Page 195 of Taming Seraphine
My brother’s features tighten. “Who are you and why do you act like you own my little sister?”
Sister.
The word hits me in the gut. It was used as an insult, a weapon, a mark of ownership. I grab Leroi’s forearm, afraid of how I will react.
“He’s with me.”
I leave so much unsaid. Leroi isn’t just my companion, he’s my lover, my savior, the man who rescued me from the darkness.
Gabriel’s shoulders sag, and he steps back to let us inside.
Forcing myself to keep an open mind, I step through the doorway and into a hallway lined with family photos. Gabriel walks into a living room that looks as though it’s been hit by a cyclone. Books, papers, and broken ornaments lie scattered on the wooden floor.
Gabriel walks to an armchair and gestures for us to sit on the sofa.
Leroi perches on its arms and scans the debris while I sit beside him with my hands clasped on my knees. I try to make eye contact with my brother, but his head is bowed and I can’t see his expression through a mop of dark curls.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Mom cleared out,” he says, his voice hollow. “She took everything. All the valuables, the cash, and even Dad’s watches.”
“Why?”
He raises his head. “She said you were coming for her.”
My jaw drops. Without meaning to, I rise off the sofa, but Leroi grabs my shoulder.
“What?” I whisper.
“Mom says she couldn’t stick around and wait for you to come back and punish her for what she did.”
The knot in my stomach twists. “What did she...” I clear my throat. “What did she say she did?”
Gabriel squeezes his eyes shut and chokes on a sob. “She lied about everything.”
SEVENTY-SEVEN
LEROI
I could have spent the rest of my life in bed with Seraphine. Everyone on her list of men to kill was dead, and she finally confronted the most vicious of her tormentors, Samson Capello.
But her journey would be incomplete.
I promised to help her get revenge and reunite her with her brother. We had both imagined breaking into a well-guarded stronghold to rescue an emaciated figure tied to a chair.
Seeing Gabriel bounding down the stairs holding a gun was a shock, but it was nothing compared to how Seraphine must have felt. Discovering that the Capellos never planned on killing Gabriel had been bad enough. Seeing Gabriel alive and well had sent Seraphine’s mind into a tailspin.
I know she was reluctant to face her family, but it was a necessary step for her to have closure. I rub the pad of my thumb over her collarbone, needing her to feel my support.
Seraphine sits on the edge of the sofa, her eyes wide as Gabriel bows his head and sobs. She jerks forward as though wanting to reach out and touch him, but I hold her back.
I love Seraphine with every fiber of my heart, but I still can’t predict what she might do at a moment like this.
“What did she lie about?” Seraphine asks.
He shakes his head. “Everything.”
“Why don’t you start with the night five years ago when Seraphine went missing?”