Page 67 of Obsessions of the Heart

Ravi slid his hand into her limp one, clutching it like a lifeline. Roux was still cleaning up her wounds, but he paused to say, “If we do that, everything will need to be moved up. We’ll need to tell her everything soon, and like I said before, I don’t think she’s there yet.”

Opening my mouth to argue, I was beaten to the punch by Ravi’s deadpan voice, which sounded loud and clear. “I don't care. I don’t give a flying fuck about her being ready or telling her everything. It will be on us to make that happen, but her safety is priority one.” After bending over to kiss her hand, he stood up and continued. “You weren’t there. They almost got her. I. Can’t. Live. Without. Her.”

His words rang true to my feelings, and I knew both of us were ready to say fuck it as long as she was out of danger’s grasp. Roux was the only one that needed convincing, and I had half a mind to tell him that I would just figure it all out later. I made my best plans on the fly.

Roux lifted her shirt, and Ravi gasped. Tears in his eyes, he began to whisper apologies over and over. My teeth clenched at the large arm-like bruise around her torso. Putting a hand on Ravi’s shoulder, I croaked, “It's not your fault. You saved her.”

His tears sprinkled the floor as he shook his head, and I knew that if I didn't say something now, point his anger at someone else, he would do something drastic to punish himself. “It's not your fault.” My fingers dug into his shoulder as my vocal cords fiercely growled, “It's their fault.”

“We know, but which they?” Roux asked.

Standing taller, it felt like my bones solidified into steel. “It will always be they against us. The four of us in this room are the only us I will ever acknowledge. Everyone else is a they and their, for it doesn't matter. Whoever it is, it's their fault. They came after us, so we'll go after them. End of discussion.”

Ravi looked up, his eyes like stone. Roux nodded, his lips set in a firm line as he finished cleaning Rin up. “So, are we in agreement?”

“Yes. Rin needs to be safe.” Ravi glanced back to her, lightly touching her blue and purple mark.

“Agreed,” Roux answered, which meant a lot. He never said anything unless he meant it.

“Good. Then the next step is to call Cinzia.”

“What?! Why would we need to talk to the Ricci?”

“Fuck that. Then we’ll show our hand to the Riccis!”

Putting my hands up, I glared at them. They still didn’t understand that while we had made this decision, we still needed to think steps ahead. “We need to call her and convince her to not come after us when we pick up Rin’s stuff from her dorm.”

“Stuff? She doesn't need any stuff. We’ll buy her all the stuff she needs,” Ravi rattled off like a crazy person.

“He’s right. Let's just burn it all and have her start over. It’s not much anyway.” Roux shrugged then folded his arms in a firm stance.

Idiots. Both of them.

Speaking quietly and slowly so they understood, I explained, “We’ve decided Rin will be moving in with us, something that we will be forcing on her. Now, you're trying to say that you want to burn everything she owns and make an enemy of the only other friend she has?” I crossed my arms and watched their faces deflate. “Yes. Good plan. Let’s just put shackles on her as well so she’ll spend the rest of her time planning how to get away from us.”

I sighed, trying to get my emotions in check. “Remember what we’ve been taught. The only way to make someone loyal to you is out of fear or love. Money, objects, advancement, none of those things truly stand the test of time, but fear and love do. Must I remind you that we agreed we don't want her to fear us, that fear is counterproductive to our goal, so we must make her love us.”

Glancing down at her still from, my heart panged. I wished I could hold her, whispering to her how amazing she was and how she had gained three loyal dark shadows at her side so that she never had to fear again.

Roux stepped forward. “But she’s a Ricci. She won’t trust us.”

Exhaling, I admitted something I’d hypothesized for a while. “I don’t think she trusts us, but I do think she knows we could keep her safe. I also have the feeling that Cinzia has a different outlook on Rin. She’s had plenty of opportunities to make her a spy, to brainwash her, or even kill her if that were the goal, but she hasn't taken any of them. I think Cinzia truly cares for Rin. I heard through the grapevine that she’s been arguing with her family more and more.”

Now that I thought about it, I remembered seeing Cinzia’s name on the monitor duty sheets at the last Foedus meeting. For Riccis, that was a punishment. I just didn't know what offense had been committed.

Opening my Foedus phone, I clicked on her contact. It was picked up on the first ring. “Let me guess, you need to call in a real hacker for the Tremun job ‘cuz you just can’t hack it. Am I right?”

Closing my eyes, I recalled that I was doing this for Rin. I needed to make nice with her stupid friend. “Hello, Cinzia Ricci.”

“You know you sound like a bond villain when you say my full name, right? Just say Cin or Zia like everyone else does.”

Her exasperated tone grated on my nerves, but I pressed on.

“That wasn’t what I was calling to discuss with you.” I took a deep breath. “Layrin was almost run over today by a black sedan with no plates and blackout windows.”

Her sharp intake was followed with “Fucking shit! Fucking hell and shit in a handbag. Who was it? Tell me you got a name or a glance at the fucker’s face? Maybe a family symbol? Anything?! I want to skin whoever—”

Tuning out, I let her ramble on since this confirmed what I’d thought. She really cared for Rin and was probably our only ally within Foedus as far as our girl was concerned.

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