try to take in a calming breath, but it just doesn’t work. Each breath I take is more painful than the one before.
I open my eyes and they catch on the names.
Luca Daylen Hendrix and Jules Nora Rozero. Married on August 10, 2011.
The paper drops to my lap as I clutch my heaving stomach. I’m married to Luca. Not Theo.
I’m married to Luca. Not Theo.
How is this possible? Theo showed me his and my marriage certificate while I was in the hospital. He showed me pictures of him and me together. The few small clips I’ve had in dreams never suggested he was lying.
I look down at the paper lying on my legs and run a finger over the embossed stamp. It could be a fake, one of them has to be, but something tells me it’s this one that’s real. But why forge a marriage certificate? What did Theo gain by doing so?
I bend over and clutch my stomach, the sudden urge to puke rising in my throat.
Oh, my God, I moan in my head, unable to believe someone is so capable of something so sinister.
“I see you’ve found my little secret.”
I look up at the dark voice and freeze when I see Theo standing at the corner of the bed. He looks terrible. His hair is unkempt and dirty, his eyes are red, his face is pale, and it’s apparent he hasn’t shaved in days. I glance quickly at his balled hands before moving my eyes back to his face. There’s a slight twitch at the corner of his left eye.
“Wh-what are you doing here?” My voice is dry and cracked from crying.
A slow smile appears on his face and it scares the crap out of me, because it’s not a nice one. It’s full of menace.
“I’ve been hoping you would show up here. I’ve been across the street at a friend’s house, quietly watching.”
I grip the paper on my lap and hold it up. “How is this possible?” I ask shakily.
He throws back his head and laughs manically. When he looks back at me, his face is red from his mirth.
“It was easy actually.” He takes a step forward, and I shrink back against the nightstand behind me. “You can find almost any document online if you look hard enough.”
“But you showed me pictures of us together. Pictures that are the same in this box, but different.”
His smile grows, revealing his teeth. “Luca’s good at drawing and tattooing. I’m good at computer shit.” He shrugs. “It was simple to alter those pictures to what I needed them to show. You with me, instead of him.” He spits the last word out loathingly.
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “But why?”
The grin fades from his face and his eyes turn hard, mean, evil. “Because I fucking saw you first. You were mine. But then you had to walk in that fucking tattoo shop and ruin everything.”
I remember Luca telling me about his dream of Nicole and me coming into the tattoo shop. A sudden image of a pair of light blue eyes come to mind and the feeling of being mesmerized by them. It’s only the eyes I see, but somehow, I know they’re Luca’s and not Theo’s.
I look back at Theo and see he’s moved even closer. Fear has my muscles bunching together.
“I don’t understand. Why would me going into his tattoo shop ruin everything?”
“Because the bastard took one look at you and wanted you for himself,” he spits out. “You want the truth so bad? Let me tell you a little story.”
I can practically see the rage radiating off him and it makes me very nervous. I’ve felt what Theo can do when he’s angry, but something tells me I haven’t felt the worst of what he’s capable of.
“It’s true that you came into my shop when the ones across town couldn’t fit you in. It wasn’t me though that spoke with you. It was Ernie, my boss. I was taking care of a customer when you walked in and left before I got a chance to meet you. I had planned to ask you out when you came back to get your car, but the next day, you met Luca. A couple of days later, he came with you to get your car from the shop, and that’s how I met you. Hanging on Luca’s fucking arm. You two only knew each other two fucking days and you were already gushing all over him. It made me fucking sick to see. You were mine, goddammit.”
I flinch at his harsh tone. He notices, and the creepy smile comes back when he continues.
“I tried seducing you away from him, but you were so hung up on Luca, you couldn’t see me past him. You went to him and he stormed my house and beat the shit out of me. His own damn twin, over a fucking girl. It still didn’t stop me though. You were still mine, you just hadn’t accepted it yet, but I knew you would eventually. I followed you. I took pictures of you. Every single fucking time I saw you two together, I wanted to kill him.”
His eyes turn to angry slits and my fear morphs into terror, because I know this encounter is not going to end well for me. The man is clearly deranged.