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Rose scans my face, which I keep neutral since we are not having that kind of argument right now. “No, it’s okay. I understand. I wasn’t ready to see anyone for a long time anyway.”
“Are you okay? Is Kai being nice to you?”
I snort and roll my eyes even though she can’t see me. Rose answers, staring at me while she does. “Oh yeah, he’s the nicest, sweetest, most caring person, with the gentlest bedside manner you could ever meet.”
Valentina laughs, making more static as if she can’t press the phone to her face hard enough. “Yeah, that sure sounds like him. But what else, do you need anything, are you okay? I know things are weird right now, but soon, we’ll be able to see each other, I promise. I miss you so much.”
Rose swallows hard and stares at the phone as if she’s afraid to look anywhere else, especially at me. “I miss you too, Val. I can’t wait to see you.”
“Then once all this blows over, maybe you and I can desecrate my father’s and Sal’s graves.”
Rose freezes, her entire body tight like a bowstring. “W-What?”
“Sal and my father. They are both dead, and they deserve what they got. I know you didn’t get the closure you probably needed, so we can do whatever you need to get that.”
Rose drags her eyes to mine. The fire there is gone. Now they are haunted, empty—the look I hate more than anything. She snaps the phone out of my hand and throws it across the room, barely missing the fire by inches. When I look at her again, she’s already gone, storming up to her room with her fruit still clutched tight in her grasp.
Val’s voice comes from across the room. I heave myself off the couch and grab the phone off the soft throw rug in front of the fire. “Valentina?”
“Yes, I’m here. What happened? Where’s Rose?”
I eye the landing in front of her door. “I think I fucked that up pretty badly. She didn’t know they were dead. Should I have told her? I guess, but I wasn’t sure how, or if you or Adrian would do it. Hell, she’d only begun speaking in full sentences to me in the first place.”
“Oh, Kai, someone should have told her. But why is she angry? You’d think she’d be happy they’re gone.”
I stare at the door, one hand holding the phone, the other on my hip. “I think your cousin might be a little more bloodthirsty than you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I take my seat again, the laptop cold against my leg. “I think she was holding out to kill the bastards herself. I wonder if she planned to kill your father or just Sal.”
Valentina sucks in a shocked breath. “What? No, Rose couldn’t do something like that.”
I keep my thoughts to myself because the Rose I’ve been getting to know could absolutely kill those men, and she’d delight in it. And I wouldn’t blame her one bit.
“So what now?” she asks.
I shake my head and turn my attention to the blazing fire. “We wait things out, and maybe we can find some way to help her get through this.”
“Besides this incident, is she okay? Anything else wrong?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. I have it under control, and I’ll protect her with my life, you know that.”
We sit in silence for a minute, only the crackle of the fire breaking it up. Then she whispers, “Keep her safe. That’s all I ask. I hope we get you back home soon, Kai. Adrian misses you.”
I smile because I can hear in her voice she misses me too, but she wouldn’t dare say it with Adrian likely breathing down her neck. “I miss everyone too. I’ll be home soon with Rose. Don’t worry about me.”
Adrian’s deep voice answers this time. “We aren’t worried, you bastard. We’re pissed that these steps are even necessary. Get the shit cleaned up and get home.”
I smile and hang up. It’s good to hear they both miss me. That they both care. When I stand, I toss the phone into the fire and go up to find Rose.
The door isn’t locked when I test the handle. I find her sitting against the balcony windows, staring out at the snow. It’s finally stopped, but several feet have piled up outside, almost blocking the view from where she’s sitting.
I sit on the edge of her rumpled bed. “What was that all about?”
She doesn’t look at me, only continues drawing idle patterns on the fogged glass of the window. “I hate this. I hate that I’m the victim again. I hate that now they are gone, and I can’t make them feel, even for one second, what they put me through.” There’s an edge to her tone, a bite, and I respect it. Hearing it almost makes me hard.
I cross the room to crouch next to her to see her face better. “But in the end, they are the ones who are dead, and you’re still alive.”
