Falling For The Wrong Twin

Daredevil

Gia

The dining room fell into a sudden silence under the weight of the bomb Maverick just dropped on all of us. Me too.

Marriage?

I knew he had told me that there was a possibility we could get married first but I hadn’t expected him to announce it so soon. This was my first day here. I hadn’t even breathed yet. I didn’t even know which room I would be staying. But at the same time, as much as my mind reeled, there was something deeply satisfying in seeing the mortification that twisted Mitch’s features.

He said I couldn’t pull his brother right?

Now, he had to watch this.

Vivienne’s humorless laugh pulled me out of my thoughts as she popped a grape into her mouth. “Marriage?” She tutted silently. “I don’t see an engagement ring. Or a proposal—” she turned to Mitch, lifting his chin with her manicured fingers with practiced tenderness as she slipped the grape into his mouth. “Future, brother-in-law. Could this be a case of…baby help me out with that word again?”

“FOMO”

“I love you,” she fixed her gaze back on Maverick. “The fear of missing out?”

A smile curved Maverick’s mouth. “Fear of missing out on what? Is that even a real diamond?” His gaze settled on her fingers.

Mitch gritted his teeth.

A deep frown settled between her brows and unironically, she dropped her hand between her legs—the smug smile wiped off her face. Good. Wack her in the face for me.

“But at least, I had a proposal,”

“Gia doesn’t fancy proposals,” Now, how did he know that? And about the asparagus too. “So we are cutting the basics and going for the real deal. Our wedding. I am thinking, Malibu?”

His eyes held mine, brows nudging for me to play along.

I adjusted in my seat. “Georgia…or wait. We could celebrate our wedding in Georgia and fly to Malibu for the honeymoon,”

An approving smile stretched his mouth. “I want anything you want, Gia—” kiss her here.

Robert’s laugh came out small, mixed with happiness and shock. “Are you serious son? Like you are both serious?”

The genuine joy that dripped from his voice, tugged at my heartstrings. I hated how real feelings were involved here.

Maverick nodded. “Yes”

A hearty laugh escaped him as he rose to his feet, urging Maverick to get up before pulling him into a brief hug that Maverick was quick to pull away from. Did that even qualify as a hug?

I could feel Mitch’s burning gaze on me as I lifted my chin and avoided clashing into his eyes. Robert hugged me too, telling me he was proud of us both and chastising Maverick for keeping our ‘fake’ relationship a secret from him all these years.

“This is what I have always wanted. For you to settle down and start a family. I’m proud of the two of you, Maverick and Mitch. And Mitch, don’t take your brother’s comment about the ring to heart. If you want something more expensive, I’d be more than happy to help Vivie—”

Mitch cut in, barely allowing him to finish, his voice completely devoid of any emotion. “There’s no need, Dad. Vivienne loves the ring. She’d wear whatever I could afford,”

Vivienne turned to him, eyes widening in disbelief as she stared at him like he had lost his mind.

Something sad crossed Robert’s eyes. “Sure. I respect your wishes. I’ll stay out of it,”

Vivienne shook her head, glancing desperately at Mitch.

“Mitch,” Maverick’s head slowly reclined back against the chair, Mitch’s eyes rising to his with a glare.

“What?”

“Gia wants you to be my best man,”

I froze.

Mitch’s face had twisted with rage completely, his gaze snapping to mine, disbelief swirling in his eyes. He had this wounded look on his face, as if something inside him just cracked.

Then I remembered all the bullshit he said when I went to move my things and every ounce of sympathy disappeared.

“Yes. You are my best-friend and I would want nothing more for you to be there as a best man,”

I thought I was strong. But I couldn’t handle the way he looked at me like I had driven a dagger straight into his heart.

“I’m sure he has a lot of friends who would happily volunteer to be the best man on that day,”

“But with you, it’s different. You are his twin brother”

Robert chimed in. “She is right, Mitch. It is different. You can bond with Maverick too. When do you plan on getting married?”

“Soon,”

“How soon?”

“It depends. Six months. In one year. Tomorrow?”

Barbara set her glass down, smiling as her lone dimple popped. “Congratulations Gia. Congratulations Maverick. I’m so happy for you both. I don’t mean to be a party pooper but the whole marriage thing is so out of the blue. Are you by any chance pregnant?”

My breathing ceased—the same time Mitch choked on his food.

“Why would she be pregnant?” Mitch’s voice almost rose an octave, annoyance hazing his eyes as if the idea of me carrying his brother’s baby terrified him.

“No. I’m not pregnant—” Relief flashed through Mitch’s eyes and a desperation tugged at me. To see it disappear. “—currently!”

His face fell.

Maverick’s brows lifted in surprise.

“Currently?”

“I almost had a pregnancy scare last week. I thought I was pregnant, and we would have had to rush the wedding. I’m not fond of the idea of walking down the aisle with a baby bump. I’ve seen how stressful it can be so imagine my relief,”

By the time I glanced at Mitch, his face had drained of color.

Before I could open my mouth to speak, he kicked his chair back abruptly, already on his feet. “Gia? Can I see you for a minute?”

My cheeks pinched up with a smile as I shook my head. “No. I’m starving. I haven’t even touched my food,”

“I won’t take much of your time,”

Maverick took a swirl of pasta with his fork, motioning for me to open my mouth and I did. “She just got back from a long flight. She must be tired, right, my love?”

“Right?” I swallowed the pasta.

“I’ll see you around, Gia—” He grabbed his food, his laptop too, and walked out of the dining room. Vivienne followed suit too like she always did—while I turned, watching them until they disappeared from my sight.

I drew in a deep, steadying breath, only to realize that Maverick was still holding my hand. I tried to tug it free beneath the table, but his grip tightened, keeping me firmly in place. A smirk tugged at his lips until, eventually, I gave up trying.

The moment we reached the hallway with only us alone, I put in all my strength and yanked my hand free from his grip.

“Now, let’s set the rules. When we’re not in proximity, there’s no reason for you to keep holding my hand or standing so close to me!” I whirled around to face him, hand placed on my waist as I pinned him hard with a stare.

His lips lifted into that infuriating smile, his eyes sparking with a challenge. “I think you are forgetting something, Gia Heidi” his voice dropped so low that the temperature dropped too. “I’m the one with the upper hand here. The one with the Golden Key. I get to set the rules. Not you, muffin. I could even decide to kiss you right now,”

My breathing hitched but I gathered myself together quickly, gritting my teeth.

“You wouldn’t dare,”

He took another step closer, almost closing the space between us. “Want to know what my friends call me?”

“What?”

A small laugh rasped out of his throat. “A Daredevil,”

“I love dares, Gia. I see them as tests. Little challenges people throw at you to see if you would back down. And sweetheart, I have never been the type to back down from anything in life,” his face was dangerously close to my face, the air taut between us as he slowly brushed his thumb across my bottom lip before lifting my chin.

“So, be careful,” he warned.

“The next time you dare me, best believe that I’ll kiss you until you forget your own name,”

A shiver slithered down my spine, my heart rate skyrocketing from the raw intensity of his words.

“Tell me you’re not curious to find out what else this tongue can do. To see just how far it’s willing to explore,”

Heat blossomed at my core from all the filthy images that popped up in my head.

What the f**k.

I was unable to look away from his hypnotic gaze until Barbara’s voice cut through the brewing tension between us.

“Gia. Am I interrupting something?”

His hand dropped from my chin, as he turned to her.

“No,” I blinked. “We were just talking,”

“We were about to do something more than talking,”

My throat worked as I fought to keep my sanity and the smile on my face.

“I can just leave,”

“No, it’s fine,”

“I wanted to say sorry about the ‘pregnancy’ comment I made earlier. It was so unnecessary and rude,”

I waved her off. “It’s fine. I’m sure that came from a place of concern for me,”

A small smile slipped through her face. “Thank you. I rented a beach house somewhere around here for us tomorrow. I would love to get to know everyone better, plus Robert will be having visitors tomorrow. The place is private and quiet. Let’s call it a hidden gem. I'd love it if you could come. Maverick too,” she glanced at him.

“Nah. Leave us out of it. Gia—”

I cut in quickly. “We’ll come,” I shot him a glare that she didn’t notice. “We’ll be there,”

She nodded, eyes gleaming brightly. “Thank you so much, Gia. I also want to show you to your room,”

Maverick exchanged confused glances with me. “Excuse me? She would be staying with me,”

Barbara’s brows furrowed. “Yes, but Mitch told me that—”

Mitch appeared down the hall-way and my breathing stalled. He crossed over to us, hand down in his pocket.

“Gia, prefers to sleep alone,” He stopped right in front of Maverick. Something in the air changed. And even with Mitch’s already imposing frame, Maverick still towered over him. “You are her boyfriend. That should be basic knowledge,” a hint of a smile pulled at his mouth.

Maverick wrapped his hand around my waist, pulling me against the hard planes of his chest.

Mitch’s eyes burned where Maverick’s hands were.

“She would always sleep in different rooms during vacations,”

“I’m confused, was I supposed to share the room with someone who has a girlfriend? You are my best friend, Mitch. Maverick is my boyfriend. That is a clear difference,”

“And if I don’t share the room with him, who will?”