Page 36 of Keeping My Enemies Closer: Pt. 2

That had her eyes widening a bit.“She’s not?”

“A lion can only hunt on land, and Aurora’s not limited like that,” I replied, the pride in my voice evident.“Aurora is a combination of a lion, shark, and hawk.There is nowhere that she is not deadly.”

After a few seconds she asked, “What am I?”

I cocked my head as I regarded her, paying attention to the doubt in her tone over her actual words.Now, while it might have sounded as if I was praising Aurora, I really wasn’t.Yes, I was proud of my sister-in-law, but I hadn’t been hyping her up.I’d merely been stating facts.Aurora was as deadly as they came, and there was no way around that, no matter how much my brother wished it weren’t true.

“If I had to choose off the cuff, I’d liken you to a spider or a snake,” I answered.“Quiet, solitary, and living hidden from the world when possible, but also not afraid to strike when threatened.”

“I don’t feel like that,” she replied.“When my mother was threatened, I didn’t strike at all.”

“You also didn’t run away,” I pointed out.“You didn’t try to save yourself.Instead, you stayed with her during it all, never leaving her side, and if you don’t think that’s brave, then you’re wrong,lepestok.”

“Then why do I feel like this, Kasimir?”she asked brokenly.“Why do I feel like a coward.”

Staring at the heartbreak in her eyes, I was done waiting to turn Marcelle into an example.

Chapter 19

Zoya~

I knew that I sounded pathetic, but when you were surrounded by nothing but formidable criminals, it was hard not to feel a bit underqualified for this life, which I was.

Greatly.

It also didn’t matter that they didn’t expect much from me.No one wanted to feel like the weakest link of the group.No one wanted to feel like dead weight, dragging everyone else down.I wanted my actions to have value, even if it was only having a job and earning my own money.I wanted my life to have a purpose beyond just waiting around for Kasimir to pay me some attention.

So, that’s why I was reaching over to turn on the lamp on the nightstand, not caring what time it was.My mind refused to turn off, and I knew that Kasimir didn’t care about his beauty sleep.In fact, I could only imagine how much worse things were going to become once he was finished babysitting me.I was probably never going to see him.

I sat up as I turned to face him, and his eyes were already opened, looking over at me, probably wondering if I’d finally lost my damn mind, which was very possible.My brain was no longer thinking rationally, but since I was very aware of this, I didn’t consider myself crazy just yet.

“What is it, baby?”he asked sleepily.“What’s going on?”

“Aurora mentioned that she’s going to be the one to question Marcelle,” I said, not sure if I should be telling him so much of what she’d told me, but my guess was that he already knew.

Eyeing me carefully, Kasimir sat up in the bed, and it was hard not to get distracted by his bare chest, not going to lie.“She is,” he replied slowly.