Taming Seraphine

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?”

Gabriel wipes his eyes with the backs of his hands and nods. “Two of his guards came to where I was staying and brought me home. They said there was a family emergency.”

I glance down to find Seraphine nodding. This part of Gabriel’s story matches up with what we learned after interrogating those bastards.

“When I got there, Mom was strapped to a gurney, and they were loading her into an ambulance. She looked terrible. Dad was raging and crying and waving a gun.”

My gaze darts down to Seraphine, her face is a blank mask. According to her story, this was when the driver took her to her grandmother’s house, where she stayed the night. I lean down and place a kiss on her temple.

“I kept asking what happened and where you were, but Dad said Enzo Montesano and his sons came to the house and murdered Raphael. Then they attacked Mom and took you.”

“That’s not what happened,” she says.

Gabriel looks up, his expression pained. “Yeah. Mom finally told the truth. She said that Dad and his guards were her attackers.”

“What else did she say?”

“That Dad took you in payment for the money he spent raising you as his daughter under false pretenses.” He hiccups. “Mom said you were trafficked.”

Seraphine and I exchange glances.

“And probably overseas?” she asks, her words clipped.

I lean down and whisper into her ear, “Are you alright?”

She nods.

Today is about getting closure for Seraphine. If she isn’t ready to share the details of what happened in that basement, then I won’t push her, but she needs to know what happened to her family after she was taken.

“What happened after that night?” I ask Gabriel.

“Mom spent the night in the ER and Dad told me to pack a bag because the house was compromised.”

“What does that mean?” she asks.

“He said Enzo Montesano would be looking for me.”

“But why?”

“Enzo was Dad’s boss, who liked to punish his underlings for their mistakes by attacking their families.” Gabriel raises both shoulders. “Dad said his numbers were declining… Something like that, and Enzo took you and hurt Mom as an incentive for him to bring in more money.”

My nostrils flare. He probably made up that lie to isolate and subdue his liver donor. If Gabriel thought he was hunted by Enzo, then he was more likely to leave behind his life to go into hiding.

“Dad moved me to an apartment and let Mom join a few days later, after she was released from the hospital. He said we’d be safe there from the Montesano family as long as we didn’t leave.”

Seraphine places a hand on my thigh, and I give it a gentle squeeze. The last time I saw her look so expressionless was after the poker massacre.

“Did your father explain what the Montesano family were supposed to have done with Seraphine?” I ask.

He nods. “A couple of weeks later, Dad came to visit us, looking devastated, and said Enzo Montesano had killed Seraphine along with the cook, the driver, and our grandma.”

She inhales a sharp breath, her body tensing. I wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her into my chest.

“How long did you stay in that apartment?” I ask.

“Until the first transplant.” Gabriel rubs the spot beneath his right rib cage and grimaces.

“Were you still in hiding?” I ask. “Enzo Montesano had died by then and Roman was in prison.”

“Dad told us he murdered Enzo for what he did to Sera, and his sons would be hunting me down for revenge. After the first transplant, he drove me to the burned ruins of our old apartment.”

I glance down at Seraphine to gauge her reaction, but her eyes are closed and her lips are pursed. Gabriel pauses until she exhales an annoyed breath and meets his gaze.

“Dad said he was doing everything he could to keep his family together. He said he needed me to be strong and donate my liver so he could continue defending us from the Montesanos.”

“Mom knew all along that it was bullshit,” Seraphine says, her voice bitter.

Gabriel nods. “Before she left, she told me she had no choice. Dad held her hostage and forced her to keep up his lie.”

“What do you think?” she asks.

“Mom and Dad got along just fine after he recovered from the first transplant.” He shrugs. “When Dad needed my liver again, I kept asking her to leave with me, but she kept telling me it wasn’t safe.”

“Wow,” she whispers.

Gabriel swallows. “You’ve got to believe me, Sera. If I’d known you weren’t dead—” He breaks off, his voice choked with emotion. “If I’d known for one second that you were alive, I would have done everything in my power to find you.”

“I know,” she murmurs. “Dad told me Mom was dead, and he threatened to kill you if I didn’t do what he said.”

“What did he…”

She closes her eyes again and inhales several ragged breaths. I can’t even begin to imagine her inner turmoil. One of the reasons she wanted to tame her killer instincts was to hide them from Gabriel.

“He turned me into an assassin,” she says.

“What?” Gabriel whispers.

“He and his other sons made me kill Enzo Montesano.”

My jaw tightens at the reminder of the circumstances of Uncle Enzo’s death. “Everyone who knows this secret is dead,” I snarl. “You must never repeat it, not even to Seraphine.”

Gabriel shoots me a glance. “Who is this guy?”

“The one who saved me.” She squeezes my hand. “Leroi has been my protector since he found me in Dad’s basement.”

His features drop, and he stares between Seraphine and me with wild eyes. I can already imagine him putting pieces together to create a picture of the truth.

“What are you saying?” he rasps.

“Dad kept me in a basement, and his sons only let me out to kill his enemies.”

Gabriel turns his attention back to me. “And you’re the one who killed Dad?”

I nod.

“Thank you,” he says, his words choked with sobs. “Thank you for saving my sister. Thank you for killing that bastard. You freed us both.”

Seraphine releases my hand and rises off the sofa. I resist the urge to hold her back. Gabriel isn’t in any trouble. This isn’t the same as our other interrogations. He’s just as much of a victim of Capello.

Gabriel stands, his thin chest rising and falling with each breath. He gazes down at Seraphine through tears. “I’m sorry, Sera. I’m sorry for everything that happened to you. I should have known you were alive. I should have looked.”

She places a hand over his heart. “I’m sorry, too. I should have known Dad’s threats were pointless. I could have tried to break free and rescued you.”

My chest tightens. I don’t like how they’re both taking responsibility for not seeing through Capello’s actions when they were both victims of his sick machinations.

“Neither of you are to blame,” I say. “You were kids, trying to survive a psychopath.”

Seraphine rests her head on Gabriel’s chest, and he wraps his arms around her shoulders. They cling to each other, whispering words of comfort, reconnection, and love.

I stand back and turn away, both to afford them some privacy and in awe of their sibling bond. My former family was once the same: a mother, two children, and a violent maniac.

When I think back at their rejection, I feel nothing. No sense of betrayal, no loss, no regrets. If I could relive the time I spent with them, I wouldn’t change a thing because their contempt led me to Seraphine.