The room tilted, and I reached for the desk chair just in time to sink down into it. “How is this possible?” I’d had parents. They died. I mourned them. Was my whole life a lie? “Let me see that.”
I yanked the envelope out of George’s grip and flipped through the pages inside with shaky fingers. I skimmed the text I couldn’t understand, then made myself read the first page more carefully. It outlined the results in simple English—twins.
“There has to be a mistake. Maybe they accidentally tested Alex’s DNA against her own instead of against mine. We’ll get another test.” I shoved the papers back into George’s chest. Annabelle wrung her hands, tears streaming silently down her cheeks. There was just no way I was adopted. It didn’t make any sense.
George calmly tucked the papers back into the envelope. “The results wouldn’t say twins. This is a secure, discreet lab. There is no way anything was tampered with. Toni, Alexandria is your twin.”
“Don’t lose that, George.” Annabelle lowered herself onto the bed across from me. “Alexandria will need to see it with her own eyes. But I don’t need any tests to be sure this is my child I’m looking at. My baby I never thought I’d see again.” Her voice wavered once more.
I had a million questions but no idea which one to ask first. I just stared at the distinguished woman across from me, hoping she would start filling in some of the blanks.
“Your father was on a business trip the night you went missing,” Annabelle began. “We were vacationing at our property in the woods, and he had to fly back to the city for some kind of emergency meeting. I didn’t mind. You girls were five months, three days, and about eighteen hours old the last time I saw you. Twins can be a handful, but I was getting the hang of it, and a live-in nanny was sleeping in the next room—or rather, she was drugged, but we didn’t realize that until later. If I hadn’t gotten up in the middle of the night to use the toilet, I may not have even realized you were gone until the morning. I may have lost you both. I went in to check on you. Alexandria was on her back, asleep, her soft little bunny clutched in her fat little hand. But your crib was empty, your little bunny abandoned on the ground.” She paused, sobs racking her body as she bent over and clutched her chest.
Tears stung my own eyes. My heart went out to her, the pain and loss evident in every word she uttered. I was speechless, just trying to absorb the unbelievable story.
George sat next to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his touch and pulled herself together enough to keep speaking.
“I turned on all the lights, tried to wake the nanny, frantically started searching for you. I called the police while I clutched Alexandria. Whoever had taken you had either not realized there were two babies, only wanted one, or only managed to get one of you before I spooked them. It took the police half an hour to reach us. The cabin was somewhat remote. They interviewed us, went through the whole house, spent days searching the surrounding woods, weeks questioning anyone in the area, trying to get any kind of lead. But you’d disappeared without a trace.”
“How did Alex not immediately suspect I was . . . that it was me? That I was that baby that went missing?” I finally managed to get words past my lips.
“She doesn’t know,” George answered, lifting the envelope again before dropping it onto the bed. “She would’ve discussed the possibility with me. She wouldn’t have bothered to even order these tests.”
Annabelle nodded in agreement. “We never told her. There wasn’t a single lead, not even a tiny trace for the police to follow. Your father and I were devastated. We didn’t let Alexandria out of our sight, struggled even to let her go to school when the time came. One of us was always with her, holding her close, terrified we’d lose both our baby girls. I know it turned me into an overcautious, overbearing, clingy parent. But I couldn’t bear the thought that something might happen to her if I looked away for even a second.
“But we didn’t know how to move on, how to be the parents our remaining child deserved, while constantly on the verge of tears. Every mention of you, every time someone asked if there were any leads, every time we wondered what the hell had happened that night, we cried. I cried a river of tears for you. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about you, to this day. But we just couldn’t bear to talk about it. We couldn’t bear to have Alexandria grow up under a shroud of grief. So we decided to focus on the positives and the happiness we still had in our lives. It was the only way we could move forward.”
“I don’t even know what to say.” This was insane, completely ridiculous. This shit would’ve been laughed out of the writing room of a soap opera. But apparently it was my life. I wished I hadn’t smoked both my cigarettes that morning.
After several long moments of silence, all of us reeling from the shock, Annabelle spoke again. “Do you know anything about your name? We named you Antoinette. Do you know how it came to be that you kept it?”
I shrugged. “No idea. My parents never really said anything about it. But I did have this baby blanket with my name embroidered on it. They were very insistent about keeping it—I thought they were just being nostalgic. I think I still have it somewhere.”
“Crochet, yellow-and-white wool, with your name in pale pink?”
I nodded.
“You were wrapped in it the night you were taken from me.” Annabelle swallowed and squared her shoulders. “I’m almost too scared to ask, but I need to know. Did you have a good childhood? Were you happy? Were you OK?”
“I had no idea I was adopted until today. We didn’t have much, but my parents loved me. I was their whole world, and they were mine.” I missed them so fucking much.
It was my turn to break down crying. I dropped my face into my hands and sobbed. I hadn’t cried like that since my father’s funeral, since I’d realized I was truly alone in the world. Now here was this woman, telling me I wasn’t. I didn’t know what to do with that. I didn’t know how to handle this many fucking emotions elbowing each other out of the way inside me. Not to mention I hated, absolutely despised, crying in front of other people. And regardless of what that lab report said, regardless of this woman’s story, at the end of the day these people were still strangers. I didn’t really know them.
I growled and wiped under my eyes, taking deep breaths as George rubbed my shoulder. When I looked up, Annabelle was standing close by, looking awkward and unsure.
I stood up. “We need to tell Alexandria. Where’s my phone?” I needed something else to focus on, someone else to help me navigate this shit. Alexandria would know what to do. She was organized, logical, and practical. Not to mention, she deserved to know.
“I’ve tried to call her several times.” George propped his hands on his hips and frowned.
“Then we need to go find her.” I needed to be doing something. “We need to go to the bar and talk to her.”
“What bar? Where exactly is Alexandria?” Annabelle finally moved through the shock of realizing who I was and woke up to the other weirdness of the situation—the fact that one of her daughters was pretending to be the other one. It felt weird to think of myself as this woman’s daughter. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
“Come on, I’ll explain in the car.” I headed for the door, but George stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll go bring the car around and let the Winthrops know the two of you are going out for some mother-daughter time. But you should both take a minute to freshen up. In case you bump into anyone on the way.”
He was right. Regardless of this situation that had me reeling, we still needed to be careful about what we revealed to the Winthrops. I was so sick of secrets.
Twenty-Four
Alex
Renshaw looked so peaceful in his sleep. He was on his side, facing me, his lips slightly parted and his lashes resting on his cheeks. Andre was at my back, one arm slung over my waist.
I blinked, struggling to get my eyes open again. I was in that haze be
tween sleep and wakefulness where you’re not quite sure what’s real. The more that consciousness invaded, the more certain I became about one thing.
I had to tell Ren.
Logically, I knew it was insane to feel this strongly for not one but two men after such a short period of time, but after last night, there was no denying the connection we had. The thought of walking away from that and marrying another man made me feel sick.
I had no idea what I would do about Zamorano Wines, or about the money I’d promised Toni, but I’d figure it out. For now, I just needed to speak my truth to the two sleeping, nude men beside me.
Something buzzed—again—reminding me what had woken me up in the first place; my phone kept going off. I rolled over, careful not to disturb either of them.
Andre sighed and settled onto his back. His mouth fell open, and he started to snore lightly. I stifled a laugh as I lifted onto my elbows and squinted against the sunlight streaming in through the half-closed curtains.
The buzzing was coming from somewhere on the ground next to the bed. I leaned over Andre and felt around for my phone.
“I could get used to waking up like this.” His voice was even deeper, even more gravelly than usual as he grabbed a handful of my ass.
I deliberately dragged my breasts across his belly as I straightened back up, phone in hand. “Me too,” I whispered and shared a giddy smile with him.
I unlocked my phone and frowned. I had dozens of missed calls and messages from my mother, Toni, and George. I wasn’t surprised about the ones from my mom, but the others had me worried. I sat up a little straighter.
“Come here,” Andre whispered, dragging a hand up to my bare breasts and trying to pull me back down to the bed. “It’s time for round three.”
“Crap.” I batted his hand away and skimmed some of the messages. They’d started about an hour earlier. “Shit.” I dropped the phone and ran my hands through my messy hair.
“What’s wrong?” Andre sat up to look over my shoulder.
“Oh no, no, no, no, no.” Panic pumped adrenaline through my system, and I was fully awake now, scrambling to get out of bed.
Ren grumbled, my manic movements finally rousing him.
“They’re coming here.” I bugged my eyes out at Andre, stumbling over him to search the floor for my clothes.
“Who?” He looked so damn confused.
“What the fuck is going on?” Ren rubbed his eyes and yawned.
“Everyone,” I hissed. “Where the fuck is my dress?”
A loud knock rattled the glass in the door. I grabbed the first piece of fabric I saw as Toni burst into the room.
“Andre!” she yelled as the door sprung open. “I need to find Alex. It’s an emer—whoa! OK! I did not need to see that.” She stopped dead in her tracks and looked up to the ceiling as I slipped a giant red T-shirt over my head. It smelled like Andre. “Well, I’m at least glad to see you took my advice and got laid,” she grumbled.
“Who the fuck is this?” We all turned wide eyes to Ren, propped up on his elbows and looking between me and Toni as if he were trying to do a complex mathematical equation without a calculator. “Did we take something stronger last night? Did I forget that part? I thought we just smoked some pot.”
“Ugh! Him again?” Toni pointed at Ren and gave me a disgusted look. “Fucking gross.”
I widened my eyes at her, my heart thudding in panic even as it sank into the pit of my stomach in despair.
“What are you doing?” I demanded through gritted teeth. From the messages I skimmed, I got that my mother had shown up unexpectedly and known immediately Toni wasn’t me, and they were coming to find me, but I hadn’t picked up why.
She didn’t get a chance to answer.
“Holy shit. Toni?” Ren looked between me and Toni, wide-eyed. “Then who the fuck is this?” He pointed at me.
“I can explain.” Hand held out in front of me, I took a step toward the bed. He backed away, pressing his back against the wall. My heart cracked in the pit of my stomach, where it had taken up permanent residency.
Andre got out of bed just as more footsteps sounded outside the door.
“Alexandria.” My mother appeared in the doorway, George right behind her. Her gaze flicked to the scene behind me. “Thank goodness we found yo—oh! My . . . big . . . penis . . .”
Eyes wide, she started to go pink, turning to the side to avoid looking at Andre’s, admittedly, big penis.
George cleared his throat and took her by the shoulders. “We’ll wait downstairs while you get dressed.”
Mom nodded and let him guide her away.
“Hi, Mom,” I grumbled at her retreating back. Could this mess get any worse?
As Andre pulled on his jeans, Ren got out of bed. Shoulders tense, teeth gritted, he started gathering his clothes.
“Oh god!” Toni shielded her eyes dramatically. “I’ve seen way too many cocks I have no interest in seeing ever again. As if this day wasn’t traumatic enough.”
“I should’ve known the second you stopped being a bitch”—he pointed an accusing finger at me, his T-shirt gripped tightly in his hand—“that you weren’t her.” He pointed the same finger at Toni but didn’t look at her. “I’m such a fucking idiot.” All that rage and disdain that had disappeared as we’d gotten to know each other was back in his beautiful eyes. And I’d put it there.
“Ren, I’m sorry. Please, just let me explain,” I pleaded, moving toward him.
He stepped away. “No. I don’t even know who the fuck you are. Get away from me. Can you believe this shit?”
He turned his incredulous gaze to Andre. Andre sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t speak, but the resigned, regretful look on his face said it all.
Ren took another involuntary step back, as if Andre had shoved him in the chest with his betrayal. “Un-fucking-believable.”
Incredulity turned to rage in Ren’s eyes as he shoved his feet into his boots and pushed past Toni through the door.
“Ren! Wait!” Andre finally found his booming voice and rushed after his lover.
I was hot on his heels, Toni following close behind. We made a procession of hurt, confusion, and anger down the narrow stairs, all talking over one another.
Ren attacked the back door leading to the alleyway, only to find it locked. He changed directions and smacked the side door leading into the bar. It banged against the wall, and Ren stormed across the room, pulling his shirt over his head. George and my mother stared at him. So did Dennis and Loretta from behind the bar. They were setting up to open.
“God dammit, Renshaw, stop runnin’ away from me!” Andre brought his fist down on the bar, making Dennis jump. The young man turned wide eyes to me, then Toni, then me again.
Ren spun to face him. “Oh, so I can’t run from you, but you can lie to me?” He scoffed.
“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” Andre explained.
“Bullshit! The second the three of us got into bed together, you should’ve told me.”
“Oh my . . .” I was pretty sure my mother was clutching her pearls, but I was making a point of not looking at her.
“You’re right. But none of us exactly planned last night. She and Toni—the real Toni—were supposed to switch back this week. It was supposed to be a bit of harmless fun. She just wanted to screw around. No one was supposed to get hurt. By the time I suspected it might be more . . .”
“You should’ve told me from the start, asshole! Instead of letting me stick my dick in someone whose name I don’t know.”
“Dude, you stick your dick in nameless people all the damn time.”
“Fuck you!”
“It’s not his fault. This is on me. Be mad at me.” I couldn’t believe how much damage I’d caused. Maybe if I’d had a chance to sit him down and tell him myself, explain the situation, he wouldn’t have been so hurt. But he’d found out in the worst possible way, and now I was driving a wedge between them. I felt like the worst, most sel
fish piece of scum on the planet.
“Is this some kind of sick practical joke? Who the fuck even are you?” Ren looked me up and down with a sneer.
“My name is Alexandria Zamorano,” I rushed to explain while he was still listening, still here. “I met Toni by chance and convinced her to switch places with me for a little while. I know it sounds insane, but the reasons why are complicated. I can explain everything. Let’s just go—”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” he interrupted me. “Fuck this shit.”
He turned around and stormed out. Andre followed without hesitation—barefoot and shirtless, he ran out into the bright afternoon sun to try to fix my mistake.
It wasn’t until the heavy timber door swung closed that I realized two more men were standing inside.
One of them I’d known my entire life, even if we didn’t see each other often. The other looked exactly like his photos on the Internet, except for the angry expression. In all the commotion, no one had noticed Preston and Oren.
I’d ruined everything.
Twenty-Five
Toni
As Oren and I stared at each other across the room, I felt the color drain from my face.
How long had they been standing there? Judging by their expressions, long enough.
The look on Preston’s face was pure shock.
Oren looked angry, his lips pressed together, his brow furrowed. But I knew this man now. I could see the hurt and the disappointment underneath.
This was not how I wanted him to find out. What was he even doing here?
“Was that the Pratt’s boy? Renshaw?” Alex’s mother broke the silence. “My, he got a lot of tattoos since I saw him last. What is he doing here? Alexandria? I am so confused.”
Just Be Her Page 25