AURORA MOON
Aurora Moon awoke suddenly, her heart pounding as she sat up. "Kellan!"
Silence was the only answer. Groggy, she looked around. Where was she? How did she get here? Where was her husband?
"You're okay," said an unfamiliar male voice. "You're safe."
"Safe? I'm in a strange place with a strange man. It's too dark in here."
Low lights came on, enough to allow her to see, but not bright enough to hurt her eyes. "Who are you?"
"I know you have questions. I'll answer them, but first, let the doctor check your injuries."
Aurora frowned. "What doctor? What injuries?"
Memories came to her in flashes. The car accident. Kellan unconscious and bleeding. "Where's my husband?"
"In the Ward Private Hospital. He had surgery, but he's doing well."
She heard a door opening and then a man wearing glasses, a white coat, and a serious expression entered the room. He checked Aurora and then stepped back. "Bruises mostly. Nothing that can't heal with rest and eating well."
"Understood. Thanks, Doc."
The doctor nodded, wrote on the chart he held, and then quietly left.
The man who'd been leaning against the wall, straightened up and rounded the bed. He stood next to the bed, arms crossed, looking at Aurora. His face was stunning. And familiar. "Have we met?" she asked.
"Seen a mirror lately?" He laughed. "You could say that we've actually met, though I doubt you'd remember." He sat on the edge of her bed, and Aurora scooted her legs away from him. He noticed, and smiled.
"I didn't cause the accident. I had another plan for your extraction, but someone apparently wants you or Kellan Ward dead.They arranged for a garbage truck to hit your car."
She gaped at him. "That seems ... excessive. But neither one of us have no shortage of enemies." She frowned. "I want to see my husband."
"That's the confusing part for me. I went to a lot of effort to get you away from that psycho."
"He's not a psycho." She paused. Outsiders would probably form different opinions if they were to only study Kellan's obsession with her. "To be more accurate, he's my psycho, and I want to see him."
"After your brain is checked," said the man. He tapped his temple. "By a psychologist."
"I refused to be imprisoned." She went to crawl out of bed, but the man put his hands up in a surrender gesture.
"Okay, okay. You're not a prisoner. But let's talk before you go get into trouble again."
Aurora sat down and crossed her arms. "Five minutes. Then you'll see what a psycho really is."
"I hear you." He put out his hand and introduced himself. "Hi. I'm Ryder Hamilton. And I'm your twin brother."
"You're my twin brother?" Aurora didn't believe it. Well, maybe she did a little. Because his eyes were very much like hers. His hair was the same dark black. But ... a brother? A twin?
He plucked his cell phone from his jacket pocket and tapped the screen a few times. Then he nodded toward her phone charging on the nightstand. "DNA report."
She grabbed her phone and opened the file he'd sent to her WeChat. Wait a minute. "How did you get my WeChat?"
"My job requires a variety of skills. I'll have to teach you some because your password is Kellan's birthday, and that's too easy to crack."
Aurora glared up at him. "Don't touch my things. And this report could be fake."
"I'll take you to the DNA lab of your choice," he said. "You can pick the doctor. But I promise you, it'll come back the same."
Aurora's protest was weak and she knew it. Oh, she'd make him take her to a lab and do the tests over, but she had a feeling what he said was true.
She had a twin brother.
"Mom died when I was eight. Where were you?"
"With her best friend. Megan and Trent Hamilton raised me as their son. I knew I was adopted, but I didn't know the back story. And they never told me I had a sister. But I know everything now." He patted her leg and then stood up. "This is a lot, right? You should rest. I'll fix you something to eat, and we can talk later."
"But I want to know now," insisted Aurora.
"Nope."
"I want my husband!"
"Also, nope."
"Ryder!"
"Look at that, you sound like a miffed younger sister." He grinned. "Rest, Aurora. If you don't do it on your own, then I'll have the doctor give you a dose of night-night juice."
Frustrated, she ground her teeth. Without a real choice to make, she nodded. "Fine."
"'Atta girl." He paused. "Oh." He took her phone. "I'll keep this for now."
"Rude."
He grinned again. Then he left her alone in the room.
Aurora clasped her hands together and then looked down at her bare fingers. Where was her wedding ring? Just as the question entered her mind, Ryder popped back into the room. "I had to borrow your ring because it has GPS in it and I don't want your hubby to find you."
"Are you crazy?" She frowned. "Hang on. My ring has GPS?"
"Yep. I can't disable it without ruining the ring, so I'll use it as a red herring to keep your hubby off our trail."
"Argh! This whole thing is ridiculous!"
"I agree." With that, he left again. This time when he shut the door, she heard the sound of him locking it.
Aurora pounded the bed with her fists and then plopped back onto her pillow. Worry gnawed at her. Where was Kellan? Was he truly okay? Would he think she'd bailed on purpose?
She pressed her hand against her heart as she closed her eyes. In her previous life, there had been no hint of a secret twin brother. She hadn't been kidnapped by Ryder Hamilton.
What other surprises would this second-chance life bring her?