Max
For the fifth time today, my phone rang. I ignored the call and leaned across the engine of a rusted Austin-Healey that’d been brought in for repair.
I already knew who it was. Rory. My twin brother’s fiancée.
She had it in her head that I was a problem needing fixing. Right now, I wasn’t in the mood.
My shoulder ached from my stretch, the new tattoo work I’d had scribed into my skin only just healing. A skull wearing a crown. The king of nothing.
My alter ego when I felt low.
“What do you think? Sweet, isn’t she?” Isobel commented.
I straightened and gave my boss a shrug. “Pipework’s silted up. Overdrive isnae working, but that’s likely an electrical fault. Exhaust is battered to fuck, and there’s patches in the bodywork I can fit my fist through.”
My assessment of the Austin could’ve stressed her out, but instead, the tiny Englishwoman’s eyes lit. She hoisted her baby daughter higher onto her shoulder and poked around the engine.
My gaze settled on the bairn. At about eight months old, Jamie-Beth was a perfect combination of her parents. She had her ma’s dark hair and the stubborn jaw of her da, who was a cousin of mine.
Even her name was a combination of her doting grandparents.
This was my problem. Over the past few years, I’d witnessed every one of my cousins fall in love, marry, and make babies. Even my twin was halfway to doing the same.
I was the last man standing and always would be.
The king of nothing had loved once and been burned.
“That’s no problem. We’re going to fix you up and make you pretty again,” Isobel crooned to the car. Then she twisted back and held out her daughter. “Here, have a baby cuddle so I can take a closer look.”
Before I could object, Jamie-Beth was in my arms and beaming at me. I adjusted the tiny lass to perch her padded arse on my elbow.
“Who are ye looking at?” I squinted at her.
She giggled.
“Did ye just laugh at me, JB?” I glowered deeper. “That means war. Bring it, baby face.”
Holding her under her arm, I danced back, pretending to spar. A feint left had me dodging her attack.
Then her tiny fist flailed out and smacked me in the nose.
“Ack! Ye got me.” I dropped to the concrete floor, flying the bairn in her snowsuit over my chest. “Killer blow. Put me out of my misery.”
Jamie-Beth squeaked a tiny laugh, and for a moment, my mood lifted.
“You’re so good with her. One day, you’ll make an amazing father.” Isobel rounded the car with a glance spared for us.
That was a hard no. I liked kids—my sister had two, and I was the best uncle, but Isobel was wrong. I’d never have my own. To do that, I’d have to fall in love again and settle down.
Not going to happen.
The thought carved a deeper gouge into the chasm already running through me. Fuck this. I needed out.
I rolled to my feet and addressed my boss. “Is it an issue for ye if I’m away tomorrow? Probably be gone a few days.”
“No problem. The Austin’s a passion project, so there’s no timescale for fixing it. The other work on the books, Douglas and I can handle.”
I was lucky she was so understanding and that we had a third mechanic to pick up my slack.
“Where will you go this time?” Isobel asked.
“Not sure. There’s a few projects on the go.”
Including a lad I was trying to reach but couldn’t break through to.
For months now, I’d been volunteering with a youth outreach programme, travelling to isolated corners of the Scottish Highlands to help teenagers fix up their rides. At twenty-one, I was only a few years older than most of them, but I had the skills and experience and could be a mentor for them. Someone to listen to their problems. It also gave me somewhere to go when staying became too tough.
This one particular kid had been so full of attitude. Probably into some bad shite and on the radar of the police. He reminded me of myself.
Again, from my pocket, my phone rang. I extracted it then killed the call from Rory. Instantly, a message hit my screen.
Rory: Answer your damn phone, Max.
I regarded Jamie-Beth. “What do ye think, accept a dinner invitation to watch my twin stare googly eyed at his girlfriend all evening, or drive my motorbike off a cliff?”
From her position now at the rear of the Healey, Isobel snorted a laugh.
I didn’t bother texting Rory back.
Half an hour on, and I stood at the open door of the classic car repair garage with a steaming cup of coffee, alone now Isobel had taken her bairn home for the day. In the distance, snow blanketed the forested slopes on the mountain, and icy air descended as the afternoon darkened.
Spring should’ve arrived, but ice gleamed on the road that wound through the Scottish estate we called home.
I eyed the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 I used as my road bike and half debated leaving it here to walk home. The lack of grip would be hazardous in these conditions.
Or maybe I didn’t give a fuck.
An engine rumbled, and a mountain rescue 4×4 trundled up the road. I squinted to see who was driving. My twin lifted a hand. From the passenger seat, Rory glared.
The car had barely come to a halt when she leapt out and paced over.
I stifled a groan. “You’re determined.”
“Are you kidding me? I’ve been trying to reach you all afternoon.” Her Californian accent was strong in her temper.
I took a swallow of the rapidly cooling coffee. “I’ve been busy.”
Rory’s dark eyebrows beetled. “Whatever. I have something to tell you.”
Anxiety flashed over her expression. I’d assumed she was pissed off with me for ignoring her, but no, something was wrong.
“What’s happened?” I asked.
Rory darted her gaze away. “I did something, and you’re going to be mad at me, but it might be a good thing, too.”
Maddock arrived at her side, shrugging on his thick coat. I stared at him as if I could read his mind, but he kept his mouth closed.
Rory continued. “I found Lia online and sent her message.”
My mild bemusement shattered. “Ye did what?”
“It took a while, but she replied. We’ve talked a little.”
With the flick of my wrist, I tossed the remainder of my coffee to the grass then stalked back inside the garage.
“Max,” my brother called after me.
Nope.
Two years ago, I’d fallen hard and fast for Lia. She’d become the centre of my universe in a matter of weeks. Then she’d systematically destroyed me.
Broke it off.
Walked away.
Fucking slept with Maddock to drive the nail into the coffin.
It had taken me the longest time to forgive him, even if he hadn’t known who she was and thought he was just engaging in a one-night stand.
But she knew.
We were identical in every way, my brother and I. She couldn’t have made a mistake in targeting him.
In my weakest moments, I sometimes let myself pretend she didn’t know, that she thought she was leading me outside a bar for a final-fuck goodbye, but no. That wasn’t possible.
The king of nothing wouldn’t let me believe in that level of shite.
I strode through the garage to snatch up my all-black leather jacket and helmet then my motorbike keys from the hook in the tiny office.
“Max, wait.” Rory blocked the door, her hands out. “You need to hear this.”
“The fuck I do.”
I pushed past, but my brother was there, taking his turn to trap me.
His gaze held a warning. “Seriously, bro.”
“What is this, a fucking intervention? I need to leave. I have places to be.” And absolutely no desire to hear whatever my ex-girlfriend had to say.
Liar, a voice inside my head whispered.
“She’s coming here,” Rory spluttered. “She was really cagey at first. I don’t think she trusted me. I’ve barely had three messages from her over a couple of months, but then she asked for your address. I figured she was going to write to you.”
Months. Rory had been plotting this for months.
Anger washed through me, rippling against my frozen heart.
Rory’s expression turned frantic, her gaze holding mine. “I know this might hurt, but I care about you, and you’ve been so broken up over this.”
Words exploded out of me. “Broken up? She fucked my brother the day after she told me she didnae want me. I think I’m entitled to feel however I want about that.”
Beside Rory, Maddock winced, but I couldn’t focus on him now.
“Either way,” I added, “it’s none of your business.”
“Steady,” he warned.
Rory shook her head, adamant. “You’re only proving my point. I’m your friend, and I’ve seen how this is affecting you. You never had closure, and you need it if you’re ever going to move on.”
Screw moving on. I was happy exactly where I was. No explanation from Lia could excuse what she did.
“Fuck closure.” I shoved my way between them and out into the workshop.
“Is it possible she didn’t know?”
Rory’s words stalled my heavy bootsteps. I didn’t turn around.
“Did you tell her you had a brother?” She moved closer. “Did you tell her you had a twin? Max, this is important.”
Exhaling hard, I stared at the ceiling. Did I tell her? I couldn’t remember, but even if not, it shouldn’t have mattered. Though Maddock and I looked alike, we were different people. Somebody who’d felt for me what I felt for her would’ve realised it wasn’t me.
My beliefs were right, and I wasn’t about to shake them.
“Why is it? All I can see is you’ve landed me a headache. I’m out of here. I’ll be off the estate. If she comes, tell her to go fuck herself.”
I spared a final glance at Rory and my brother. I loved them both, but this was too much.
Rory clasped her hands to her mouth as if there was more she didn’t want to say.
I’d crammed my helmet on and was buckling it before she managed her words.
“You can’t go now.”
Emotion ripped through me, and I was bleeding on the inside. I flipped up the visor. “Give me one good reason why.”
“Because I’m pretty sure the car I can hear is hers.”
