Page 73 of The Ripper

My heart flipped in my chest and my eyes settled on her, widening as I took in her stance. She was defending me in front of Klaus, for a so-called joke he always pulled. A joke people usually laughed at, but she wasn’t laughing. She felt insulted by it, bothered by the fact that my own brother said I unsettled people.

I did, but she didn’t like to hear it out loud.

“Duly noted, blondie,” Klaus winked at me. “And second of all?”

“Do you mind if we take the couch tonight?” she asked as she played with her fingers. “I want her to have a familiar face around when she wakes up, and while it’s clear that she’s somewhat comfortable with you, I don’t want her to feel like I just left her here after everything that happened.”

“Knock yourself out, blondie,” he smiled down at her. “Just don’t fuck on my couch.” He looked at me and I flipped him off, which finally ripped that smug grin out of him again.

I knew for a fact that my brother had never fully recovered from what happened to him when he was ten. I also assumed he saw a piece of Amaliya in Fleur, and that he wanted to help her exactly because he was now strong enough to protect her like he couldn’t protect his mother back then, but there was something more beneath the surface between him and the redhead, because he wouldn’t have had such a strong reaction to a total stranger.

He was sensitive to these situations, and he tried to help the best he could in general, donating substantial amounts of his money to all kinds of women’s shelters.

This time though… this time he was hiding something.

Arella paused at the foot of the stairs and watched him close the door behind him, then she sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

“Oh, shit,” she breathed out. “I have a twelve-hour shift tomorrow, shit, shit, shit,” she started pacing, munching on her lips.

“Then why don’t you call in sick?” I offered, and she scowled at me as if I’d just told her to dip her hands in acid.

“I don’t do that,” she said as she threw herself onto the couch. “I don’t want her to be alone in a place she doesn’t know.”

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her forehead, then ran my fingers down her arms in an attempt to soothe her.

My own actions shocked me, and I narrowed my eyes on my hands as they gently caressed her skin, wondering what the hell was going on with me.

~ Look at you, being all docile and shit.

~ You really need to get that word out of your vocabulary.

~ Only after you get your balls back.

I closed my eyes for a second and shook my head, then returned my full attention to her.

“She won’t be alone. She and Klaus seem to have some sort of weird connection, and he wouldn’t hurt her. He’s…” I sighed, not wanting to reveal my brother’s dirty laundry to her.

It wasn’t my story to tell.

“He’s what?” She lifted her chin and looked at me.

“He’s sensitive to women in her situation. Trust me, there’s no safer place for her than with him,” I reassured her, and she nodded.

We stayed on the couch for what felt like hours. We didn’t speak as we lost ourselves in the embrace, and it almost felt like we were recharging our batteries, taking energy from each other and finding peace in our closeness.

It was the purest moment I ever experienced.

We laid down at some point, and she was almost completely on top of me with her head resting on my chest and her legs tangled with mine.

“Did you know that your name means messenger of God or angel and that your last name means little saint?” I blurted out when I started missing the sound of her voice.

“No, and I’m not sure I want to know why you know that,” she giggled, bringing her palms together on my chest and resting her chin on the backs of her hands as she looked up at me.

“Because I want to know everything about you.” I narrowed my eyes, confused as to why she was asking about something so obvious. “Besides, I think it suits you perfectly.”

“I’m further from God than I have ever been right now,” she said, her face turning sad for a moment before she shook her head. “Does your name have a meaning too?” she asked before I could inquire about her sudden change.

“Stern and severe,” I laughed.

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