Page 46 of Bianca's Bastard

The next day, they didn’t leave Elias’s apartment.

They slept in, then Bianca donned the promised sweats that pooled around her several sizes too big and smelling of Elias, while he made her eggs and toast. They spent the rest of the day on the couch watching theSilence of the LambsandBlade Runnerand pausing both movies repeatedly to make love.

Their phones rang, and they ignored them. Bianca learned that Elias had several phones when different parts of his apartment started ringing.

“Which phone is the one that rings when I call?” she asked him.

“Itwasthis one,” he said, lifting one of them. “Now it’s this one,” he said, gesturing to one that hadn’t rung yet.

“Did I get promoted or demoted?” she asked.

“This one,” he said raising the first phone, “is one of my three work phones. And this one,” he said, raising the second phone, “is just for me.”

Bianca smiled, holding his gaze. “Whose numbers are on the second phone?”

“My parents. My grandmother in Singapore. Three friends I’ve had since I was a kid. And you.” He grimaced as a thought occurred to him. “I have very few people in my life,” he realized, laughing.

She laughed with him, but she was too touched to be on his friends and family phone to feel any levity. She crawled across the couch to him, pushing him back until he was lying down and she was on top of him. She stayed there for a long time, just listening to the sound of his heartbeat and steady wash of his breathing.

Bianca’s phone rang a bunch of times, too.

“Do you want to get this?” Elias asked, holding up her phone while she scrolled through take-out options on his iPad. “It’s Cassiel.”

“God, no,” she said, grinning.

A half hour later there was banging on Elias’ door. “Open up fuck face,” Cassiel shouted. “Where’s my sister?”

Elias opened the door looking confused by Cassiel’s aggressive tone, probably because they had been getting along the night before. Cassiel came bursting through the door, hitting Elias squarely on his bare chest and sending him sprawling.

“Cass!” Bianca screamed, shocked.

“Didn’t think I’d ever get the recording, did you?” he said scathingly as he stood over Elias.

Elias sat up, a frozen look of fear on his face. “Cassiel, please,” he said, a hand raised to try to get him to calm down. “Let me explain.”

“Bianca, get your things. You’re leaving this piece of shit,” Cassiel said, never taking his eyes off of Elias.

“I’m not going anywhere, you lunatic!” she shouted at her brother, reaching down to help Elias off the floor.

“That mother fucker is using you to spy on our family for the FBI,” Cassiel said, his voice low and shaking.

“What?” Bianca said, the word bursting out of her with a disbelieving laugh. “That’s the stupidest—”

Cassiel held up his phone and sounds came out of it—sounds of two people having sex.

“Don’t,” Elias begged Cassiel.

“That’s us,” Bianca said, recoiling from the sound of Elias’ voice on Cassiel’s phone.

Suddenly, a string of odd moments made sense. Things Elias had said to her, and weird moments when she couldn’t understand his mood were easily explained by this colossal betrayal.

“You knew we were being recorded? Didyourecord us?” she asked, her voice high and breathy like the wind had just been knocked out of her. “Shut it off, Cassiel!” she screamed, flooding with shame as she heard herself saying Elias’ name as she orgasmed.

“I’m sorry to do this to you, Bee,” Cassiel said, shutting it off. “But the reason we couldn’t find out what case this bastard was working on was becausewe’rehis fucking case. The Loring family.”

“That’s not true,” Elias said, shaking his head, pleading with Bianca. “It didn’t start out that way.” He faced Bianca, trying to take her hands, but she pulled them away from him, taking a step back.

“It didn’tstartoutthat way?” she repeated. “But you’re investigating us now?”

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