She’s trapped with me.
And I’ve been a complete asshole. Cold. Nasty. Short. Bitter. On the best of days, people have remarked that I come across as a really grumpy person. Only people who are very close to me see a different side of me.
Around her, I must be ten times worse because of the anger I harbor toward her family.
But it hasn’t stopped her from being herself.
How?
Why?
I don’t understand, but I… I really like it.
She sits in that chair, practically glowing. Her smile is radiant, and it makes the cutest dimples in her cheeks when it gets wide enough. Her eyes crinkle, and her face changeswhen she’s happy, and warmth pours from her like sunshine. I’m drawn to her, almost craving that radiance when she’s not around.
“Marlen?”
“Huh?” I blurt out, realizing I was completely lost in thought about her again.
“Man, did you miss out on sleep last night or something? You’re distracted as hell,” Simon complains, tapping his fingers against the surface of his desk.
I’m sitting opposite him, staring blankly at the paperwork set in neat piles around him. I haven’t heard a word he’s been saying.
“No, just… my head is busy. There’s a lot going on at work. What did you say?” I ask, abrupt, agitated with myself, not with my brother.Why is she distracting me?
“It doesn’t matter, look, I’ll get straight to the point. I asked you to come meet with me for a very specific reason, and I know it’s a sore topic for you, but I need to bring it up,” he sighs, pushing his hand through his hair and scrunching his nose as he looks away from me.
I already know what the topic is.Talia. Our sister. He’s the only one of the brothers who stayed in touch with her after she betrayed us by marrying an Abashin. In some ways, it annoys me, but in other ways, I’m glad he still checks in on her to make sure she’s ok.
Letting out a gruff sigh, I raise my brows at him. “What is it?” I ask.
He cocks his head to the side as if to say,You know what it is.
“Talia,” I sigh.
He nods. “But it’s not about her specifically. I was talking to her last night, sorry man, I know you don’t like talking about her, uh, I was just catching up, and she let me know that her friend has been kidnapped.”
“Ok, what does this have to do with me? Why did that warrant a meeting?” I say, my stomach churning a bit.
I hate lying to my brother. Simon is a good man, one I trust with my life. But what I can’t trust is that he won’t say anything to Talia. That’s the only reason I can’t tell him about Stefania being back at my place. He wouldn’t have any issues with the revenge plot. I’m sure of that. But he would have issues with me messing with our sister’s friends and upsetting Talia. And for that reason, there is a chance he would say something to Talia just to reassure her that Stefania was ok, making her promise not to say anything to anyone else. To ease her worry.
But shewouldsay something. She’s married to an Abashin. She chose her side.
I can’t take that risk.
“The friend is Stefania Shevchenko. It warrants a meeting because… because she means a lot to Talia.” He looks at me with tension in his eyes. “Talia is really worried.”
“Ok?” I say, narrowing my gaze. “So she’s gone to a weekend party with some friends or something?”
“No, she’s been taken, they’re sure of it. She would never leave without telling someone. I just wanted to find out if you’d heard anything?” Simon sounds worried. I know it’s Talia’s worry that he’s reflecting.
“No man, I haven’t heard a thing, but if I do, I’ll let you know,” I shrug. “Do they have any leads or any ideas of whomight’ve taken her?” I ask, fishing for information because I want to know if they’re on to us.
“Nothing solid, but they’re looking into one of the families that runs the North East territories.”
“That’s a nasty bunch of people out there,” I say sternly.
“I know,” he nods. “They’re really concerned about whether or not she’s even still alive. You know those people. You know what they’re capable of. And no one has made any demands or asked for ransom,nothing,“ he says tightly.
