I would never look at the man as anything but an enemy. I would always have my guard up, even if she married him and five years had passed. I would never allow him around my wife and children without being present. He would never be welcome in this family. I might be stubborn like my father, but I didn’t care. “I’ll never stop hating him either.”
I arrived at the small villa after dinner. Father gave me the address, and I didn’t feel intrusive slamming my fist against the solid wood of the door. Sapphire was at my parents’ house, watching TV in the living room with a mug of hot cocoa in her hands. My parents adored her, thought the world of her. They never cared she modeled lingerie or came from humble beginnings. I loved her—and that was enough for them to love her too.
The door opened, and I came face-to-face with him.
Bones.
When I’d seen him at the Underground, he’d been wearing some kind of disguise. But now he was exactly as I remembered from the pictures in his file, his gray t-shirt hugging his muscular frame and stretching across the shoulders. Ink was all over his arms, sleeves of tattoos with midnight-black coloring. He was my height, and his crystal blue eyes were the only thing about him that wasn’t innately dark. With fair skin he must have been inherited from his mother, he was distinctly different from the Barsettis.
He stared at me, his guard up just as high as mine. He knew exactly who I was, and now I knew he recognized me in the Underground. He didn’t try to kill me that night—for unknown reasons.
“You want to talk to Vanessa now? Or would you like to punch me first?” He tilted his head slightly, regarding me with subtle hostility.
“Punch you?” I asked. “I usually stick a knife in the throat of my enemies.” My father told me to keep my eyes peeled and my hands to myself, but when I was face-to-face with Bones, it was impossible to be diplomatic. He didn’t deserve my sister.
“You wanna do that, then?” he asked, dead serious. “I’m sure I could handle it.”
My father was right. He had a natural ability to turn threats into signs of power.
“My father told me not to kill you—yet.”
He smiled. “That was nice of him. Can never tell how much he hates me.”
“I’ll be the messenger, then. He hates you a lot.”
Vanessa ducked underneath his arm and squeezed past him in the doorway. “So glad you two are getting along…” She moved up to me, her arms crossed over her chest. “What are you doing here?”
“You know exactly why I’m here.” My eyes flicked to Bones again.
“To kill him?” she asked incredulously. “When you brought Sapphire around, I became her best friend. It didn’t matter whether she was a good person or not. You loved her, so I had to love her. I accepted her without an interrogation.”
My eyes turned back to her. “Are you suggesting these situations are the same? This man is a murderer, Vanessa. He kills people for cash. His family—”
She raised her hand. “I’ve had this exact conversation with Mom and Dad, like, fifty times. I’m not doing it again.”
I looked at Bones, the hatred in my eyes. “Disappear.” I wanted to speak to my sister alone, not have that gargoyle watch everything.
To my surprise, he shut the front door and walked away.
Vanessa stepped farther into the cool air in the front yard, approaching the truck parked in the gravel. “So, Father told you today?”
“A few hours ago.” I slid my hands into my pockets and followed her. “I’ve gotta be honest. I’m pretty shocked.”
When we were away from the house so we couldn’t be overheard, she turned to me. “I know he’s not ideal. But I never wanted to love him. It just happened. And now that it’s happened…I never want to love anyone else.”
My father wasn’t kidding. Their relationship was intense.
“I know you’re probably never going to like him, Con. That’s fine. I’m not going to try to persuade you to change your mind. But I hope one day you’ll have an open mind. Because of Sapphire’s past, I was kidnapped by Knuckles. I’ve never been able to sleep well since that night. Bones makes me feel safe, makes me feel like nothing could ever hurt me. I’ve never held Sapphire accountable for that night or ever blamed her for what happened. I love her, as my sister and my friend. She’s family as far as I’m concerned. But if I can do that, I don’t see why you can’t do this for me.”
My sister had always been better with words than I was, and she’d made an astounding point. Because of Sapphire, Vanessa had been shot. Now she would carry a scar for the rest of her life. At the time, she’d acted so brave, but of course, it bothered her. Nightmares followed her every night. I didn’t know what to say because she made such a fair argument.