Page 90 of Wicked Ambition

Ayla was all too familiar with their level of caring. “I need to think about this for a while.”

“I recommend therapy. It helped put things in perspective.”

Pushing their parents out of her head, Ayla asked, “But back to switching places, will you do it?”

Io groaned. “It’s been years.”

“So? We know each other backward and forward. We’ve always been able to imitate each other for short stretches.”

“He’s going to be mad, Ay. Really mad. At both of us, but mostly at you. He doesn’t know me, but Oz is in love with you. It’s going to feel dishonest. It’s going to feel like a betrayal. You don’t want to do this, trust me.”

“I need to be sure. I need him to be able to tell us apart. I need him to pick me. Please, Io? I’d do it for you.”

Oz stoppedwhen he stepped into the dining room. The sisters were sitting at the table shoulder to shoulder and murmuring to each other. When they noticed him, they grew quiet and stood. Then they watched him.

One twin had curls, the other’s hair was straight. One wore business casual, the other wore leggings and a lime-green T-shirt. One smiled, the other simply looked at him. The problem was the twin with the curls, smile, and dressed in slacks and a button-up shirt wasn’thistwin.

He looked at Ayla. It was strange to see her blonde hair stick straight. “What’s going on, Pollita?”

Ayla turned to her sister. “You let him call you little chicken?”

And then Oz knewexactlywhat was happening. He saw red. “You switched places. I didn’t realize twins pulled this bullshit when they’re thirty years old.”

“Nearly thirty years old,” Iona corrected him, her smile broadening. She turned to Ayla and raised her brows, the sisters communicating without a word.

“Excuse us,” Oz said, crossing to Ayla and taking her hand. “We need to have a private conversation.” He didn’t wait for a response before pulling her into the sitting room next to the dining room and closing the door. Folding his arms over his chest, he stood with his back to it, not wanting her to escape before they had this out. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Io warned me you’d be angry.”

That answered the question about whose idea this was. “Why are you pretending to be your sister?” It took all his self-discipline to keep his voice even. He was more than angry. Oz was royally pissed off.

“I wanted to know if you could tell the difference.”

His temper climbed higher, and gritting his teeth, he took a few deep breaths. “You don’t think I recognize you no matter how you’re dressed?”

“I wanted you to pick me.”

“Explain.”

“All our lives, people haven’t been able to tell us apart. I had to know we weren’t interchangeable to you. I had to know that I mattered enough that you’d recognize me. Our parents never knew when Io and I switched. They couldn’t tell us apart.Our parentsdidn’t care which one we were.”

Tears filled her eyes. Oz’s temper abated enough to remember the conversation they’d had about her family, about how she was a constant disappointment. How a parent was forced to stay behind because Ayla was unwilling to do anything daring. The rest of his anger seeped away. She was as messed up by her upbringing as he was by his, just in a different way.

Dropping his arms to his sides, he moved to her, wrapping her in a hug. “We’re a pair, Pollita. Both of us are so fucked up by our childhoods that we’re still not over it.”

It took a moment, but Ayla’s arms slowly wound around his waist, and she snuggled her face against his throat.

Something inside Oz relaxed. Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, he said, “I knew as soon as I walked in the room that you weren’t dressed like you. It stopped me in my tracks because I couldn’t figure out why. You’re pretty set on your style.”

He felt her lips curve against his skin. “That’s your nice way of saying I was a pain in the rear when we were shopping for my disguise.”

Leaving that alone, Oz circled his hand over her back. “Let’s get a few things straight. I’m not attracted to your sister. You might look alike, but I don’t react to her the way I do to you.You’rethe one who makes my body heat. You’re the one who leaves me drooling with lust.”

Ayla leaned back. She must have decided he was telling the truth because her smile grew wider.

“That alone makes it easy for me to tell you apart, but it’s more than that.” Oz gathered up his courage. This was frightening territory, but he wouldn’t avoid it any longer. “When I look at you, my heart beats faster. I love you, Ayla.”

“You do?”

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