Page 39 of Falling for the Enemy

I nod. “Da.”

She swallows, her stare moving to the closed door. “She and I are alike that way. I’m okay during the day but at night...” Lips thinning into a straight line, she shakes her head. “Nevermind.”

Needing to comfort her, I stand and move to where she sits, kneeling before her, the red hem of my satin evening gown pooling at my feet. Cupping her cheek, I wipe away the tear of hers that has spilled, the sight of it stirring the evil that lurks in the depths of my soul.

“He can’t harm you anymore,” I tell her, voicing a truth she already knows, but that from personal experience I know is hard to believe. “Your brother and I made sure of that.”

With both a bullet and flames.

“I know,” she whispers in reply, her hand wrapping around my diamond-encircled wrist. “But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

“Nyet, it doesn’t.” A regret-filled lump forms in my throat. “I’m sorry for failing to protect you, Anna. If I could go back—”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“It was. You’re my responsibility, and the pain you experienced as a result of my failure is on me.” It’s another scar of regret that I’ll always bear. “I can’t fix what’s already been done, but I vow I’ll never allow history to repeat itself.”

She leans into my touch. “Promise?”

“Da, I do,” I answer, dropping my hand. “Now, before I leave, would you like me to braid your hair so it doesn’t tangle—”

The bedroom door swings open, and my words die as Casper appears, the bowtie he wears at his throat only half-tied. “Myshka, what’s wrong?”

Anna rolls her eyes. “It’s like he has ESP.”

I stand and smooth out the skirt of my dress, the anklet I wear jingling with each of my movements. “That’s because he does.” Turning to Casper, I smile. “Don’t you?” He grunts in reply, and I wave my hand at him, shooing away his worries. “Nothing is wrong. We’re just talking.”

His gaze narrows. It’s as if he’s worried I’m teaching her the easiest way to disembowel a traitor or dispose of a rotting corpse. He should know better. Those lessons don’t start until she’s older. “About what?”

“Boys,” Anna replies, not missing the chance to rile her big brother up. To him, me educating her on how to properly murder someone would be more acceptable than us discussing the opposite sex. He’s overprotective that way. “Now get out, Ogre, before you wake Mina.”

Unable to help himself, a scowling Casper glances at the bed, his tense face softening when his eyes land on my sister’s sleeping form. With her favorite weighted blanket—one he purchased for her—covering her shoulders and tucked beneath her chin, he can’t see much.

But it doesn’t matter.

Not when she already stars in his thoughts.

I grind my back teeth, the abrasive sight acting as sandpaper across my raw nerves. “Poydem,” I snap, demanding that we go. “Now.”

Biting back the curse that I know sits on the tip of his tongue, he nods as Anna snorts. “Ooh she told you,” she sasses, conjuring another smile from me. Anna may think of herself as broken, but a wildfire still dances within her.

With time, she’ll realize that.

“I’ll watch over Mina, Ari,” she says softly, repeating her assurance from minutes before. “And in turn, you take care of my favorite brute.”

I peer at her over my shoulder. “I will.”

Offering me a final grin, she covers both ears with her headphones and focuses on an open textbook, a pink highlighter clutched in her hand.

I turn back to Casper, who’s watching his sister, cheek ticking. “She better stay away from boys.” I don’t miss the irritation marring his tone. “If she goes near one, I’ll chop his head off.”

I don’t doubt that for a second.

But instead of replying to him, knowing the words I wish to speak will only further rile him up, I grab his lapel and wordlessly tug him out the door behind me.

He follows without argument.

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