Page 10 of The Villain's Beloved (The Villain's Duet 2)

“Thank y—”

He held up his hand. “But it’s not permanent,” he continued. “At least, not yet. We’ll give it some time, see how it goes. If it works out, great. If not, Mr. Russo here has a room waiting for you at his ridiculously large estate.”

Mr. Russo frowned, and Gianni shot him a smug grin.

“Thank you.” I swayed on my feet and cupped my elbow with my other hand. “Sir,” I looked at Mr. Russo, “you said you knew my father.”

He nodded and came closer, waiting for me to continue.

“Do you…do you know what they did to Ellie?”

He arched a brow, glanced to Gianni and then back at me. “Ellie?”

I nodded.

“Boy…who is Ellie?”

“She’s my younger sister. They did something to her. Roland and my mom. Roland, he…” I swallowed hard, “he choked me, and I passed out. When I woke up…Ellie, she was gone.” Tears burned my eyes, my heart aching as if something squeezed it tight. “They, um…they acted like I was crazy, pretended that Ellie didn’t exist. But they did something to her. I know they did.” The more I spoke, the angrier the pain got. The more I missed her, wishing she was here now, with Gianni and me—knowing that we had finally been saved.

“Son,” Mr. Russo sat down on the couch in front of me, “you didn’t have a little sister.”

“I did. I mean…I do. Her name is Ellie. She’s younger than me. They did something to her. I know they did.”

“Your dad never…” He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. “Elijah, is it possible that Ellie is your step-sister or half-sister?”

“No. No.” I shook my head, my pulse racing. “Ellie is my sister. My real sister.” My skin started to crawl, my thoughts scattered in a million directions.

This wasn’t happening. Not again.

“Ellie is my real sister,” I shouted. I didn’t mean to, but my thoughts were so loud I had to raise my voice to hear myself speak. “She’s my real sister, and I know they hurt her. They either took her away or…” tears slipped down my face, “or they killed her.”

“It’s okay, boy.” Gianni rushed over and placed his hands on my shoulders. “It’s okay. Calm down.” He turned to face Mr. Russo. “Are we sure there was no girl?”

“Not that I was aware of,” Mr. Russo muttered. “I know Roland had a girl—what was her name? Harley?”

“Harley?” I exclaimed. “No. No. That’s Ellie. That’s my little sister. Look,” I moved closer, “I don’t know what they did to her or what happened. All I know is that Roland didn’t have a daughter. It’s always just been Ellie. There is no Harley.”

“Elijah, no.” Mr. Russo’s face fell as if it pained him to see me like this—so worried and desperate to find my sister. “Roland did have a daughter. She lives with her mom.”

“No!” I yelled, and rage exploded from my chest as I grabbed the lamp that stood on the side table, smashing it on the ground. I couldn’t stop myself—not while my insides broke into tiny pieces just like the porcelain lamp.

“Elijah!” Gianni’s voice ricocheted through the living room, frightening my rage back into its cage. “Control,” he snapped. “Get control of yourself.”

His reprimand made my cheeks burn, and I could no longer look him in the eye as embarrassment flooded over me. So I slipped into the corner, my back sliding down the wall until my ass touched the cold ground.

“I think we should take him to a doctor. Get him checked out,” Mr. Russo remarked, and I refused to look up. “We have no idea what kind of trauma this kid’s been through. I’ll arrange an appointment with a child psychologist first thing in the morning.”

I pulled my knees up to my chest, burying my face against my arms, rocking like a crazy person. Maybe I was crazy. Maybe Roland and my mom were right.

“Give me a few days with the boy first,” Gianni said. “Before we get doctors involved.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Just a few days.”

Silence settled around us, and I still didn’t look up. I didn’t want to look at their faces, see the pity on their expressions while their thoughts and logic convinced them that I had been abused into madness.

“Okay,” I heard Mr. Russo concede. “But if you can’t get through to him, he’s coming to live with us where I can keep an eye on his counseling.”

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