Page 47 of Barinov

She shifts across the bed without question. I slide in beside her and reach back, clicking off the lamp.

Darkness fills the room again.

“What’d you do that for?”

“So he doesn’t see.”

“What?”

“Bells,” I say, dropping my voice to a hushed whisper. “I told you. Your room. My room. It all feeds back to him so he can watch us like some sick fucking peeping-tom.”

“No,” she scolds, sassy as ever. “You actually told me they were watching.” She stiffens. “Who the fuck are they?”

The snark in her voice is oddly calming. A sound I was almost certain I’d never get to hear again.

I pull her in closer, tightening my arm around her shoulder. “Luca and whoever he wants I suppose,” I lie, not having the heart to tell her the truth about earlier.

“So he’s like, what? Getting off on watching me sleep and sending it to his friends?”

I nod. “Something like that.”

“Gross,” she gags. “What if he comes in while you’re in here? Won’t he get mad?”

“Worth the risk,” I whisper. I press a soft kiss on the top of her head. “But don’t worry, I made sure he was out cold before I came in. I couldn’t help myself. I just needed to make sure you were safe.”

“Safe? You’re worried about my safety and yet you fucking branded me,” she says, wincing just slightly as she moves her arm. “How could you do that?”

“I had to,” I confess. “It was a test.”

“That’s a sick test,” she snaps.

“I know,” I tell her, reaching for her hand. Bella’s fingers flinch as I guide them across the C burned deep into my own flesh. “But I passed. He bought it, Bells.”

“What’s the C for?”

“Cassinelli,” I reply. “Luca’s real last name.”

She shakes her head. “This whole thing is insane.”

“I know.” I nod. “Look… I’m sorry I had to hurt you.”

“It’s okay.” Bella sniffles. “I mean, none of this is okay. But I believe you.”

“I have something for you,” I say, pulling out the small piece of glass from my hoodie. Her fingers roam over the smooth curves. She gasps the second she realizes what it is.

“The swan?”

I nod. “The swan.”

During our first Christmas together in Miami, Bella’s school had this market where kids could bring in a few dollars and purchase holiday presents for their family. Small little trinkets, candy bars, baseball cards, that sort of thing. Mariela had put a couple of bucks in Bella’s lunchbox that morning so she could get Dylan and me something.

That Christmas, Bella beamed when she handed me my present. It was a little red, glass swan. Nothing more than a paperweight to most people.

And even though the little psycho got it specifically because she thought it would hurt like hell if I chucked it at Carlos’s skull, the smile on her face when she handed it over was priceless.

“I can’t believe you still have this.”

“Had it with me in Chicago. Hell, it was with me on every mission. I never let it out of my sight. Never let it go,” I admit, kissing her temple. I wrap my arms tighter around my sister. “Just like you, Bells. I’m never gonna let you go.”