Page 137

Although we hadn't acted per se, Sisi's grief still raw, her sadness influencing my own, I had whispered in her ear that her brother might be observing us. So she'd decided the best example of our teamwork would be to patch me back together.

"I still can't believe he shot you." She purses her lips as she pierces the skin. Two fingers are holding together the flaps offlesh as she's sewing them in place. "And you had to dig the bullet out too." She shakes her head and one look into her eyes and I know she'd swat my arm if I weren't the patient.

"It's all about the show, hell girl," I say as I tip her chin up. "I wanted your brother to see that he doesn't intimidate me, no matter how many guns he waves around."

"Were the tears for show too?" she asks quietly.

"Sisi." My voice goes down an octave. "You hurt, I hurt." I bring her hand to my heart, pressing it to my chest, so she can feel that semi-useless organ that beats only for her. "You cry, I cry. We're a team."

A slow smile appears on her face, lighting up her features and making her eyes crinkle around the corners.

"Good," she says and I release a breath, feeling like I just passed the most important test of my life.

"We should head down now." I nod at her to grab her stuff while I put on my shirt.

When she's ready, she shows me her small bag and I feel an ache in my chest at seeing her meager possessions, vowing she'll have anything she desires in the future.

Grabbing her bag, I motion her to go down.

As expected, Marcello is expecting us, a grim expression on his face and I know he doesn't want to admit he was wrong. He looks even more sour as he invites us back into the study.

"So what changed your mind, 'Cello?" I ask, looking around the room, "Was it my eye for redecoration?" I nod toward the fallen shelves and he groans.

"Behave." Sisi gives me a look and I immediately acquiesce, imitating a zipper over my mouth with two fingers.

"Lina and I have decided to give you a chance." He clears his throat. "We can see how much Sisi loves you, and for that alone we'll accept your relationship," he continues, his back straight, his entire posture screaming high and mighty.

I have to bite my tongue really hard to not reply to him in my usual fashion, since I know this is the longest olive branch he's willing to extend to me.

"Thank you." Sisi is the first to speak, her entire face glowing with happiness. And for that alone I'll keep my damned mouth shut.

"I guess now onto more important business," I change the topic after everyone's had time to be sappy.

"What do you mean?" Marcello turns to me.

"We've discovered some evidence pointing toward Sacre Coeur having dealings with Miles. More specifically Mother Superior." I quickly give them a rundown of everything we'd learned, and I reluctantly tell them about the attacks on the house and the plane too, even though I can already see fire in Marcello's eyes when he hears that I put his precious sister in danger.

"No." Sisi places herself between us when our staring contest becomes too heated. "We're not doing this again. Besides, I handled myself quite well. Vlad's been teaching me how to defend myself," she states proudly, her chin raised high, her features unflinching.

That's my girl!

"We don't need you two at each other's throats," she sighs as she shakes her head, "no matter how much you dislike him being with me." She turns to Marcello.

Fuck, but I love when she's so assertive. It makes me so hard that I have to shift around, so I don't draw unnecessary attention to myself—yet again. I'm sure Marcello wouldn't appreciate me rubbing it into his face that his sister and I are, indeed, having sex. Or the mere fact that her voice, scent, and her fucking presence are enough to give me a raging hard-on—like now.

"Good." She nods, satisfied. "I'm glad we can engage in a civil conversation for once," she comes next to me, grabbing my hand and placing it in her lap.

"I do remember those cases, back in the day," Lina starts, shifting the topic back to Sacre Coeur, "when the twins disappeared. And a few others too. You would always ask me why they weren't looking for them," Lina addresses Sisi, who nods grimly.

"We think there's an entire trafficking ring that may have roots in Sacre Coeur and its orphanages," Sisi says.

"And there's a high possibility the five families are involved," I point out. "We know your father entertained the idea, even if he never fully went through with it." I nod to Marcello, "But I haven't been able to find any evidence that the other families are involved. I've spoken to Enzo, and he has no clue who Miles is, so I'm excluding him."

Catalina's smile grows when I mention that her brother's innocent, and I get the urge to roll my eyes. Enzo is anything but innocent considering the shit he's involved in right now. He may not have wanted Jimenez's empire, but he's stuck with it. And I for one can't wait to see how he's going to deal with that.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the Marchesi are involved, but they've been rather absent from the scene," I start, but Catalina stops me.

"They're dead," she says, and I frown.