CHAPTER 2

Damien's POV

I threw the binoculars hard against the wall, satisfied with the sound of it breaking. “Fucking Adrian,” I screamed. 

My twin brother, my best friend.

My enemy.

She was meant to be mine. I pulled my hair slightly, walking round the small room I rented for this purpose. I was the one meant to claim her, I was meant to be the first man in her. Not him.

It should be my dick her blood stained tonight.

Sophie Martinez.

My obsession, My muse. Infatuation has never hurt so much.

Three years ago, I had an assignment from my father. It was an easy one, I was meant to go in, kill a man and sneak out back as easily.

I still remember that day. The day my twin betrayed me.

Rain drops fall around me as I hang on to the building, watching my target. He had crossed my father and that was all that mattered. “Are you in there yet D?” my brother asked me through our communication channel. “Shh, I'll get this done in five minutes tops,” a wild grin stretches across my face. 

“Papa wants this done quietly tonight. Make sure it is.” He disconnected the call and I scaled the building, entering into my target's room. He had just settled in to sleep, how lucky I was. All I had to do was strangle him. I crept up slowly to his bed, reaching for the wire behind me. It was quick, wrapping it around his neck and squeezing. When I came down, I wasn't expecting the amount of red and blue lights I saw on the curb. Officers had their guns raised, pointed at me. I stumbled briefly as they rushed towards me, in shock and I felt trepidation for the first time in my life. My head hit the curb, my blood flowed out quickly from the gash. I turned around, no sight of my brother. “Adrian,” I whispered as the cop placed the handcuffs on me, shouting my rights. My brother was meant to be here. My brother had deserted me.

That day, my brother betrayed me. He called the cops on me. I had no proof yet, all I have is what he said.

“You think you are something special," Adrian whispered maliciously in my ear. He had come to see me in jail. “You are not. I am better than you.”

“Why are you doing this, Adrian?” I asked him, clutching the bars that separated us. “What did I do to you?”

He looked at me with hatred in his eyes. “Exist.”

Ever since that day, it had been sabotage after sabotage. My boots got spoiled on the day we were meant to pick the head quarterback, torn to pieces by someone. By the time I got a new one and got to the field, the selection was over. Adrian was the head quarterback. I got beaten up by a group of thugs on the final match day. I would have been Captain if I had made it. I was on track to being the best the world has ever seen. 

My own brother, took all my happiness and joy for himself.

My father lost all trust in me, saying I was becoming unreliable. He didn't send me out on missions anymore, instead, Adrian got all of it. He followed my father to meetings, became the star of our team, became everything I should have been. When my father declared that I was no longer Heir Apparent, I realized just how deep the hatred my twin has for me.

He wanted power, and I was the only one that could take it from him.

I retreated into the shadows. I became my father's spy. The good second in command. It was already sealed, I had lost the game to become heir, all I had to do was be my brother's right hand man. I hated it. I hated cleaning after his messes. I hated taking the blame when he killed a stripper, when he fucked with the judge's wife. I hated the looks of disappointment my father had whenever he bailed me out because I took the fall for him. I hated the fact that our faces were so alike. 

I would have left. Let him rule the empire by himself. After all, they all turned away from me.

Then I saw Sophie Martinez. 

That day, my father had sent me to go warn her father. He missed a payment. “Don't fuck this one up,” Adrian had said, laughing at me. My father chuckled too while I left the room. 

Sophie had opened the door for me. Her long blonde hair fell like the sun around her, her green eyes shone with such kindness. She had freckles all over her nose, and I counted them. 23 in total. Her rose bud lips. She told me she was just visiting them, smiling as she gave a total stranger information. “Which of my papa's associates are you?” She asked over her shoulder as she led me into their house. I can't recall the reply I gave her, but I remember the sway of her hips in the blue jean bum shorts she has on. If she bent over slightly, I could see the curve of her ass.

I followed her after that day.  She was in community college, the next town over. It didn't deter me. I knew her favourite shampoo was the Auntie Jackie's strawberry plush one. Her favourite colour was blue. Her eyes lit up in class whenever she learnt mythology,  her anxiety caused her to be on drugs everyday. She was scared of heights and every night, she would dream about drowning. It was horrible, watching her like that, wriggle in pain. I started calming her down during her nightmares, rubbing her hair and back till she slept, leaving the same way I came in.  She loves her mother so much, she spoke to her at exactly 3 pm every Tuesday. They would have an online date as she called it, coffee and bagels. Her favourite meal was ice cream, she could survive without her phone for days and she loved vintage materials. An odd, old soul.

She was mine, until she wasn't.

“Adrian is getting married.” My father informed us. My brother locked his jaw tightly, refusing to speak. “The Martinez man, he has begged us to take his daughter as repayment.”

I began nodding my head then pausing. “The Martinez?” I asked. Adrian looks at me, “Yes, you know them?”

Surely, it couldn't be. “Brother.” I look at Adrian. Something in what he sees in my face causes him to grin. “I agree to marry her Father,” he said. I squeezed my hands tightly, feeling my nails dig into my skin.

That day, I swore to take everything back from him. Including Sophie. 

Installing the cameras in his house was easy, my brother was cocky. He thought no one could ever betray him. He was captain to find them out. I didn't need anyone's help though. 

I watch her, rubbing the screen of my laptop in adoration. Her chest rose slightly, the way it always did when she slept. I hope she doesn't have any nightmares tonight. Even if she does, I'll always be  there for her.

“Just hang in for me, baby.” I whisper. Starting tomorrow, I will begin my plans. I would take her from him. Along with my empire.