*Isabella's POV*
"That woman sounds batcrap crazy," I said, shaking my head, trying to find some semblance of logic in this whole insane situation.
"That's what I fucking said," Damien said, a flicker of triumph in his eyes as he finally found an ally in his scepticism.
"You two are impossible," Jacob said, his voice rising with frustration as he glared at both of us. "That woman was clearly right. There's no way in hell she could possibly know about our connection if she was a scam."
"Twin connections are quite common," Damien said with a dismissive shrug, leaning back against the wall like he was a professor explaining a basic concept.
"She was obviously just fucking speculating," I said, though the words felt hollow even to me. I was trying to cling to reason, but the story had planted a seed of something... doubt maybe
"And how come we feel each other's feelings for Isabella from miles away? Over a fucking thousand miles?" Jacob demanded, stepping forward, his eyes locked on his brother in a challenge.
"What thousand miles?" Damien asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"That's the distance between Cuba and North Carolina, you clueless motherfucker!" Jacob spat out, his entire body rigid with anger. The accusation hung in the air, sharp and dangerous.
"Well, that escalated fucking quickly," I sighed, rubbing my temples as a headache started to bloom. I felt like I was caught in the middle of a wildfire. "Should I remind you how terribly fucking uncomfortable I am when you two fight?" I said, my voice quiet but firm, cutting through the thick tension.
At that, they both grew silent, the angry energy lowering instantly as they turned to look at me, their fight forgotten in the face of my distress.
"Okay, a thousand miles, so what?" Damien said, his voice dripping with a indifference that I knew was a defence mechanism. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, trying to look like this entire conversation was beneath him.
"We've had... how many girlfriends?" Jacob asked, turning his full, burning attention to his brother. He was pacing now, a caged tiger with a theory to prove.
"A few," Damien said with a shrug, not meeting his eyes.
"I've had... hundreds of one night stands," Jacob added, his gaze flicking to me for a split second.
"Hundreds?" I asked, the word tasting like ash in my mouth. I was shocked, and a wave of something sharp and disgusting washed over me. The sheer number of it, the casual way he said it, made my stomach turn.
"More or less," Jacob shrugged, completely unfazed by my reaction. "And then there's Rebecca."
"Okay?" Damien asked, finally looking at him, a flicker of annoyance in his eyes.
"Just humour me me," Jacob said, stopping his pacing to glare at Damien. "When you dated Rebecca, and you were outside New York, could you feel my feelings? Because I didn't feel a single thing you were feeling if I was away from you, except..." he said, his voice trailing off, and the air in the room grew heavy with unspoken grief.
Damien sighed, a deep, weary sound that seemed to come from the very depths of his soul. "Yeah, mom's death," he admitted, his voice barely a whisper.
"Do you get me now?" Jacob pressed, his voice rising with intensity. "Unless it's a strong feeling of pain or sadness, we didn't feel lust or love before from miles away. And trust me when I say this, I was obsessed with Isabella without even fucking knowing her."
"Okay, this is intense but please carry on, you'll find common ground," I said, holding my hands up as if to physically push their overwhelming emotions away. "I'm gonna go to sleep now." I couldn't take another second of it. My head was pounding, my heart was a mess, and I just needed to escape.
"Sweetheart, wait," Jacob said, his voice suddenly soft, stopping me in my tracks. "I think I have a plan."
"A plan for what?" I asked, turning back to him, my exhaustion mixed with suspicion.
"For us to be together again," Jacob said, a determined glint in his eye.
"I get that we hurt you and each other. It was becoming toxic," he admitted, and the raw honesty of it caught me off guard.
I clapped my hands slowly, rolling my eyes. "Well, thank you for finally fucking getting it," I said, the sarcasm a bitter shield around my heart.
"I'm not the fucking moron you think I am," Jacob said, rolling his eyes right back at me. "I just need to find Madam Suzanne and ask her if she can break the connection."
The words hung in the air, so unexpected and so final that for a moment, no one moved. Break the connection? The thought had never even occurred to me, and hearing it said out loud, as a solution, as a plan, sent a shockwave through my entire system.
"What?" The word exploded from Damien, sharp and full of disbelief. "Break the connection?" I gasped, the air catching in my throat.
"But you're twins," I said, my mind reeling, trying to grasp the concept. "Your connection is most certainly from birth to death." It was a fact, as solid as the ground beneath my feet.
"From the cradle to the grave," Jacob agreed, his voice low. He looked at Damien, and for a fleeting second, they weren't fighting, they were just two halves of a whole, acknowledging the one thing they thought they couldn't change.
"Unless..." Jacob began, his brow furrowed in thought.
"Unless you plan to kill me or something," Damien said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. A surprised, slightly hysterical laugh escaped my lips.as so absurd, so perfectly Damien, that it broke the tension for a second.
"You're even more fucking boring when you try to make a joke, as always," Jacob shot back without missing a beat before his expression turned serious again. "Unless it's not that kind of connection. Unless it was developed later. Then maybe... maybe we can break it." The hope in his voice was both terrifying and intoxicating.
"Developed later?" Damien asked, his scepticism a tangible wall.
"I don't remember feeling anything serious and odd when I was a kid," Jacob said, his gaze distant as he sifted through old memories.
"We were kids, Jacob. We most definitely didn't know what the fuck we were feeling," Damien countered, his tone a mix of condescension and discouragement.
"I don't know, man," Jacob said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "What I know is that we both love Isabella, and we can't be together because of this stupid fucking connection." His words hit me like a physical blow. There was a long pause, the weight of his confession settling in the room.
"What you're saying makes sense, for once," Damien finally admitted, his voice quiet. "But what can we do?"
"I'll find a way," Jacob said, his voice ringing with a newfound determination. He looked directly at me, his eyes burning with an intensity that made my heart ache. "And then we can be together. Either the three of us, or separately. Whatever Isabella feels like." The choice, he was saying, was mine. And that was the most terrifying part of all.