constrained his usual flamboyant style. “What are you not telling me, Rubio? You talked with Jason’s friends! You heard them, and felt their vibrations, yet—”
“Something doesn’t add up. If I speak too soon, I’ll only upset you more.”
“Nonsense! What do you know? ” Her voice sounded high and shrill, as though she’d spent too much time around Dora and Jemma. But her brother’s expressive face belied a concern, a puzzlement, that went beyond any pranks pulled at a bachelor party.
Rubio shifted on the seat. Held her hands and closed his eyes…relaxed until his shallow breathing and slow pulse told her he was in a trance state, plumbing the depths of the unseen worlds around them. “Secrets,” he whispered. Then he was still a long time. “I feel the presence of untold stories…of emotions that hide from the light of day. And they involve you , sister.”
She cried more earnestly then. First Jason went missing and now her dear brother accused her of withholding valuable evidence! “If you’re saying I had something to do with Jason’s disappearing, I saw him just yesterday! As I’ve told you, he gave me this pendant as a wedding gift—”
“He was in your bed, was he not?”
Maria’s mouth clapped shut. “We’ve watched over each other since Mama died, Rubio, but that gives you no right to—”
“I am not judging or accusing, Maria. I can feel Jason’s imprint…on your heart and soul, as well as your body,” he said in a faraway voice. “But he is not the only one.”
The breath rushed from her lungs. Did her powerful brother intend to betray her triangular relationship? “You must not breathe a word about—”
“That’s not my purpose. But if I am to differentiate between your fiancé’s…emotional energy and another’s…Identical twins present a challenge for me, dear sister. I don’t encounter them often.” He opened his eyes, trying not to laugh at her while she was mired in such a dicey situation. “Why are you afraid to tell me what I already know?”
Playfully she slapped his face. “This is so unfair, damn it! Why don’t you tell me ?”
Rubio glanced away, smiling. Ever the elusive younger brother, baiting his hook.
“All right, so Jude was in my room as well!” she confessed. “He came to admire this glorious pendant he made, and to spend time with me while Jason was cavorting with his friends last night.”
Her brother kept his eyes averted, as though he knew more.
Maria released his hands, exasperated. “You already know Jude loves me, too. And that this triangle has existed for quite some time—and that Jason favors its continuation. How does this intimate knowledge of my love life affect the fact that he hasn’t shown up today?”
Rubio flashed her a sympathetic grin as he thumbed a tear from her cheek. “Again, it helps me to differentiate between the brothers’ bonds with you. If I held that lovely pendant, I would run into the same situation because Jason’s energy is on it, as is Jude’s, because he created it. Even without my sixth sense, I know Jude is in love with you, Maria. Anyone with eyes can see it. Be very careful.”
Her throat constricted. Were she and Jude that obvious when they were together in public? “I— please don’t let on about this to—”
“Of course I won’t. Give me your hands again, Maria,” he murmured. “We’re nearing the town house and I want to ascertain whatever I can about Jason, now that I feel the differences between him and Jude.”
Cautiously she offered her hands, and as he clasped them his pulse surged. Maria felt a concentration, a funneling of his mind and soul that made her entire body shimmer with inner electricity. She watched his chestnut mane of hair shimmy around his collar as his eyebrows peaked and his nostrils flared. What was taking so long? Usually, he knew within moments what was happening.
“A vast body of water,” he murmured, so softly she had to lean forward to
“Something doesn’t add up. If I speak too soon, I’ll only upset you more.”
“Nonsense! What do you know? ” Her voice sounded high and shrill, as though she’d spent too much time around Dora and Jemma. But her brother’s expressive face belied a concern, a puzzlement, that went beyond any pranks pulled at a bachelor party.
Rubio shifted on the seat. Held her hands and closed his eyes…relaxed until his shallow breathing and slow pulse told her he was in a trance state, plumbing the depths of the unseen worlds around them. “Secrets,” he whispered. Then he was still a long time. “I feel the presence of untold stories…of emotions that hide from the light of day. And they involve you , sister.”
She cried more earnestly then. First Jason went missing and now her dear brother accused her of withholding valuable evidence! “If you’re saying I had something to do with Jason’s disappearing, I saw him just yesterday! As I’ve told you, he gave me this pendant as a wedding gift—”
“He was in your bed, was he not?”
Maria’s mouth clapped shut. “We’ve watched over each other since Mama died, Rubio, but that gives you no right to—”
“I am not judging or accusing, Maria. I can feel Jason’s imprint…on your heart and soul, as well as your body,” he said in a faraway voice. “But he is not the only one.”
The breath rushed from her lungs. Did her powerful brother intend to betray her triangular relationship? “You must not breathe a word about—”
“That’s not my purpose. But if I am to differentiate between your fiancé’s…emotional energy and another’s…Identical twins present a challenge for me, dear sister. I don’t encounter them often.” He opened his eyes, trying not to laugh at her while she was mired in such a dicey situation. “Why are you afraid to tell me what I already know?”
Playfully she slapped his face. “This is so unfair, damn it! Why don’t you tell me ?”
Rubio glanced away, smiling. Ever the elusive younger brother, baiting his hook.
“All right, so Jude was in my room as well!” she confessed. “He came to admire this glorious pendant he made, and to spend time with me while Jason was cavorting with his friends last night.”
Her brother kept his eyes averted, as though he knew more.
Maria released his hands, exasperated. “You already know Jude loves me, too. And that this triangle has existed for quite some time—and that Jason favors its continuation. How does this intimate knowledge of my love life affect the fact that he hasn’t shown up today?”
Rubio flashed her a sympathetic grin as he thumbed a tear from her cheek. “Again, it helps me to differentiate between the brothers’ bonds with you. If I held that lovely pendant, I would run into the same situation because Jason’s energy is on it, as is Jude’s, because he created it. Even without my sixth sense, I know Jude is in love with you, Maria. Anyone with eyes can see it. Be very careful.”
Her throat constricted. Were she and Jude that obvious when they were together in public? “I— please don’t let on about this to—”
“Of course I won’t. Give me your hands again, Maria,” he murmured. “We’re nearing the town house and I want to ascertain whatever I can about Jason, now that I feel the differences between him and Jude.”
Cautiously she offered her hands, and as he clasped them his pulse surged. Maria felt a concentration, a funneling of his mind and soul that made her entire body shimmer with inner electricity. She watched his chestnut mane of hair shimmy around his collar as his eyebrows peaked and his nostrils flared. What was taking so long? Usually, he knew within moments what was happening.
“A vast body of water,” he murmured, so softly she had to lean forward to
Similar Books
