Sinful Like Us

by Ritchie, Krista

  I whisper, “Tony has no empathy for you or Banks.”

  Thatcher scowls. “He wouldn’t. To him, we’re a punch line and fucking twin gag like Thing 1 and Thing 2.”

  I understand being dehumanized by internet trolls and media outlets. But Tony isn’t a nameless internet user. He grew up with the Moretti brothers, and I can’t even imagine how much worse that would hurt.

  “He’s like an impenetrable, grinning Cheshire cat,” I say softly. “I think it’s easier when we both shut him down together.” We’re frowning because under our current situation, Thatcher can’t help me this way.

  He dips his head, his voice low. Eyes serious. “I should be next to you.”

  We both know he has to be with Xander. “It’s two months,” I breathe. “Once the probationary period is over, he’ll be transferred.”

  Thatcher glances down.

  At my hand.

  That’s been on his thigh. “Oh,” I say aloud, warmth spreading throughout my body. “I didn’t realize I was…” touching you.

  “You can keep it there.” We’re impossibly close now, and I don’t move away anymore. I don’t freeze, and his large hand hovers next to my cheek. Sensitive places tingling, electricity sparking, and an ache pulses harder and begs for him to just pick me up and devour me whole.

  I whisper, “Thatcher.”

  His forehead nearly presses to mine.

  My eyes scald. “I can’t believe I’m going on a trip without you.” It’ll be strange. He was my bodyguard for almost a year. With me every day, and now…

  I drop my gaze.

  His hand encases my cheek. “Fuck it.” He’s a breath from my lips. “We’re switching places.”

  “What?” I shake my head, utterly confused.

  “Me and my brother. I’ll explain everything.”

  7

  JANE COBALT

  “You can’t be serious,” I whisper to the Moretti brothers, and I can’t believe I even ask. Both are very serious men, Thatcher more so than Banks. They’re definitely not playing a practical joke on me.

  My bugged eyes dart between my boyfriend and his twin brother in the noisy South Philly sports bar. So crowded here that only one barstool was unoccupied.

  Thatcher has taken the stool. And while I clutch a pint of beer, I sit across his lap, his strong arm around my waist—and I’ve been really, really taken with our seating arrangement. Especially the nearness of his chest, his body heat flushing me all over, and how my arm brushes against his abs.

  That was, until, they dropped a Mary-Kate and Ashley sized bomb on me.

  “It’s just one week,” Banks says with a slight smile, one teeming with confidence that Thatcher matches in a shared glance. “This is nothing for me, even less for Thatcher.” He cocks his head to his brother. “Pack me up and ship me out, I’m ready.”

  I begin to smile, sensing their energy. “You’re both excited about this, aren’t you?” Thatcher enjoys his job, and it’s often a high-octane, high-risk one, and I suppose this will jolt them with more adrenaline.

  “To spend more time with you,” Thatcher says, looking down at me. “Hell yeah.”

  A smile explodes across my face, and I sip my beer, feeling like my thirteen-year-old easily smitten sister. But realities take hold, and my smile starts to fade. “If you’re caught…” I trail off as they shake their heads.

  “It won’t happen,” Thatcher assures.

  It makes me sad to think they truly believe very few people can tell them apart. It makes me sadder to think it could be true.

  They said they’d be fooling a small number of individuals. Mostly Tony, which should be easy enough.

  I take another sip of beer. Thatcher keeps a hand on my binder that I placed on the bar counter, as though someone might snatch it and leak Maximoff & Farrow’s wedding plans.

  It is a possibility, and I love how he ensures that all parts of my life are safe.

  Thatcher looks into me. “You’re going to help us.”

  My lips rise. “I like the sound of this.” I doubt I could sit idly backseat to this plan. I want to make sure the risk is low for them. With the tilt of my chin, I stare up at my boyfriend. “How can I be of service, Mr. Moretti?”

  His palm slyly disappears under my robust, tulle skirt. The better to hide my boyfriend’s hand with.

  I smooth my lips together and try to subdue my shallow breathing. His warm hand tracks hot lines up my thigh. Thatcher kisses the nape of my neck before whispering, “Okay?”

  “Yes.” Oh my God, yes. If I blink three times, I feel like this raw, sexual, warrior of a man will disappear in a poof, and I’m wide-eyed and too eager.

  Banks… is staring right at me. He nearly laughs.

  Am I panting? Am I childishly head-over-heels?

  My face is on fire. “I like your brother,” I state outright.

  “Right on.” He smiles and swigs his beer. He’s been standing and shielding bar patrons from reaching me. People pack in tight to watch football and a pro-wrestling pre-show.

  I sweep Banks more curiously. Whereas Thatcher carries himself like a commander in a mythic warzone, Banks is a primed solider who would fill every frame of a documentary. He’s background that can’t be unseen.

  I glance back at Thatcher, just as he tells me, “Banks and I need an objective eye when it comes to our similarities and differences.”

  “That’s where I come in?” I ask.

  Banks nods. “My four,” he suddenly says to Thatcher.

  “I see them,” Thatcher replies, but he never shifts his gaze or hand off me.

  I just now notice a few men ogling me from afar. Not nicely either. I’d say snidely is more like it.

  I lean more of my weight against Thatcher. He pulls me closer to his chest, and I feel his heavy heartbeat that thumps in a calming rhythm.

  Thatcher and Banks are off-duty. Yet, they’re still watching. Still surveying our surroundings.

  Tony, my actual bodyguard, is seven-stools down the bar, and I make a concentrated effort not to glance at him. Though, I’m sure he’s observing everyone and also pompously gawking at us.

  At least he’s not in earshot.

  I sit more upright. “From what I’ve seen, Tony can’t discern your personalities, so the biggest risk might be mannerisms and physical traits.”

  We go over a few technicalities in the next five minutes and screech to a halt on glaring problems.

  “Your tattoo,” I whisper to Thatcher.

  “It’s on his ass,” Banks says.

  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that’s right—my boyfriend has a tattoo on his ass. SFO, namely Paul Donnelly, inked script on Thatcher recently, and I wasn’t present. It happened under the cloak of Omega Brotherhood and I just saw the result.

  They didn’t write “hypocrite” on his butt like I thought they would. Like Thatcher said they could. Instead, SFO decided on something that “better fit” Thatcher.

  And so they tattooed the word, Cinderella.

  The cursive lettering and placement is actually quite beautiful. When I first saw the tattoo in bed, I was overwhelmed. Thatcher has always been the one living the rags to riches story. He’s been the one with everything to lose.

  Banks finishes off his beer. “Just don’t get buck-naked, Cinderella.”

  Thatcher glares and motions to him. “You also have a fucking tattoo.”

  My brows jump. “You do?”

  Banks pats his right thigh. “The ink is blown out. If I could kick my fourteen-year-old self in the ass, I would.”

  Thatcher explains to me, “Free tattoo in a friend’s basement.”

  “Is it a design or script?” I ask.

  “Roman numerals.” Banks places his empty beer on the bar. “Which should’ve been tattooed over years ago.”

  Thatcher hones in on his brother. Banks stares directly back. Neither one blinking.

  Tension pulls uncomfortably, and I look between them, something unsaid gripping them and the
air.

  “You want me to tell her?” Banks asks.

  I freeze.

  Thatcher is dead-set on Banks. “She already knows.”

  “Yeah? She knows that everyone in our family blames each other for his death, but no one thought to point a finger at him?”

  A chill slips down my spine, and I realize this is about their older brother.

  “Fuck him,” Banks says with bite.

  Thatcher’s nose flares. “Don’t.”

  “I love him, but Mary Mother of God, I hate him like a thousand pounds in his direction, and my dumb ass has to live with his death on my thigh.”

  My stomach flips.

  Roman numerals. A date.

  The day Skylar died.

  His words drop heavy. Like a small implosion. Banks looks everywhere but at us, and Thatcher drills a pained expression on the wall. I can feel how infrequent they discuss Skylar, and my big mouth might lead all three of us in a sinkhole, but I just speak.

  “It could be worse.” I offer my beer to Banks.

  He takes the glass, his brows knitting. “How?”

  “You could’ve tattooed it on your ass.”

  Thatcher laughs first, the sudden noise deep but light.

  Banks smiles into laughter too, and I brighten and realize how somewhere deep down, I knew Thatcher would find humor in this exchange. He’s become less of a mystery, and I’m so incredibly fond of the man next to me.

  Or rather…the man I’m sitting on.

  I blow out a breath, my heart beating wildly.

  He presses a kiss to the top of my head.

  I’m in love.

  Don’t be frightened, Jane.

  I’m trying.

  Thatcher nods to his brother. “See that, you had some common sense at fourteen.”

  “Yeah. But still less than you,” Banks says, lips upturned. Happy that Thatcher is smarter, but Thatcher already shakes his head like his brother is brighter and better. Their pride in each other and for each other is as deep as the Bering Sea.

  Banks swallows a mouthful of beer, then passes the glass back to me. “What else should we worry about?”

  He means the twin swap.

  “Piercings?”

  “None,” they say in unison.

  Thatcher let out a frustrated breath.

  “That question was for me,” Banks says to him. “She already knows you have no piercings.”

  He scowls. “Statazitt’.”

  “You shut up,” Banks rebuts.

  I smile into another sip of beer, finding their relationship the sweetest as can be. “What about scars? Thatcher has quite a few.”

  He actually has many. Most are small and scatter his chest.

  Banks lifts a shoulder. “I have some, but Tony won’t be able to tell us apart from them.”

  Thatcher nods in agreement.

  “Your hand,” I mention to my boyfriend.

  He removes his left hand off the binder, just enough to touch his bent ring finger. Thatcher looks concerned.

  Banks shakes his head. “Barely anyone notices that.”

  “Yeah, let’s hope,” Thatcher says strictly. “Or I’m going to kick my twenty-five-year-old self in the ass for re-breaking the same knuckle.”

  We all conclude that it shouldn’t be much of an issue, and I think about another angle. How Banks will be left in Philadelphia pretending to be Thatcher.

  “We aren’t planning to tell my parents or aunts and uncles about the twin swap, are we?” I ask. “Because I can’t be certain they won’t tell the Alpha lead.” They’re all very close to Price Kepler. He’s been Aunt Daisy’s bodyguard for over twenty years.

  Thatcher frowns at me. “If you asked your parents to keep this a secret, you don’t think they would?”

  We, Cobalts, are notorious secret-keepers and loyal to the very death, so I understand his confusion.

  “I do think they would,” I say softly, “at least 98% of me does, but there’s 2% uncertainty.”

  Banks asks, “Where’s the 2% coming from?”

  Uneasiness sinks my stomach. I glance up.

  Thatcher rubs his mouth a couple times and then nods. “Me.”

  “I’m the first Cobalt to be in a relationship,” I explain, “and I just can’t predict whether my mom and dad will challenge you or profess immediate fealty. It’s too soon to tell, and in my mind, there’s not enough substantial data.”

  Thatcher and Banks lock eyes and speak through a long look, and then Banks shrugs. “It’s not like you’re supposed to be around Connor and Rose. You’re on Hale duty. I can pretend to be you and protect Xander. Easy.”

  Thatcher looks grave. “If you run into her parents—”

  “I won’t. It’s only a week.”

  I nod. “Since it’s such a short timespan, it’s easier just not telling them. We don’t need to add in more variables.”

  Just as they agree, the bar quiets to murmurs, and I follow gazes as the door clatters shut.

  Snow and cold air blown inside, Maximoff lowers the hood of his Eagles sweatshirt, and Farrow combs back his bleach-white hair. Hand in hand, they weave their way between nosy looks and side-eyes to reach our spot.

  I instantly smile.

  Maximoff lets go of Farrow and nears me. “Bonsoir, ma moitié.” His forest-green eyes sparkle with happiness. There’s nothing less that I’d want for him.

  I stand off Thatcher to hug my best friend. We breathe deeply, and Moffy kisses both my cheeks. Attention presses on us, but thankfully some bar chatter reignites.

  “It’s just you and me, old chap.” I smile more. “And my boyfriend, your fiancé, and my boyfriend’s brother.” My cheeks hurt at this declaration, but his smile drops faster and he glances over at Tony.

  I prickle. “Yes, he’s unfortunately still here.”

  Maximoff grimaces. “I think he’s smirking at me.”

  “I don’t even want to look.” I pay more attention to the bodyguards we like. Subtly, they shift around us. Thatcher rises from the stool and positions himself next to Banks. Farrow does the same, all three creating a semi-circle barrier between us and bar patrons.

  Moffy and I are pushed up against the sticky counter. Where I’m sure is the safest place to be. I excitedly grab the messy binder, stuffing loose papers back inside. “I found some great cost effective vendors, especially for flowers.”

  “Before that,” Moffy whispers, “did you talk to Thatcher about He Who Must Not Be Named?”

  Tony has reached Lord Voldemort levels of evil for Maximoff ever since he overheard my bodyguard crack a “joke” about Thatcher and Banks sleeping with me.

  Something along the lines of, she likes that two-for-one action?

  I’ve been venting to Moffy about how much I hate Tony and how much I wish I could vent to Thatcher, and it was eating me inside out.

  “I told him everything,” I whisper and breathe out a lighter breath.

  Maximoff smiles, able to see that I’m at a better place. “So Janie Dark Ages is diverted?”

  “Sufficiently.”

  “Forever.”

  “We can only hope.” I lean my hip into his side, and he wraps an arm around my waist. Our backs to the bar, we stare ahead.

  His fiancé and my boyfriend speak under their breaths to one another, seeming very civil, and that is profoundly new.

  Maximoff squints. “Are we in the same universe?”

  “This feels unfamiliar.”

  “If they hug, we took a wrong damn turn somewhere.” He watches more closely as Farrow bites the tip of his black leather glove with casual ease, pulling it off. Maximoff’s Adam’s apple bobs.

  I stifle a laugh.

  Farrow has put a spell on him, and it would be the millionth-and-one time. I watch Thatcher say one more thing to Farrow, then he speaks into comms with authority. His gaze—all bold hardness—rakes the bar.

  I ache to step into his arms.

  “Why did God have to make gloves?” Maximoff asks
, forcing his face into a scowl.

  My dad would not appreciate that mention of God. I don’t mind as much. “God didn’t make gloves,” I whisper. “But they’ve been around since the Romans, and it’s not gloves you’re drooling over.”

  “You’re right,” he says with an exhale, “I’m drooling over the floor.”

  I laugh.

  When Farrow bites off his second glove, he catches Maximoff staring. His knowing smile causes Maximoff to glower. 9 out of 10 for hiding his affections. I’d wave pompoms if I had them.

  Farrow raises his brows in a teasing wave, and all Moffy can do is flip him off.

  I smile less when I see a vocal middle-aged man behind the SFO bodyguards—he’s yelling drunkenly at Thatcher’s back. I can’t distinguish the words over the loud bar chatter.

  Thatcher shakes his head sternly at me, as though to say, ignore him.

  I try to.

  Once we begin discussing wedding details, we crowd closer to each other. I open the binder on the bar and we go through the spreadsheets.

  “The florist said I could have a 50% discount if I advertise on Instagram.”

  “No,” Moffy says firmly. “Even if you weren’t still in a Cobalt Social Media Black-Out, I don’t want you to have to do paid advertising.”

  “The exposure helps local vendors,” I remind him. “It’s good for their business, and my brothers, sister, and I plan to end the Black-Out tomorrow. I’ll be back on Instagram.”

  Maximoff cracks a knuckle, thinking longer. He loves the idea of helping others, but I know he’s weighing this against a million other factors. “Or we could just pay full cost, Janie. It’d give more money to the vendors.”

  “In the short-run,” I tell him. “Long-run, advertising would help.”

  He turns to his fiancé. “What if we do both?”

  “Free advertising?” Farrow tucks his gloves in his back pocket. “See, this is a wedding, not a charity party.”

  “Sorry, man. I totally forgot you’ve thrown a hundred weddings before ours.” His sarcasm is thick. “How were all those divorces?”

  Farrow rolls his eyes into a widening smile. “You mean the ones that don’t exist, smartass.” He speaks faster before Maximoff jumps in. “This is going to be the biggest, most selfish event you’ve ever thrown, and you’re going to have to be okay with that.”