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“No, I’m sure it wasn’t there before.”
“Then, it’s got to be dermatitis. Or should I say ‘scaletitis’?” she giggles. “Oh, there’s Adam, he had an aquarium once. Hey, Adam! Come here.”
Drago’s head enforcer steps into the dining room, somehow shrinking the space with his huge presence. He crosses his arms over his chest, making his biceps bulge and the artwork on his full-sleeve tattoo pop. “What is it?”
“Sienna thinks one of her fish is sick. The one with the stripe on its side.”
Adam crouches next to Tara, his head tilting askew as he observes his “patient.”
“I see nothing wrong with it.”
“He didn’t have that mark before.” I point at the fish. “See?”
“No, it’s just a patt—” He snaps his mouth closed. “Oh, yes, it can happen sometimes with that specific species. They change their coloring all the time. Nothing to worry about.”
“Really?” I look back at the fish. The pet store salesperson never mentioned it.
“Of course. Don’t worry if it happens again,” Adam quickly adds.
“And what about its fin?”
He glances at the fish tank nervously. “What about it?”
“His left fin was torn. And now it’s full again.”
“Yes, they have amazing healing abilities and can regrow fins and tails.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “It’s not the fish that I bought, is it?”
“Um, not exactly.” Adam raises his hand and brushes the back of his head, guilt written all over his face. “The previous one kind of . . . died. The boss had Iliya send us all a photo of it with an order to find one that looked the same and swap it.”
Tara falls into a fit of laughter.
I look back at the fish tank and imagine Drago instructing his men to comb the city, looking for a specific fish for me. A warm tingling feeling floods me as it does each time I think about my husband. It threatens to drown me.
I close my eyes, and my mind instantly drifts to two nights ago when Drago pinned me under him, claiming that I’m in love with him. Panic explodes in the pit of my stomach. It’s not true. I like him. When he’s away the entire day because of work, like today, I feel empty somehow. But I’m not in love with him. And he’s most definitely not in love with me, regardless of what he said. Our marriage is just a business agreement that worked out well. Nothing more. Nothing less.
“Um, Sienna . . . Can you pretend you don’t know about the fish?” Adam asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Sure.” I nod and make myself smile.
“Thank God.” Adam lets out a sigh of relief.
Once he leaves, I untie the string on the pouch with my new glass pebbles and take a handful of stones. My hand hovers over the water as I let the crystals fall. I’m watching them sink to the bottom of the tank when Tara shrieks beside me.
“Sienna! Are you crazy?”
I look at her, confused. “What?”
“Where did you get these?”
“The rocks? It’s colored glass Drago got for me. Aren’t they pretty?”
Tara opens her mouth, then closes it, only to open it again as if unable to form words.
“He . . . he knew they would be used in a fish tank?” Her voice sounds kind of strained.
“Yes. He even asked what color I wanted. Why?”
