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“I don’t know that I can stay in a place this nice. I’ve never had anything like this before,” she gushed. “I mean I’ve been in places like this, but I was made to stay in the cages in the closets or cabinets.”
I clenched my fists and kept myself calm, even though Luciano went rigid as he headed over to the bank of windows that looked out over the city. I knew he was working hard to keep his cool so he didn’t frighten Elana. He did have a compassion that he didn’t want people to see.
“Don’t worry about it. We need to keep you safe. I’d rather you have a few nicer things considering how long you put up with crap, than to have nothing at all.”
A knock on the door alerted us as my sister and her guards walked in.
“Oh look, here’s my sister. She’s also kind of shy, so hopefully the two of you will get along and it won’t just be quiet around here.”
Elana nodded, but closed in on herself, and kept her eyes on the floor. This was a little much for her, but I knew this was what was best for her.
I chuckled when Luciano disappeared to make a few phone calls while I got them settled in. He was great in crisis situations, but with day to day trivialities he hated all the things that needed done.
Shortly after Carina’s arrival, their bodyguards arrived as well.
“This is Alessia and Trevor, who are going to be watching Carina if Frankie and Gina are good with that?”
They both nodded quickly, already having worked together in the past.
“We’d like to keep them on here to be your bodyguards too. I assume you won’t be going out much at first. For the future, we’re working on a schedule and that way you’ll feel safe even if it’s just going to the grocery store.”
“That’s a lot of work just to have somebody watch over us,” Elana protested.
“Yes, but it seems that someone’s out to get us. So it’s time for you to be taken care of for the next little while. We don’t want them using you as a means to get back at me or Luciano.” I ducked my head so I could get her to look at me. “Elana, you have become important to me, I need to make sure you stay safe, okay?”
Her lips lifted a little, into a shy smile. I rewarded her with a large one in return.
I was getting ready to introduce Elana to my sister when Luciano came in. “You ready to go?”
“Oh, I was thinking that we’d order something in and spend the afternoon unpacking their stuff. If you’re okay with that?”
“Sure, I’ll come back for you this evening.” I held back my disappointment. I had hoped he would stay and get to know my sister a little better, and we would spend time as a couple. But I mentally chastised myself, that was selfish, there was a lot going on, and important meetings needed to attend. If I was in charge like before, there would be no way I could hang out.
Luciano came and showed me the apartment, because he could make the time to do that, but he couldn’t give me a whole afternoon.
“I’m gonna go ahead and go talk to the ‘tech’”—Luciano made finger quotes—“so we can get all the details on those videos and see if we can’t find one more thing somewhere in there that can lead us to our culprits.”
“Give us a couple of hours.” I leaned forward and kissed him which seemed to surprise my sister if her expression was any indication.
He had a chat with all the guards that were staying behind, plus the ones he had assigned to me.
Before he headed out he came back and gave me another kiss. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours. Be safe.” He kissed me again and walked out.
Carina still had the slack-jawed expression on her face. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders at her. At least she would have me there to use as a buffer and that took a load off my mind.
After a lunch filled with laughter, I continued to make both of them come out of their shell just a little bit.
Elana needed to find a way to get used to having a normal conversation again and my sister needed to interact with more people than just myself and Joey. And even then, she didn’t confide in Joey, but she tolerated his presence as her guard because she knew I would’ve thrown a massive hissy fit. I was grateful she allowed for the extra protection I placed on her.
It wasn’t lost on me that Luciano did the same thing with me.
We unpacked most of Carina’s stuff, and spent the rest of the afternoon talking as we became friends and established a sort of new type of relationship with each other. Not just with me as the overprotective twin sister—a position I would always hold—but I want us to be friends.
I had to play the middleman between Carina and Elana before finally admitting that I had to go home. I just hoped that they would be able to handle being there together. Two introverted and trauma induced people together could be a long road to friendship.
While my sister had a gun, she never liked to use it, but I’d made sure she knew how. Elana didn’t seem the type to have a gun and I didn’t have time to show her right now, but I’d given her a knife before we left. Making myself a mental reminder to teach her how to use a gun soon.
After I hugged my sister, and said my goodbye to Elana I stopped and spoke with the guards.
