He marched out of his office and headed straight for god knows where. He didn’t want his employees to witness his turmoil, his shame. What the hell was he supposed to do?

  She slept with Geoff.

  My gotdamn brother!

  My brother!

  Oh god!

  All those times she’d shriveled up like a prune when Geoff so much as coughed near her, and she’d had sex with him. All this while, when he delighted in having a daughter by her, she must have called him twice a fool.

  He had trusted her, damn it!

  He was just storming into his office when he heard Jessica on the phone.

  “Candace,” she mouthed to him.

  The mere mention of her name and he wanted to rip his heart from out of his chest and present it to her so she could see how much she’d hurt him.

  One look at his face and Jessica began speaking rapidly into the phone. “He is in a meeting…”

  Aric didn’t care about what lie she told. The pain was drumming on all parts of his body, tearing at his flesh, threatening to reduce him to nothing.

  Candace.

  She had lied to him, made a bigger fool of him than Shawna ever did. He hadn’t loved Shawna, never professed or pretended to. But he had loved Candace. Dear lord, he loved her still. How could she do this to him?

  He was going to be sick.

  No, I’m not.

  One person was responsible for his misery and if she thought she had him fooled, then she didn’t know him at all. Before he fully conceived of the idea, he was in his car and driving like a maniac to her shop.

  She wasn’t there.

  Paula, her assistant, gazed at him wide-eyed. He wouldn’t be surprised if she thought he was going stark raving mad.

  She had no idea how close to the truth she was, he thought as he drove out towards Candace’s house. She had to be at home; it wasn’t time to pick up the girls from their dance class, yet.

  Her car was parked in front of her house.

  Good.

  He got out of his Jag and in less than no time he was banging his fist on her front door, not caring if he was making an ass of himself.

  She finally opened it. Seeing the concern in her beautiful eyes had almost undone him, caused him to doubt what he saw with his own eyes. But the paternity test was conducted by a reputable company.

  Lyric wasn’t his.

  He could bet his bottom dollar, she was Geoff’s.

  Candace stepped back, giving him the opportunity to enter her home.

  “How could you do this to me?” He could hear the crack in his voice. The sense of betrayal he felt was so raw, so terribly painful, he lashed out at her with all the pain that gutted his heart.

  “You’ve been lying to me, Candace, lying through your teeth. Making me believe you were better than the rest, better than Shawna. But you’re no different.”

  And when she acted like she had no idea what he was talking about, he raged at her, wanting to hurt her ten times more than he hurt.

  “Tell me right now, Candace…tell me you have no idea Lyric isn’t mine. Tell me you had no idea she’s Geoff’s. Tell me you haven’t been laughing yourself to sleep every night knowing I believed every lie that came out of your mouth. Tell me you haven’t called me all kinds of fool for being fooled all over again!” He took out the sheet of paper that held the damning results from his back pocket and handed it to her.

  She grabbed it from his hand and unfolded it. She stared at the printed matter, but looked as if she was in a daze. She finally lifted tortured eyes at him, the paper slipping from her fingers and unto the floor.

  “Well, what have you to say for yourself?” It was the calmest he’d been since his arrival. He looked her dead in the eye, daring her to lie to him when the irrefutable evidence was right before her.

  She gasped; her hand flew to her chest as if to keep her cold, devious heart from escaping. Something died in her eyes just then, but he was too incensed to care. He was passed caring about the pain in her eyes, the silent tears that leaked from the corners.

  “What I’d like to know is why – why? Why did you have to drag me to hell and back? Why, Candace, why?”

  She lifted her chin a notch to look him squarely in the eyes. “Think what you want, Aric Simmons, but I will only say this once.” Her voice was a mere whisper that hinted at barely restrained fury and pain. Her pain cut at his flesh but he closed his heart to it, even as he listened to her. “I didn’t have sex with anybody before the night of your bachelor party! Lord knows I was more than a little drunk, but I know what I know.” She glanced at the slip of paper which seemed to contaminate the tiled floor on which it lay. “You and I had sex twice! Twice! And that was it. Bang! Bang!” She punched a closed fist on her open palm for emphasis after each time she said ‘bang’. “And after that night, I was too busy carrying your baby to think about sex with any other person, thank you very much! Now, get the hell out of my house!” She pointed an index finger at the door, her eyes shooting daggers.

  But he was shaking his head. Something didn’t add up. “Twice? No, we didn’t have sex twice.” He shook his head again. “I didn’t stick around, remember? I was too ashamed about what I’d done…with my best friend…on the night before my wedding to another woman.”

  It was Candace’s turn to shake her head. “No, you came back about ten minutes after,” she said fiercely, looking like she thought he was playing with her. “You slipped back into the bed and we had sex again. I was crying, but I didn’t say no. I—I thought you were… then…then, you left.” She whipped up a deep breath and then expelled it as if trying to calm herself down. “I know it was you even though it was dark!”

  Her eyes were wide as she stared into his, not begging him to believe her, but daring him to call her a liar, to deny what she believed to be true. Suddenly, Aric realized that Candace believed they’d had sex twice that night. He was certain he’d left her in the room and didn’t return.

  Could it be…?

  “Doesn’t erase the fact that I fucked her so raw, so hard, she came crying…”

  “Geoff, the bastard!”

  He didn’t believe her eyes could have gotten any rounder but they did as his words seemed to sink in. Her back hit the wall even as he swore roundly again.

  “No! No! Oh god! No!”

  But he was already on his way out, slamming the door as he left. He couldn’t believe, wouldn’t believe, Geoff could do something as devious, as diabolical as what he thought he did. As much as he had trusted Candace, it was hard to believe his twin brother would take advantage of her like that. She was inebriated that night…and emotional…His brother couldn’t have been such a fucking bastard that he’d take advantage of a woman in her moment of weakness. He couldn’t possibly do something as awful as that, especially since despite his unruliness, there were always girls who flocked around him for whatever attention he felt like giving them at the moment.

  He knew Aric had a secret crush on Candace…but more than that, she was his best friend, his only friend, dammit! He knew the guy code, the sibling code.

  Aric got back into his Jag, dialed the number and placed the phone on speaker and switched on the ignition.

  Geoff picked the phone on the first ring.

  “Still want your hundred grand?” Aric said without preamble, already putting his car in reverse. “Tell me where to meet you or you can forget about it.”

  Chapter Twelve

  She was barely breathing.

  Her breath came in short gasps as she blindly reached for her phone. Who could she call? Who could she tell this ugly truth?

  She shook her head, trying vehemently to deny the possibility of what she just learned.

  “Twice? No, we didn’t have sex twice.”

  The look in Aric’s eyes had been one of total confusion but she could see the certainty in them, too. He was convinced he didn’t have sex with her twice that night. She couldn’t deny they’d been a little tipsy but no amount of alcohol could erase the memory of that night. She remembered every tiny detail as if it was only yesterday beginning from the moment she landed and Aric had come to pick her at the airport. She had been happy to see him, determined that he needed to know, at long last, how she felt about him.

  “I’ve got something to tell you,” they’d both said at the same time when they got into the car.

  They’d laughed, and she magnanimously allowed him to go first. That was when he broke the news to her. His girlfriend was pregnant and he was not going to bring a baby into this world without a family to care for it. His own scars run deep and he wasn’t going to do that to his child. His wedding was just a few days away. Deep down, Candace understood him, she really did; but it didn’t stop the hurt she felt, didn’t stop the sadness.

  He grinned. “And of course, you have to be my best woman.”

  He didn’t claim to love Shawna, but he didn’t claim to love her, either. He seemed happy with his choice. She wasn’t going to be a spoke on his wheel. So when he asked what it was she wanted to say, she told him she had decided she wanted to bag a Masters degree right after college.

  He’d expressed his delight, congratulating her.

  Later that night, while she cried herself to sleep, she could have sworn that while he told her about his upcoming wedding, she’d seen her own sadness reflected in his eyes. But she told herself that it was her own desperate need to have him to herself forever.

  When she met Shawna, the pain she felt increased tenfold to see his soon-to-be wife was black, too. Battling pain each day, Candace helped to arrange the bachelor party and wedding with all the faithfulness of a best friend and on the night of his bachelor party, the reality slammed so hard into her that she kept drinking and drinking until Aric came for her.

  “Come on, you’ve had enough,” he said as he carried her away.

  She knew he had meant to rest her on the bed of the hotel room where she stayed, since her parents were vacationing in the Caribbean, but she allowed herself to be carried away by the magic of his strong arms around her, the smell of his cologne wrapping itself all over her and the laughter in his eyes as he called her a wuss for becoming drunk over a few bottles of beer.

  She held on to him when he would have left her on the bed. Before she knew it, they were kissing and tearing at each other’s clothes. The room was dark, it was easy to ignore the guilt hanging over them as they indulged in their sinful pleasure.

  “O, god!” Aric moaned. “Candace, what have we done?” He withdrew just in time to release himself on her thighs. His voice trembled, perhaps, because of the intensity of their lovemaking or because of the depth of his guilt.

  But Candace wasn’t sorry. The alcohol might have been responsible for her carelessness, but she wouldn’t be sorry for daring to take this chance to show how much she loved him, without saying the words, because tomorrow he would be another woman’s man. So while he rushed out of the room, she told herself she could live with the shame, if that was the punishment for making love to the only man she loved in all of her 21 years. And because she was in no hurry to leave the memory of their lovemaking so soon, she burrowed deep in the blanket, inhaling his scent and dying little by little inside, knowing that nothing would be the same between them.

  Not after this.

  But he came back.

  In her naivety, her heart leaped for joy, hoping he had realized he couldn’t live without her, that he was going to call off the wedding. But he’d slipped under the covers once again and reached for her naked body, slamming into her without ceremony.

  “Aric!” she cried.

  He held a finger to her lips. Shhh!” he whispered and continued to drive into her.

  He fondled her breasts roughly, nipping at her nipples, causing her some discomfort. Something was wrong, she told herself, but he never slowed down, never gave her time to think. And because she loved him so much, she gave herself to him one more time. He spilled his seed in her this time and it was so powerful, she shook with the force. By the time he was done, she was crying. This time, it was wild, rough, almost to the brink of pain. She knew it was not lovemaking but punishment. He had come back to punish her for making him commit a sin on the night before his wedding.

  Again, she accepted the blame and watched him leave her in the dark. He never said a word. He didn’t need to...

  And now, Aric said he wasn’t the one.

  Candace held her chest, crying out loud in huge sobs. She was really the fool, not Aric. All these years, she had thought it was Aric who came to her the second time, spilled his seed in her.

  “Geoff, the bastard!”

  How could she not have known? It was no wonder Aric didn’t believe her.

  She had a baby for the wrong brother!

  Chapter Thirteen

  Geoff lived in a shithole of an apartment right in the heart of Chicago’s lowlifes. Idly, Aric wondered if his brother had been living here all the time, or if he needed to come here simply because Aric had moved to Chicago and he had to be close by to extort money from him.

  Aric knew it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

  “Where is it? Where is my money? I knew you were shitting me. It was only a matter of time you’d come to the few senses you’ve got.” Geoff cackled at his own joke.

  His brother wasn’t amused. He stared at him unwaveringly. He took in Geoff’s sickly appearance, the needle pricks were visible all over his bare arms, the tattoos, the sunken eye sockets, the worn out, dirty clothes.

  Retrospectively, he clearly understood now that Geoff had chosen his own path, just like how he had chosen his; it had never been up to him to take responsibility for his brother’s misdeeds. They were the poster kids in the psychology books for the perennial nature vs. nurture debate. It was a revelation that brought him no joy.

  “What are you staring at me like that for?” A wary look entered Geoff’s eyes, perhaps, because he’d never seen his brother like this before.

  Aric ignored his query and looked around the apartment. He took in the filth, the strewn clothes, the ashtrays –most of which were overflowing, broken syringes and the empty bottles of wine. He didn’t wince, not even once.

  “So, tell me, what happened at my bachelor party,” he said without looking at his brother. “I had security throw you out…but before that, you’d messed with Candace, didn’t you? You took advantage of her.”

  He heard Geoff’s bark of laughter behind him. “I should have known you wouldn’t let sleeping dogs lie,” he chirped. “I was only there at your stupid bachelor party because I was pissed that that stupid bitch picked you over me. I wanted to get even, big bro.” He laughed.

  Aric turned around and faced his brother. Not for the first time, he wanted to smack the smirk off his face.

  “To be honest, all I wanted to do was to get the chance to rub it in your dumb-as-fuck face that I’d had Shawna first. But then I saw you with Candace, followed you up the stairs, watched you fuck her tight ass and I thought to myself, so me and Shawna ain’t the only ones. I wished I had a phone so I could take a nice clean picture – that would have set me up for life. But I didn’t.” He ended on a shrug and reached for a bottle on the floor. His hands shook slightly as he tipped the bottle to his throat. It was empty. “Where’s my money,” he glared at Aric. “You can see I need to buy stuff.”

  Aric silently counted to ten. He wanted to punch his brother senseless, but he wouldn’t go low, he promised himself. He needed to hear everything, clear this mess once and for all. “So you decided that having sex with Candace, taking advantage of her, would be better?”

  “Now, you are beginning to think like me!” Geoff cackled, obviously enjoying his little confession. “Saw you leave, the guilt written all over you. Her cunt was still basking in both your sin and it was damn fucking easy.” He wiped the drool that was sliding down his mouth. “She learned who the real man is. Yeah, I fucked her good and hard. I think she might have preferred me over you if she’d known who was giving her the D. Pity we never had a repeat performance. I enjoyed every bit of it.” Again, he laughed.

  The idiot was licking his lips when Aric smashed his tongue in his throat.

  His feet buckled but he was able to steady himself before he fell with the force of the punch. “Wha—Wha—da fuck!”

  Aric didn’t fucking care; he was going low. He’d take the high road on another gotdamn day. Within moments, Aric had his brother on the floor, thumping his fists into his face, drawing blood and uncaring. He felt like murder, felt like snuffing the life out of his own brother. Nine years and he hadn’t known a thing! Candace hadn’t known either!

  He hit Geoff again…

  …and again…

  and again.

  Suddenly, Geoff threw him off and scampered away.

  “You are crazy man, crazy!” he yelled as he rushed into what Aric assumed was the bathroom.

  Breathing hard, Aric looked at his bloody knuckles. Hot blood pumped through his veins. He kicked at the table in the middle of the room. “If you ever come near me or my kids again, I will kill you!” he roared as he stalked to the door. “And Candace, too!” he added for good measure. The door almost came off its hinges as he let himself out.

  No matter what shit bound him and his brother, Aric knew it was over.

  Indeed, it was over.

  Chapter Fourteen

  As much as Candace would love to wallow in her pain and misery, she had to pick up the girls from their dance class. Even though she felt like a thousand trailers had run over her, she drove to the school to collect the girls.

  Mercifully, the girls seemed to sense she wasn’t quite her usual self today, so they remained quiet through the drive home. They did their homework, helping each other and leaving her to fix them a quick dinner.

  It was Lyric who broke the silence while they ate.

  “Mom, did you fight with Kenny’s daddy?”

  Candace had been lost in thought and had pasted a smile on her face throughout dinner. But now, as she focused on them, she saw two curious, but concern, pair of sharp green eyes. The girls looked so much like Aric – and Geoff, the bastard - her heart ached.