Temptation

Chapter 78 - weird!

Marcus comes back in the car, and he notices the expression on my face, he looks back at the boys and turns his head to look at me.

"He looks familiar." Marcus mouths to me, I check to see if they are looking but they aren't.

"Look harder, you can't tell me that you don't recognize him."

"Fuck." He says under his breath.

"So do I drop you guys off at your house? I don't mind if I have to."

"Yes please." The two boys say, one of Mateo's friends whispers something in his ear.

"I'm surprised she has said anything about how we look so similar."

"Do me a favor and don't tell anyone about all this, what matters is that you are safe now." They nod their heads and I drop them off one by one.

"Do you want to go stay at my place? So you won't have to go back to tio Fernando right now."

"That would be nice." I notice that he's still a bit shaken up, so he stays in my room playing video games with Marcus, to ease his mind.

While they are both playing, I get the chance to start hiding my documents in my safe, hidden under the floor in my closet.

"Dude, How are you so good at this?"

"I'm a quick learner and because I can spend hours playing this, I gotta admit Marcus we may have gotten off to a bad start but I can tell you make my sister happy. So thank you, we both know none of this has been easy on her."

"You don't need to thank me, she's the reason why I haven't gone insane yet, what about you? How are dealing with all this?" Marcus looks back to see if I'm still there, I decided to give them a bit of privacy, clearly my brother hasn't told me this for a reason. I'm glad it's Marcus who he is talking to about this.

"Honestly, I'm scared, not for my life but for Esmerelda's, did you see her face when she saw Chester for the first time in 12 years? She was mortified but kept a brave face, for me. I see the fear and stress she has endured, I don't want to see her fall into that place that she fought so hard to get out of. I don't want her to end up like my parents because she feels the need to protect me."

"you're pretty much the only family she has left and we both know Esmerelda would sacrifice anything including herself for the safety of her loved ones. If she knew that you were still alive years ago, she wouldn't have never stopped looking for you. I get it, though, there are a few times where I thought I had lost her, whether it's because I screwed up or because-" he looks at his rings and fiddles with them, he doesn't want the conversation to go dark and scare Mateo even more.

"Because of what? You can tell me, I'm not a little kid anymore, I've seen things no kid should see and I think I've handled it pretty well."

"It's not that bud, I think you're a young adult, it's just that, it's kinda scary and I don't want to put those things in your mind. Besides your sister would kill me if she found out."

"It'll be our little secret." He signals that he zipped his mouth and throws away the key with his fingers.

"Well, she had a few times when her mental health got the best of her and it almost ended up very badly."

"So she was suicidal? Gee, You could have just said that no need to make things simpler, I understand. Is she still that way? I've seen the several medications she's on, and it's a lot."

"I don't know, but from experience, I learned not to get too involved and let get manage it on her own because who am I to tell her what to do and because she won't listen to me. It needs to come out of her to prioritize her health and to not feel forced to do anything, even though she doesn't take orders from anyone." They both subtly laugh and they go back to playing video games.

"By the way, I'm team Marcus, Xavier's a cool guy but he's not right for my sister, I can see that you do love her. Oh my god, why am I still talking about her love life? I don't know if I should bang my head against the wall until the thought is out of my head and throw up afterward or stare at a wall and rethink my life choices."

"I think you should go with the second one, it's less painful, I'm glad you're here Mateo."

"Thanks, Marcus, I'm glad I'm here too." He jokes around and Marcus ruffles Mateo's hair. I go back into my room to see them both still playing and messing around until my uncle comes in.

"Is that my Sobrino I hear?" He play fights with him and notices Marcus is there.

"Ah, it's good to see you Marcus, how are you doing?"

"Good sir, how about you?" Marcus gets up from the chair to straighten his blazer.

"Okay, I hope this troublemaker wasn't giving you too much trouble, that's exactly how Esmerelda was when she was younger. I guess she's still like that to this day."

"Hola tío, Very funny, I work and have fun there's a difference, it makes up for the little problems I create around the house."

"Other than beating 4 times in a row I guess, he's doing more than fine."

"That's my boy, now I'm paying you good money to not let these two be alone, good job."

"I'm saving up for a go-kart, so I can crash it afterward."

"That's more like it, so Marcus I hear you officially want to join the Santos, we'll talk later in my office. I expect that you're staying the night, not in my niece's room of course."

Mateo shakes his head no and leaves my room with my uncle.

"I still can't believe you want to go through with this, a lot of people don't make it out alive. They will beat the shit out of you and will enjoy it, just be smart about everything you do."

"I have my moments where I don't think but trust me, I'll try to make it out alive, even if I end up in a hospital bed."

"Great, then I'll have to secretly take care of you until you can walk." I punch his shoulder and close up the safe, under my closet. I close the door so no one can hear what I'm about to say.

"You were right Marcus, something is off, this can't just be a coincidence. Sebastian looks practically identical to Mateo. it's impossible because my mom only had one baby in the womb, unless...."

"You should talk to your uncle." I nod my head and we both go over

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Sorry that it's kind of short but guys I love seeing your comments on this story, keep it up, unless it's mean. If you don't like my story then don't read it, it's that simple but in the end it's benefiting me sooooo..... anyways thank you, guys, for the love you are showing this story.

~Jocelyn 🖤🪽