Taming Seraphine

ONE WEEK LATER

SERAPHINE

I spend the next few days taking care of Leroi, making sure he takes his meds and sits still while I change the dressings on his wounds. He pretends to be exasperated at all my fussing, but the twinkle in his eyes says he enjoys seeing me so caring.

In between meals and baths, we sleep. Right now, I’m snuggled against his side with an arm slung over his chest. The afternoon sun shines through the cottage’s patio doors, bathing its whitewashed walls in warm light.

I trace the contours of his chest with my fingertips and enjoy the feel of the rise and fall of his breath. His skin is warm under my touch, and I marvel at the slow beat of his heart. The veins running under his skin are still beautiful, but all those fantasies I had about shedding Leroi’s blood are gone. I can’t imagine anything so horrific.

Leroi was right. Family isn’t always built on blood. It’s built on loyalty, love, sacrifice, and trust. He murdered his two closest friends to keep me safe, and that has erased all my doubts.

There aren’t enough words to express my remorse for stabbing him in the stomach, and I plan to spend the rest of my life making sure he feels loved.

Leroi has forgiven me and says I was still reeling from the shock of several discoveries: Samson being alive, Mom’s death being a lie as was the constant video feed I saw of an emaciated Gabriel.

Before Samson died, he confessed that the man I saw in the darkened room wasn’t even my brother, but an addict who bore a resemblance. Samson now rests in several pieces thanks to Don and his clean-up crew, but I have another dilemma.

Mom and Gabriel.

Leroi stirs beneath me, his eyes fluttering open. His fingers thread through my hair, sending tingles across my scalp. I bury my head in the crook of his neck and pretend to be asleep.

“You need to stop shutting down every time I try to bring up your family,” he says.

When I make a snoring sound, he gives my ass a gentle swat.

“Hey.” I poke him in the ribs, making him flinch.

“Fuck,” he growls.

I raise my head off his neck and frown. “Did I hurt your wound?”

His even features say he doesn’t want to make me feel bad, but I know he’s in pain. I trail my fingers toward his bandages, which probably need changing.

He grabs my hand. “You sacrificed everything to see Gabriel again. Now you finally have the chance.”

I swallow hard and squeeze my eyes shut. This isn’t like me. I’m not normally such a coward. Seeing Gabriel and Mom isn’t the same as hunting down a man I need to kill. I’ve held their memories on pedestals for so long, thought tirelessly about saving or avenging them, only for everything I endured to have been in vain.

How do I confront the reality that they were both alive and well, living their lives without me? How on earth do I tell them everything I’ve done, everything I’ve become? How do I face them, knowing they’d left me in that basement to rot?

Every day, Leroi brings up the subject of my family and every day, I brush him off. He insists Gabriel thought I was dead and had mourned me all those years. He’s becoming more and more persistent, which has to be a sign that he’s healing.

He rubs my back. “I won’t force you to face them if you’re not ready.”

I crack open an eye to meet his warm brown gaze and try to lose myself in the varying shades that make up his irises. Walnut in the center with cinnamon highlights and ebony striations that radiate from the pupil. There’s an outer ring of deep umber made up of tiny specs that seem to shift and change in the light.

“Seraphine?”

His hand rises to cup the side of my face, his thumb brushing over my cheekbone. The warmth of his touch is a reminder that I never have to face my demons alone.

“Alright,” I say.

“Alright… what?”

“Let’s go.”

Hours later, Leroi pulls up at Mom and Gabriel’s pristine two-story house. The sun hangs low in the sky, casting long shadows over the perfectly manicured lawn and the white picket fences border each property. My insides churn and I swallow back a bellyful of resentment at the thought of them living somewhere so idyllic when I was confined to that basement.

Gabriel still had to donate his liver. Twice.

Those bastards might have installed a chip under my skin, but they left my body pretty much intact. I really can’t say the same for Gabriel. While Leroi was sleeping, I read an article that explained why a person should never make a second donation. I shudder at the thought of Gabriel left with a liver that’s functioning at half than its full capacity.

Leroi reaches across the front seat and takes my hand and brings it to his lips. “Remember, I’m here for you.”

The anxiety roiling in my belly calms to a gentle flutter. I turn to give Leroi a shaky nod.

He exits first and walks around the car to open my door and help me out. My heart thuds soon as my feet touch the sidewalk. It’s part panic, part pain, part pressure not to lash out. It’s the reason I came unarmed. After what I did to Leroi, I no longer trust my reactions in the face of betrayal.

We walk up to the front door and Leroi rings the bell. Footsteps rush toward us, and the door swings open, revealing Gabriel.

He’s a few inches taller than I remember and willowier. His green eyes are tinged with yellow and shadowed by dark circles.

A knot forms in my stomach, and I shrink into Leroi’s side. The pleasant life I imagined for Gabriel is now marred by the reality of his health. That looks like jaundice.

“Sera.” Gabriel reaches for me with both hands.

Leroi steps forward to form a barrier between us. “Seraphine has been through a lot. Don’t touch her.”

Gabriel’s gaze bounces from Leroi’s to mine, his shoulders sagging. “Where have you been?”

“Let’s discuss this inside,” Leroi says.

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.”