Page 76 of Taming Seraphine

I slice the meat into tiny strips, imagining them as Leroi’s misshapen heart. It’s cold and dry with only the tiniest bit of moisture, but the real thing would stain my fingers with blood.

Once I’ve cut through the steak, I move onto a cabbage the size of his head. The satisfying crunch of the knife slicing through its thick leaves feels like carving his skull.

It wasn’t always like this. Before Dad turned into a backstabbing psychopath, I used to help our cook, Bianca, in the kitchen. She taught me how to hold a knife, to cut vegetables without slicing my fingers, and a host of useful kitchen skills. Looking back at my childhood, it seems the only real parental love I received was from the domestic staff.

I hope Dad didn’t kill our driver, Felix, for taking me to Nanna’s house or Bianca for being his wife. All they ever tried to do was help, but if he could so easily order those men to violate Mom before snuffing out her life, imprison Gabriel, and turn me into an assassin, then he could murder an innocent old couple.

At the click of a door opening, I stiffen, my hackles rising. It snicks shut, but only one set of footsteps approaches. I slide the knife under a kitchen towel and turn my back to the counter.

Leroi leans against the doorway, his arm resting on the top of the frame. He gazes down at me through half-lidded eyes, reminding me of a predator who’s already eaten his fill.

“You’re still up,” he says, his voice low.

My fingers twitch toward the knife. “Where have you been?”

“Following an interesting lead,” he says.

A breath catches in my throat. “About Gabriel?”

He nods.

All traces of rejection and resentment fade into the background at the thought of getting closer to finding my brother. I push off the counter and close the distance between us. “Why didn’t you bring me along?”

“It was too dangerous,” he says.

“I can take care of myself,” I reply.

He places both hands on my shoulders and stares down at me with those impossibly dark eyes. “You’re impulsive. You lack control. We were supposed to place a tracker on Fiori’s car and leave. Instead, you charged at him, and we had to improvise.”

“That’s why you’re shutting me out?” I step out of his grasp.

He sighs as though he finds our conversation tiresome. “Tonight’s mission required zero margin for error. If anything went wrong, we’d have two targets on our backs.”

“But—”

“Seraphine,” he says, his voice sharper than any knife. “You don’t see what I see.”

“And what’s that?”

“The bigger picture, and that’s not your fault. For the past five years, your world was narrowed into captivity, killing, and abuse.”

His honesty makes my throat tighten and the backs of my eyes sting. “There’s no need to be so rude.”

“You’re the strongest young woman I know, but the things that happened to you have stunted your maturity and given you a deep distrust of men.”

I part my lips to protest, but he speaks first.

“Including me, but I understand.”

Resentment simmers in my belly, building up in intensity until I’m on the verge of slicing him open and painting the kitchen floor with his insides. He’s so uptight and always in control. Control over information, control his emotions, control over every aspect of my quest to save my brother and avenge Mom. Pushing my resentment aside, I make a mental note to draw this image in my notebook.

“What did you find out about Gabriel?” I ask.

He glances away.

My heart plummets to my stomach. “What is it?”

“Your brother was...” He inhales a deep breath as though trying to find the right words. “He was hospitalized two years ago, but he made a fast recovery.”

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