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“Sheisa sadist,” a familiar voice sighed. Rose?
“We promise not to hurt you,” the sadist, Cameo, said. “What?” she asked quietly. “I prefer to torture men.”
“Vasilisa? It’s Wyn, Rae, and Rose. Ignore Cameo, she’s got a few screws loose but she’s harmless to family.”
I exhaled a hard breath, scrubbing a hand down my face before I stepped out of my hiding place. The twins took that as permission to bolt through the balcony doors, barking at the top of their lungs. They swarmed the four women in my living room with love and drool.
“I thought you were my brother,” I admitted, a weight dropping off my shoulders when Rose threw her arms aroundme, hugging me tightly. I looked over her shoulder at the Marshall sisters. “Is there any news about Damien?”
“Not yet, but no one ever keeps us in the loop,” Raegan replied, casting a deep frown at a tall, shapely woman dressed head to toe in black leather. Her long, white-blonde hair swung when she swung her head around to Rae, sensing her attention.
“Because you’re a baby,” she said, rolling her eyes before she moved her focus to me. A chill went down my spine, her look inspiring the same warning as when I first heard her voice. This had to be Cameo.
“He’ll be fine. Damien’s a big boy. And charges never stick to us long; our lawyers are like sharks circling blood.” Her smile made the twins growl, pressing close to me.
“So, no news,” I muttered, hugging Rose tighter before letting go. “Why are you all here? Not that you’re unwanted but…”
“But we’re unwanted,” Cameo finished, grinning as she helped herself to the open bottle of whiskey on the coffee table. “I don’t think so,” she said when Elowyn reached a graceful hand for the bottle. “You’re a baby, Wyn, and I’m not risking the King’s wrath by getting you pissed.”
“I’m eighteen,” Wyn muttered, but didn’t press the matter.
“What’s your title?” I asked when Wyn shot the older woman a dirty look as she plopped into a chair near the TV. Elowyn was the more introverted twin, quiet and intelligent to Rae’s exuberant and brave personality, Wyn’s appearance muted to Rae’s vibrance. I’d met them a few times now and while I was still overwhelmed by being part of the family; they were nice girls.
They were only three years younger than me, but the gap between us felt like a chasm. Probably because they’d grown up happy and loved, and I had—not.
When Cameo gave me a blank, unimpressed stare, I said, “The Saint, the King. What’s yours?”
“I don’t have one,” she replied, her chin tipping up dangerously. I wished I’d never spoken. “Titles are reserved for the men of the family.”
I blinked, my primal terror of this woman skipping a beat. “What? That’s bullshit.”
Cameo smiled slowly. “Yes, it is, Vasilisa. Yes, it is. What are the dogs’ names?”
“Sparrow and Serenity.”
Cameo stared from me to the Rottweiler twins, currently climbing all over Rose as she perched on the sofa arm. “You fucking weirdo,” Cameo said, grinning now. “I like you.”
“Thank fuck for that,” Rae groaned, dropping onto the sofa beside Rose. I couldn’t sit. It took all I had not to pace.
“Language,” Cameo chided, pointing a sharp-nailed finger at the younger girl.
“Bite me,” Rae threw back, her amber eyes dancing. The bright, rebellious red streak in her hair seemed to echo her biting remark.
“She actually will,” Wyn muttered, kicking off her Vans shoes and folding her legs beneath her on the chair, the knees of her jeans artfully ripped, “and then you’ll get scabies.”
I laughed, and the sound dispelled some of the dread from my chest. If Damien’s friends and family weren’t worried about him getting out, maybe I was stressing over nothing. He promised to come back to me, after all.
I checked my phone for the nine hundredth time, cursed its lack of messages, and slipped it back into my pocket.
“Planning on putting that gun down any time soon?” Cameo asked, eyeing me.
“No.”
“Gonna shoot any of us?”
“Also no.”
“Good call. We’d be hard to kill. Elowyn over there might be reserved and shy, but she knows krav maga. And Rose is a badass. I don’t know how, or in what way, but deep down I think she could chop someone into little bits.”
