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“You know their real names now.”
“Yeah, but they’re not the same people they used to be,” I said as sadness washed over me. You weren’t like this either, John. You guys were so protective of me. You always watched out for me.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks as my heart cracked. “Believe me, John. I’d have never let Callum take you away that night if I knew he intended to kill you.”
“Your intentions don’t matter anymore. You can barely stand to even look at me.”
“That’s because I didn’t recognize you sooner,” I said. “And what about you? Did you give me a chance to like you? From the moment you took me, you’ve hurt me.”
He watched me with a strange look in his eyes. His thick scars kept his expression hidden from me. It was hard to tell if any of my words affected him at all.
“Get some rest,” he said, getting to his feet. Bending down, he lifted the tray with all the empty dishes on it.
“Do you believe me?” I asked as he turned his back on me.
“Not yet,” he said, marching toward the door.
Soon, he was out of the room and I was locked in. Brushing away the tears, I lay down on the pillow. My full stomach and the warmth of the blanket easily lulled me into a deep sleep.
Now that I was fed, I needed my rest to survive another day.
19
Yakim
My mind replayed the things Lucia told me this afternoon. Pity flickered through me every time I thought of the years she spent living with Callum.
My brothers and I always kept a tab on her, so we knew she’d dropped out of school soon after we’d been eliminated from the picture. She’d been homeschooled and that was the end of her education. We wondered about her decision to not go to college but decided it had been her choice.
It was Callum, I realized. He must’ve been the one to forbid her, forcing her to stay a prisoner at home and under his watch.
The revelations happening since the moment we stole her were surreal. The facts were stranger than the ideas we’d built up in our heads. If what Lucia told me was true, Callum was a bigger bastard than we’d anticipated.
“Is Leon home yet?” Lilja’s voice sounded at the door of my office.
“Not yet,” said Mikhail who’d been lying in a boneless heap on a couch nearby. He was immersed in his phone while I stayed buried in my thoughts.
“What’s taking him so long?” Lilja mumbled, coming into the room. I was surprised to see her dressed in tight black leggings and a cropped denim jacket this late in the evening. “He promised to tag along with me for a race in Murdock Valley. It’s already past nine P.M. If we don’t leave now, we won’t get there in time.” That explained the ridiculously heavy makeup she’d painted all over her face.
“Leon’s got more serious shit to do than race bikes at the moment,” said Mikhail, keeping his gaze locked on his phone.
“Yeah? Like what?” She ran inside the room and bounded onto the couch, proceeding to snatch Mikhail’s phone out of his hand.
“Oi!” he shouted. “Give it back! I’m working.”
She held her hand back, refusing to give the phone back. “What are you up to, brother dear?” she sneered. “What’s all this secrecy about?”
“It’s not for you to know!” Mikhail grabbed her wrist to take his phone and soon, they were both locked in a wrestling match.
I rubbed my forehead, trying to drown their incessant curses as they fought and tore at each other’s hair. My glance fell on the mounted clock nearby.
Leon should’ve been back home by now or at least, sent me a text to tell me where he was stuck. The last message he sent me was at noon, informing me he was scouting the Morelli estate.
“Fucking hell, Lil!” Mikhail’s screech broke me out of my thoughts.
Looking his way, I found him on the floor with Lilja beating a cushion on his face. The phone they’d been fighting over lay forgotten on the couch. My siblings loved being a pain in my ass in the direst of situations.
My vibrating phone caught my attention. Picking it up, I glanced at the flashing screen.
