Chapter 154 MY SISTER.
\~~~RAINA.
“Talia, is this… you?”
My voice broke as the words tumbled out, my hands trembling like leaves in a storm. I stared at her, my twin sister, sitting right there in the cab beside me, her black cap pulled low but not low enough to hide those familiar eyes. Those eyes that matched mine exactly, down to the flecks of gold in the irises.
All the anger I'd been hoarding inside me for months, and all the bitterness that had festered like an open wound vanished in an instant.
It was like a switch flipped, and suddenly, the world narrowed to just her face, and her presence. All these months of hating Talia, and of cursing her name in the quiet hours of the night, went down to nothing the moment I saw her alive and real, not just a ghost in my nightmares.
I just wanted to hold her, to wrap my arms around her and hug her tight, to ask how she'd been surviving out there without us. The fact that she'd left me to the fate of the Morettis, abandoned me to their world of shadows and secrets, no longer burned so hot. It faded into the background, replaced by this overwhelming ache of relief and love.
She was here. My sister. The other half of me.
“The reunion can wait, sister. You need to get out of the car with me,” Talia said, her voice cool and steady, a cold smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
It didn't reach her eyes, though. Her eyes stayed hard, calculating, like she was sizing me up for a fight.
It was as though she hadn’t heard me well, or maybe I hadn’t heard her right. My mind was spinning, trying to catch up. “What?” I whispered, my breath coming in short bursts.
“Get out of the car with me, and follow me,” Talia repeated, her tone leaving no room for argument. She leaned back slightly, her black top stretching across her shoulders, the shorts riding up just enough to show the tension in her legs.
“W… wait, excuse me?! That is what you are going to tell me after seven whole months of absence?!” The words exploded out of me, laced with disbelief and hurt. Seven months, wait, no, it has been longer now, creeping toward eight.
I'd counted every day since she'd vanished, leaving me to pick up the pieces of her life, her identity, her marriage to Luciano. How could she just slide back in like this, demanding things without a single apology?
“If we’re being accurate, it is eight months already. Get out of the car with me, Raina.” Her voice sharpened, and she glanced at the driver, who was frozen in the front seat, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
“No!” I shot back, shaking my head. My heart pounded against my ribs, a mix of joy and fear twisting inside me.
Luciano was right. Talia had become an enemy.
This wasn’t the girl I’d grown up with, the one who’d shielded me from the bullies at school, and who had shared secrets under the covers late at night.
This wasn’t my twin sister anymore. The woman in front of me had eyes that held storms, and a posture that screamed danger. What had the world done to her out there?
Before I could say another word, before I could even process the shift in her demeanor, Talia moved like lightning. Her hand dipped into the pocket of her shorts, and in a blink, she pulled out a small knife, gleaming silver, and sharp enough to catch the sunlight filtering through the cab windows. She pressed it against the driver’s neck, right where his pulse jumped under the skin.
“What the hell is this?!” the man cried out, his voice cracking with terror. He didn't dare move, his eyes wide in the rearview mirror, darting between Talia and the road ahead.
“His death is going to be on you,” Talia said calmly, her gaze locking onto mine. The knife didn't waver, she held it steady, like she'd done this a hundred times before.
Cars honked angrily behind us as the traffic began to clear up, the snarl of the city easing just enough for impatient drivers to lean on their horns.
I tried to pick up my phone that was lying on my lap, my fingers fumbling for it in a desperate bid to call Luciano, to call anyone. But Talia shook her head slowly, her free hand snatching it away before I could even touch the screen.
“I will hold this for you,” she said, slipping it into her pocket with a casual flick.
“W… why are you doing this?” My voice was barely above a whisper now, tears stinging at the corners of my eyes.
The joy of seeing her alive was crumbling under the weight of this nightmare.
My sister, threatening a stranger and forcing me like this? It didn't make sense.
“We just need to talk, sissy. I believe you have what is mine.” Her words hung in the air, heavy with implication.
What was hers? My life? Luciano? The name Talia Moretti that I'd claimed and even dropped after she fled?
“F… fine. Just let him go. I will come with you.” I swallowed hard, my throat dry. The driver's face was pale, sweat beading on his forehead, and I couldn't let this escalate. Not because of me.
“Get out first,” Talia commanded, easing the knife back just a fraction.
I nodded shakily, my hands trembling as I reached for the door handle. Gently, I pushed the door open, the cool rush of air hitting my face as I stepped out slowly, fidgeting with the strap of my bag. My legs felt like jelly, barely holding me up as I stood on the sidewalk, the city's noise buzzing around me like a swarm of bees.
Talia stepped out almost immediately, her movements fluid and confident. She gestured to the car parked in front of the cab, a sleek black sedan, tinted windows hiding whatever waited inside.
The driver was still inside the cab, his hands raised slightly as Talia shot him a warning look. “Drive away. Now. And forget you saw us.”
He didn't need telling twice. The cab peeled out with a squeal of tires, leaving me alone with her on the busy street. I walked toward the sedan on numb feet, each step feeling like a betrayal of everything I'd built without her.
Talia fell in step beside me, her hand brushing my arm.
I pulled open the back door and entered the car, sliding across the leather seat that still held the faint scent of cigarette smoke and leather polish.
Talia settled beside me, close enough that I could feel the heat from her body. The door shut with a solid thunk, sealing us in.
My eyes glanced at the man who sat behind the wheel. He was broad-shouldered, with a shaved head and a tattoo peeking from his collar but I didn’t pay him much attention.
My focus was on her, on the sister who'd come back from the dead to upend my world again.
“How dare you do this after you fled eight months ago?!” I exploded once the car door was closed, my voice echoing in the confined space. The anger was back now, mixed with the fear, bubbling up like lava.
“You left me to clean up your mess, to live your life, to marry your husband! And now you show up with a knife, kidnapping me like some criminal? What happened to you, Talia?”
She turned to me, her eyes blazing with a fire that mirrored my own but twisted darker. “How dare you take up my place just because of my disappearance and pretend to be me?!” Talia retorted, her voice rising to match mine.
Oh, what sort of a nutjob has my sister turned into?