Twisted By Love, Reincarnation Tales, Book 1 (16 page)

“And you didn’t say anything?”

“No,” he admitted.

He saw a hint of Toni’s steel in her eyes.
“Why?”

“I didn’t know how.” It was an idiotic
answer. The only thing he could say that would have been worse was
that he’d been afraid.

“She broke your windshield, didn’t she.” It
wasn’t a question, and it was the last thing he expected her to
say.

“Of course it was.”

“She was watching us.” Her voice was flat, as
emotionless as her eyes had become.

“Probably.”

She took a deep breath, and this time, she
didn’t flinch from his gaze. “When exactly did you stop seeing her?
In relation to me, I mean.”

He felt the tension in his gut easing. There
was hope. Maybe everything wasn’t lost. “It had nothing to do with
you. She was...” He paused, considering the wording.

He took too long and Livie completed the
thought for him. “She did something crazy.”

“Yeah.”

She sighed, shook her head. “She always
does.”

He reached for her then, but she sidestepped
him, moving closer to the front door. “She doesn’t know how to keep
men.”

“Livie.”

She held up a finger. His heart turned over.
It didn’t matter whether she believed him. It didn’t matter if Toni
had filled her head with lies. He would lose her anyway.

“I knew this was a mistake from the
beginning,” she said softly.

He would not let her go, grabbing her arms,
hauling her against him. “It’s not a mistake.
We
are not a
mistake.” He stopped short of saying he was sure they’d been lovers
in the past. That would really set her running. “The mistake was
seeing her first. But I didn’t have sex with her. I never touched
her.”

Putting her hands between them, she held him
off. “That’s not the issue. Maybe if you had, she would have gotten
tired of you. But you didn’t give her what she wanted.”

“Livie, I
couldn’t
touch her.” He
wrapped both arms across her back, anchored her to him. He needed
to taste her, put his mouth to hers, shut her up, take her, show
her that Toni didn’t matter.

“You have to let me go,” she said simply. She
didn’t struggle, just held him at bay with her calm, emotionless
tone. How could she not
feel
? How could she let him go so
easily?

“I’m not letting her do this to us,” he
insisted. But she was so cold in that moment, he couldn’t even put
his mouth on hers.

“It’s not the first time,” she said.

“She said you stole her boyfriend.”

“No, I mean it’s not the first time she’s
made me give someone up.”

“I won’t let her this time.”

“She’s already done that. I have to go. You
have to let me.”

“You can’t let her do this.”

He had her so tight, she had to pull her hand
from between them. She cupped his cheek. “Let me go, Bern.”

He wanted to howl. But he eased his grip on
her, allowed her to step back.

“Bad things happen if Toni doesn’t get what
she wants,” she said softly.

“You know how crazy that sounds.”

She swallowed hard. The muscle along her jaw
rippled as she clenched her teeth. “I know. I just don’t know how
to stop it.”

“Why do you let her do this to you?”

“She’s my sister.”

Her answer wasn’t good enough. “She’s
twisted.”

She nodded slowly. “I know,” she agreed,
backing toward the door.

He had no words to make her change her mind.
It wouldn’t have made a difference if he’d told her about Toni the
moment he’d figured it out. The outcome would have been the same if
he’d never met Antonia at all. Ultimately, this was all about Livie
and the happiness her sister would never let her have.

Yet he couldn’t shut his mouth, couldn’t let
her leave without putting the truth out there between them.
“There’s something wrong if you let her do this.”

“I know that, too.”

Then the door closed, she was gone. And he
was alone.

Chapter Fifteen

Livie didn’t start to shake until she’d
turned the corner at the end of his street. Her vision blurred and
she had to pull over. It wasn’t tears. It was worse, as if
everything inside her had shut down. She couldn’t move, couldn’t
think. She could only
remember
the emotions, no longer feel
them. That moment when she’d seen Toni so very close to Bern, as if
they were lovers. Livie swallowed with difficulty. Then the sudden
realization that Bern was Toni’s Reese. All the things Toni had
said came rushing back, all those sexual things she’d said they’d
done. And the worst, he’d been with Toni on Sunday. Then he’d come
to her. Oh God.

But all that emotion was gone. She didn’t
feel. In her heart of hearts she knew Toni had lied. Which meant
that Toni had known about them. What other reason could she have
for lying, except to make Livie insane when she finally understood
that Bern had been with Toni? Yes, she believed Bern. She believed
that he’d never touched her sister.

When Livie couldn’t find her sister earlier,
she’d thought of Bern, how it would feel to have his arms around
her, his voice in her ear telling her everything would be all
right. She’d run to him. How good it had felt. Toni had ripped that
right out of her hands. She’d never even noticed her sister’s car
on the street.

She’d told him the truth, that it wouldn’t
have mattered how he’d ended things with Toni. It wasn’t about him
and Toni. It was about Livie and any man she’d ever wanted. She had
no choice, even as she felt herself ripping apart when she walked
away from him.

It would go on and on and on. Forever. Until
Livie was a dried-up husk, her insides blowing away in the wind.
She was tied to Toni because of the night her sister almost died.
Toni would never let her forget.

Toni hadn’t liked Roger. Livie could think of
him now without any feeling, though she couldn’t think of that
night without panic rising. Toni wanted Livie to stop seeing him,
and she’d done everything she could to make that happen. First Toni
had said he’d come on to her. Roger denied it. Livie had been torn
between them. Who to believe? That fateful night, she’d gone out
with him to
discuss the issue
, leaving Toni home, screaming
that she was a deserting bitch. She could still hear her sister’s
voice screeching at her. Roger hadn’t understood her devotion to
her
whacked-out
sister. He’d wanted her to make a choice,
just like Bern had. It was him or her sister. She’d chosen Toni,
not just for Toni’s sake or because of her need to help Toni or
even with any misguided guilt complex, but because Roger had
demanded it of her. Toni had called several times during the
grueling evening. Livie had taken the first two calls, Toni begging
and pleading and threatening, but with Roger’s increasing
animosity, she’d cut Toni short on the third call. She clearly
remembered her thoughts:
I’m doing what you wanted so leave me
alone, you hateful bitch
. Roger had grabbed Livie’s cell from
her, told Toni that he was going to win no matter what she did.
Then he turned off the phone, saying Toni’s reply had been simple:
Oh no, you won’t. I’ll make sure she won’t want you.
Livie
had wanted to tell them both to go to hell. But she thrashed it
through with him for another couple of hours before finally telling
him it was over. Only then had she’d listened to her voice messages
and realized something was wrong. She’d rushed home to find Toni
bleeding to death on the bathroom floor, her wrists slashed.

She couldn’t go through that again. It wasn’t
even about Toni, it was about
her
.
She
couldn’t do
it. So really, wasn’t there only one choice? She had to give up
Bern. Yet anger boiled inside her. She punched Toni’s speed dial so
hard her finger hurt.

Toni didn’t pick up. She wanted to twist the
knife. She wanted to make Livie scream.

Why do you let her do this to you?

She’d asked herself that question so many
times and had never found the answer. She was simply compelled.

Toni’s cutesy little voice mail message
played, then Livie said softly, “It’s done. He’s gone. Just the way
you wanted. Now I’m going home to bed.”

She should have been afraid of a repeat of
that horrible night, but there was no reason for her sister to hurt
herself. Toni had won, and Livie was sure she knew it.

* * * * *

Now I’m going home to bed
.

That was all Livie had to say after what
she’d done? Toni seethed. That’s
all
? Bitch. Livie was
supposed to try to make it up to her. Toni was the wronged party
here. They had both cheated her, Livie and Reese. No, he was no
longer her Reese. He was Livie’s Bern. She couldn’t let them get
away with it. It wasn’t enough that Livie simply stopped seeing
him.

But what to do?

Toni had been saving a little present for
Livie. Maybe now was the time to give it to her.

Toni had thrown on a pair of lounging pants
when she got home and didn’t bother to change. She grabbed the
present, still in the big baggie she’d put it in. Wouldn’t Livie be
surprised. Although it wasn’t moving much anymore. Maybe the hole
she’d poked in the plastic wasn’t big enough and it was
suffocating. She shook the bag, woke it from its slumber. Ah,
everything was fine.

Time to visit Livie. Midnight was such a
perfect hour, the moon bright, the air crisp.

She drove the quiet streets, hitting the
freeway. Maybe she should buy a sexy red Mustang convertible. She
couldn’t afford it on her salary, but she could probably get Livie
to help out.

Except that Livie was pulling away. She might
have given up Bern, but she was still turning away from Toni.
Now I’m going home to bed.
There was something so
frighteningly final in those words. Livie would never have done
that in the past. She’d have come running. Toni could always count
on her for that. She wouldn’t say it to anyone else, but out here
on the freeway where she was just another car on the dark road, she
could admit that it actually hurt. Livie was the only person who
loved her no matter what. Even their mother had left, deserting her
daughters for the heat of Palm Springs, but Toni could always run
to Livie. Scrambled eggs on toast. Comfort food. A shoulder to cry
on. How was she supposed to go on without Livie? She
needed
her sister.

It was that bastard Bern’s fault. He dumped
her then turned Livie against her. If not for Bernard Reese
Daniels, she and Livie would have gone on the way they always had.
It was
his
fault. She would make
him
pay.

She was thinking so hard, she almost missed
Livie’s exit. Yanking the wheel hard to the right, she skidded
slightly on the blacktop and almost collided with the yellow crash
barrels. Somewhere behind her, a furious driver laid on the horn.
She raised her middle finger in the rearview mirror.

Her heart was pounding in her chest at the
near miss. But she
had
missed. That was the point. It wasn’t
what
might
have happened that counted, it was what
did
happen. People were so freaking concerned with things
that never actually happened. Not Toni. She dealt with the here and
now. The here and now was Bern. She’d get him, somehow, some way.
In the meantime, she had her little present for Livie. It really
shouldn’t go to waste.

In front of her, a squirrel darted into the
road, then stopped, stunned by her headlights. It hung there a
moment, twitching, terrified. Stupid.

Toni didn’t stop. She didn’t swerve. She ran
over the squirrel, just a small bump-bump beneath her tires.

“You get in my way,” she said ever so softly,
“you pay.”

She’d find a way to squash Bern just like
she’d squashed the squirrel.

* * * * *

His lungs were going to cave in, as if all
the air had been sucked out of the suffocatingly small room.
Darkness closed in on him. With a stretch of his arms, he could
touch the stone walls on either side. His throat ached from
shouting, but no one had come. No one had heard. He kicked and
pounded the metal door. It didn’t give. He scraped at the latch
with his fingernails until he felt hot blood. It didn’t open. He
was going to die down in this hole. And she would be all alone.

Where he’d only shouted before, now he
started screaming.

Bern woke in a sweat. He didn’t like small
places, but he’d never dreamed about them before. He’d never woken
in such gut-wrenching terror. It wasn’t only for himself; it was
for Livie. She’d be alone, and he couldn’t help her.

It didn’t take an idiot to grasp the meaning
of his nightmare or why it had come to him at this particular
time.

Livie and Toni. Livie’s sweetness, Toni’s
venom.

His gut told him this wasn’t going to be a
one-time thing. He would suffer from the same kind of nightmares
Livie did.

Bern rolled from the bed and strode to the
bathroom. He flipped on the light, then ran cold water in the sink
to splash his face. Grabbing a towel, he dried off and stared at
his reflection. He looked like hell, his eyes sunken, dark circles,
cheeks hollow, skin sallow. He told himself it was the lighting,
but he resembled a skull, his flesh stretched across his bones.

Standing there, he heard Jake, Susan, too,
all their reincarnation babble. Souls traveled through lives
together, a core group. They weren’t always family, they weren’t
even the same gender every time, but they were always close,
impacting each other’s lives. A mother, wife, brother, uncle,
child, friend, lover, nemesis, boss, priest. If he’d been with
Livie in the past, then Toni had been there, too. And he was pretty
damn sure she’d been a bitch every time he encountered her. She
oozed evil. She infected everything.