All The Truths (Lies & Truths Duet #2) - Rina Kent Page 0,13
see me.”
“I see me, too. Rei…” I grab her hands in mine. “I’m going to make things right for the both of us. I’m making that promise come true. You saved me. It’s time I save you.”
She shakes her head, expression calm and wise. “I don’t want you involved. Dad was, and we both know where that led him. I won’t lose you, too, Rai.”
I jerk up, running a hand through my hair as I pace the length of the cottage. “You can’t expect me to sit and do nothing. Dad would’ve understood.”
“Rai.” She stands up and slowly approaches me, as if she’s afraid of setting me off. “Listen to me. Dad knew why I had to do this. Why do you think he kept it a secret? Besides, I have someone who’ll help me, but you have nothing, okay? You don’t know these people as much as I do. They’ll murder you and bury your remains at a new construction site. They’re dangerous people.”
“Are you listening to yourself?” Tears well in my eyes. “If they’re dangerous, how do you expect me to leave you in their clutches and carry on as if nothing happened?”
“You forget a little trick, sis.” She grins, rubbing her nose with her index finger like she used to do when we were children. “I’ve been studying them for years. I can handle them.”
“Reina…” My voice breaks. “I just can’t watch you slip through my fingers again. I can’t.”
“I won’t slip away.” She rubs her hand on my arm in a soothing gesture. “We’re one, after all. You’ll feel me even if we’re apart. Do you remember those days with Mom?”
I snort. How could I not remember? When we were twelve, Reina and I met for the first time. Even though we had people after us and we had to sleep at different hotels and hostels every night, those months were the happiest times of my life.
I had a mother and a sister.
Then they were both taken away from me.
We were separated for nine years. For most of those nine years, I thought Reina was dead. I searched for her all around and even made deals with a lot of ‘criminals’.
Finally, I scored the right people and she came in contact. The day I received an invitation from her to come to this place was probably the happiest day of my life.
Just when I was starting to give up, she showed me a sign.
She came back for me like she’d promised back then.
I’m older, you know, she’d scolded. I’ll be the one who finds you.
She kept her promise.
She’s here.
But not for long.
“Mom was smart,” Reina continues, “but she wasn’t that smart, Rai. It’s useless to run away in a pack. They would’ve always found us. Diversion, remember?”
“What if I don’t want to? What if I want to run away with you?”
Her face falls. “Then it’ll be like Mom all over again.”
“I hate this.”
“I do too.” She ruffles my hair. “But I’m coming back. You won’t get rid of me.”
“Promise?”
“Promise, Rai.”
Present
I’m pushed back to the now with a crippling force.
I gasp for air as if I’ve been drowning underwater.
Rai.
Oh my God. My name is not Reina—it’s Rai.
Reina was the other one, the one who told me she’d come back, the one who stopped me from going with her.
I jump to my wobbly feet and walk to the spot where both of us stood that night. She hugged me, and we made a promise.
We talked and then…what?
I stare at the black walls, at the cracks in them.
We found human remains.
The detective’s words bounce in my head like an atomic bomb.
No, no, no.
Fuck no.
It’s not Reina. They didn’t find Reina’s remains. They couldn’t have.
I pace the length of the cottage, back and forth, back and forth like a trapped animal. They took my sister away from me.
After I finally found her, they fucking took her away.
But who are they?
Reina and I were talking just fine that night. We were planning things and then…what? What the fuck happened after that?
I rack my brain for answers, but nothing comes out.
It’s blank in there. Or maybe it’s too jumbled up for anything to be clear.
Reina.
I had a twin. No, have. I refuse to believe she’s not here anymore. We made a fucking promise.
But if she were alive, wouldn’t she have found me by now? Wouldn’t she have stepped up?
No, no. She can’t be dead. I can’t lose her like I lost Mom.