We stepped out of the bathroom, Castello clutching my arm with his tight grip. We walked into a bedroom, and I couldn’t help but admire the décor.
It was a beautiful, elegant room decorated with shades of gold, beige, and light browns. A huge king-sized bed stood right in the middle of the room with soft, cream-colored curtains hanging from the ceiling draping the sides of the bed. The walls consisted of dark cherry-wood and light oak panels that contrasted beautifully with the rest of the room. Large windows were draped with the same curtains surrounding the bed, and the moon was shining directly through them, casting a silver light across the room.
“Whose bedroom is this?”
Castello stopped for a second before answering, “Mine.”
Dumbfounded and confused, I glanced around the room and back at him. “This is your room?”
“You look surprised.”
“Well, yeah.” My gaze swept over the bedroom once more. “I did not imagine your bedroom to look so…so…”
“So what?”
I looked up at him. “So light.”
“Is the bedroom too light for a monster like me?” Dark eyes, filled with so many secrets, yet determined to keep them hidden, stared down at me. For a moment, I allowed myself to see past the hard edges of my captor to find the soft frames of a man who lost a brother, a father—the life he had known. The more I stared at him, the less he started to look like his twin brother. The physical resemblance was undeniable, but besides the scar, it became easier for me to know them apart just by looking into Castello’s eyes.
Carlo’s eyes were always sharp, carefree, zealous, and full of life. Castello’s were hard and cold, trying to hide sadness he didn’t want anyone to see.
My gaze fell to the plush white carpet beneath my feet. “Are we not all monsters?” I whispered. If my time as his prisoner had taught me anything, it was that there was a monster hidden in all of us. Some suppressed it, some hid it, and some embraced it.
“I suppose we are.” He tugged on my arm. “Come on.”
“Wait. Can I look at it?”
He stared back at me questioningly. “At what?”
“The view, from your bedroom window.”
“You want to see the view?”
I nodded. “Please.”
With a calculating gaze, he stared at me, and I wasn’t sure he would allow it. But he nodded and started to guide me toward the window.
Judging from how high up we seemed, the house had to be huge, at least three levels.
The full moon was high, breaking the dark of night, allowing me to see parts of what looked like a huge back yard filled with tall standing trees, a vast landscape of grass, pebbled paths, and sleeping flowers.
“It looks beautiful.”
“Yes, well, looks can be deceiving.”
I glanced up at him. “You don’t like the view?”
“I don’t like the memories.”
“Which memories?”
He sighed, rubbing his hand at the back of his neck. “It doesn’t matter. Come on. I have a party I need to get back to.”
“Carlo? You don’t like the memories of Carlo?” I pried while he pulled me away from the window and toward the door.
“Now is a good time for you to shut up.”
“I bet the two of you played for hours in that garden when you were little.”