The One (Untouchables Mafia Series Book 3)

“How are you holding up?” Riley asks.

“I don’t know.” I run my fingers over the pictures still laid out on the kitchen island. A sense of guilt fills me, even though I know I’m not responsible for any of this. I knew my twin wasn’t a good person, but I never imagined he would resort to this.

“All right.” Riley scoops them all up. “This isn’t on you. In fact, you heard them: Since we became friends, they found out about this, so you can help stop it.”

“Not really, but okay.” I let out a humorless laugh. It’s a lot to take in. But it does give me a little bit of a reprieve. “He’s always been off,” I admit. I have never said that out loud before.

“Yeah, you guys don’t have the twin thing.”

“I don’t think we ever did.” I can’t recall us playing together when we were little. “He always tormented me. Got a thrill out of it.”

“One of those red flags.”

“Yeah,” I sigh. ‘I used to rationalize it as typical brotherly behavior, but he took it too far.’

“It’s weird that he and Becky do this together. When they cornered me in his bedroom…” Her voice trails off.

“Oh God, Riley, I’m so sorry.” I walk over and give her a hug.

“It’s fine.” She squeezes me back. “It will all be worth it, if it stops them.”

“You’re right. My life is really going to change.” I’m sure this will be everywhere. I’ve already had early acceptance to a few Ivy League colleges. I bet they get yanked for sure. They were going to be my ticket out of here. I’d picked colleges on the other side of the country on purpose. To start a new life away from all of my father and brother’s nonsense. I didn’t want to live a life in the eye of the public. But thinking about leaving now doesn’t seem so appealing. Not when Abel is here.

“Some for the good?” Riley wiggles her eyebrows. My cheeks start to warm. “So,” she hedges.

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Abel is a bit surreal.”

“He’s intense.”

“What do you know about him?”

‘I’ve only heard of him. My brother-in-law or Nikolai mentioned him.”

“And what did they mention?”

“Ah—” Riley doesn’t meet my eyes.

“What? You’re freaking me out. He told me he wasn’t married.”

“Oh, I don’t think he is. People are just kind of leery of him. I think he handles situations that need a certain set of skills.” I snort a laugh at that. “I don’t know.” She shrugs. “But Nikolai did say he was acting differently with you. I pushed Nikolai to bring me with him to come over so I could check on you.”

“I really like him,” I admit. “Like, a lot.”

‘He seems to be interested in you too. I’ve never seen Nikolai be so surprised by something.”

“Yeah, I think so. But it’s only been a short time, and I think he’s kind of stuck with me right now.” It makes me wonder what will happen when all of this is over. Heck, he might even like me, but it doesn’t mean he wants me all up in his space. I have even taken over his bed. Hadn’t he said it was his job to keep me safe?

“I’m pretty confident he’s into you.”

“Didn’t you think Nikolai hated you?” I tease her.

“Maybe.” She laughs.

“We might not be the best at reading men.”

“You’d think with all the reading we do, we’d be top-notch.”

“Riley, I don’t think reading romance novels counts as research.” We both burst into laughter. If that were the case, we would be seasoned professionals by now. If anything, it might make us a bit too dreamy and living in another world that is nowhere near reality.

“Touché,” she says through her own laughter.

“How long do you think they’ll be gone?” I glance toward the door. Abel and Nikolai left to either give us some alone time or to talk about things they didn’t want us to hear.

“Why?”

“Would it be terrible if I wanted to peek around here?” I ask. I’d kind of planned on doing it the next time I was alone.

“No, I think it’s fair.”

“Fair?”

“You heard them. They dug into your life, so turnabout is fair play.”

“You’re right.” I jump up. “I love girl math.”

“It’s the only math I like.” Riley puts the kitten down. He follows us around. “This place is pretty open.” It is, but there are a few doors.

“That’s the bathroom.” I motion toward the sliding door. “Guess we tried these.”

“Shall we try door number one?” Riley motions to one. “Two.” Then another. “Or three!”

Doors one and two won’t open. They are sealed shut. I notice a screen next to it. “Locked.” I tap it.

“Yeah, one is probably an office, and the other maybe a safe or weapons room.”

“A what?” I ask, confused.

“Let’s go for three.” Riley doesn’t answer me, instead going to the final door. It opens. “A closet.”

“Very anti-climactic.” I laugh. “Not that I’m still not going to snoop in it.” The closet is almost the size of a bedroom, but what I see has my stomach dropping, a sense of dread settling in.

There are rows of hanging clothes and shelves of shoes, which is normal for any closet. The problem is, they are all women’s. My eyes continue to scan the room. I think I might be in shock. Abel said there was no one else. I quickly head over to the drawers and begin opening them. My stomach turns more with each revelation.

“Let’s not jump to any conclusions.” Riley tries to reassure me.

“Regardless of who she is, she has a badass nail polish collection.” I run my fingers along the bottles.

“Jesus, that’s a lot of nail polish,” Riley says, peering over my shoulder. I shut the drawer.

“Fuck.” I hear grumbling, making both Riley and me spin around to see Abel standing in the doorway to the closet.

“Maybe Nikolai and I should go.”

“No.” I grab Riley’s hand. “I’ll come with you.”

“Not happening.” Abel’s whole body goes visibly tense. I stomp over to him.

“You’re not the boss of me.” I poke my finger into his chest. Abel drops his eyes to it.

“Maybe let’s not poke the bear,” Riley suggests from behind me.

“I’ll poke him all I want.” I do it again. Abel’s hand shoots out, grabbing mine.

“Oh crap,” Riley whispers.

Maybe I should be scared of Abel, but I’m not. Even when I notice a few spots of blood on his shirt. “Did you kill Nikolai?”

“I’m out here,” Nikolai calls.

Abel lifts my hand, which he still holds, and kisses the tip of my pointer finger. “Don’t do that.” I try to jerk my hand back, but it obviously doesn’t work. “I’m pissed at you, and I’m leaving.” There, I told him.

“You’re not.” His hold on my hand tightens.

“It’s best if you stay.” Riley comes to stand next to me. She gives me an apologetic smile before she exits the closet, leaving Abel and me all alone.