Page 140 of Taming Seraphine

I’m not completely heartless, and the girl reminds me a little of my sister. If Rosalind has holed up with Cesare and has forgotten to call to say she’s alive, then I can tell my cousin to remind her to send a text.

“Do you have a number?” I ask.

As she pulls down the strap of her backpack and reaches inside, my fingers twitch toward my gun. Instead of extracting a weapon, she produces a sheet of paper with her name and number already written multiple times. She tears off a strip and I take it with a nod, glancing down to find that she’s called Miranda.

“I’ll call you if I hear anything,” I say before closing the door.

“Thank you,” she says from the other side.

Stepping back from the doorway, I watch her leave via the app. Twinges of guilt prick at the frayed edges of my conscience. Rosalind may be a manipulative liar, but I could have been less of an asshole to her sister.

I return to the kitchen to find that Seraphine has already plated her breakfast and is picking through a delicious-looking concoction of eggs, bacon, and vegetables.

“You lied about not knowing Rosalind,” she says without looking up.

“She was just a random hookup who got overly attached.”

“Is that what I am to you?” she asks. “Just a random hookup?”

“What do you think?” I ask back.

Her lips part, but she doesn’t speak, so I close the distance. “Do you think I bring random hookups into my home for days, clean up their murders, hunt down their enemies and provide safe and soundproof spaces for them to get their revenge?”

She glances to the side.

“Look at me, Seraphine.”

When she doesn’t move, I hold her chin and force her to meet my gaze.

Seraphine stares up at me, her eyes blazing.

“You are not a random hook up,” I say. “What we did together last night was everything. I’ve never met a woman I find so completely captivating, and I never will again. You’re it, Seraphine. It doesn’t get more perfect than you.”

She bows her head, not seeming to believe me.

“Hey, I would raze the world to ashes if it meant keeping you safe.”

Her eyes shine, and her chest rises and falls with rapid breaths. “Then why were you being so cold?”

My gaze falters. Now’s not the time to tell her. There’s no predicting how she’ll react so soon after that reminder of Rosalind.

She’d ask when I worked out that Anton was her trainer, and I’d have to admit that it was the day after I brought her to the apartment. Then she would worry that I’d hand her over to Anton the same way Capello handed her over to the twins.

I can’t tell her until Anton is dead.

Hell, even if I wanted to explain that the reason for my silence was I’d been thinking of murdering the only man that’s ever been a father to me, I can’t form the words.

“Sorry,” I rasp. “I was working through my rage. Hearing about what you suffered made me feel powerless. I wanted to travel back to before it all started and burst into Capello’s mansion with guns blazing.”

The corners of her mouth lift into a sad smile. “You already kind of did.”

“Five years too late,” I say, my laugh bitter.

“You came, and that’s all that matters.”

The morning sun shines through the kitchen window, illuminating her hair, making her look vulnerable and small. I want to raise every man who ever hurt her from the dead so she can destroy them one by one. I want to help her reclaim her power. I want to protect her from the evils of the world. But all I can do for now is hold her close and never let her go.

I pull her into my chest. “No one will ever hurt you again,” I say, meaning every word. “I will burn down the entire state of New Alderney before anyone lays a finger on you again.”

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