine, we’ll call it even.”
“Equally pussy whipped?”
I still. “Well, yes. But you don’t admit that.” At least not out loud. Or in public.
“Pussy whipped but can’t admit it, got it,” he says, his smile letting me know he’s just being a tool.
“You worry me sometimes.”
“You love me.”
I do. “All right, let’s call in the reinforcements. Tomorrow, we start looking for Persephone.”