Page 135 of Cruel Romeo

I rub a hand over my jaw and exhale. “You’d probably laugh if you could hear me. Me, talking about family like it’s something separate from all this.” I gesture briefly to us, two Bratva brothers shackled by duty. “But it feels different with her.”

I glance at the machines, the tubes. He’s so pale, he barely looks like himself anymore. I hate seeing him like this.

But I still force myself to continue.

“I know it’s stupid. None of us ever really get out. But when I’m with her…”

I can almost pretend.

I almost say it, but then I don’t. It’s not what we do, my brother and me. Even this little speech I just gave him was only possible because he couldn’t tell me to shut up.

Still, if he were here, he’d be happy for me. I know he would. He’d clap a hand on my shoulder and congratulate me in his gruff way. Maybe laugh and say that it was about damn time.

I’m lost in those thoughts when I walk out for a cup of coffee. Not that whatever sewer water the automatic machine serves here can be called that, but I’ll take it. It’s certainly late enough.

When I return and push open the door, the light above Dimitri’s bed throws long shadows across the room. And there, at his bedside, is a man dressed in scrubs, a syringe poised over my brother’s IV line.

For half a second, I think he’s a nurse. He’s got the right look. The scrubs, the gloves.

But then I see his eyes.

Wide. Terrified. Like he knows who I am and has reason to fear it.

His hands tremble so badly the syringe wobbles. No steady professionalism, no calm focus. None of the detachedprecision you expect from someone used to needles and IVs. Just raw, naked panic.

That’s when I realize.

That’s not a nurse.

“Get the fuck away from my brother!”

56

SIMA

My brother’s grip on my arm is tight..

I try to yank free, but he only clamps down harder and leans closer until his shadow falls over me. “Not happy to see me after all this time, eh?”

Anatoli’s voice is a low taunt, like we’re playing some private joke only he finds funny. He tilts his head, eyes narrow.

When I answer him, his grin deepens. “What’s the matter, little sister? Cat got your tongue?”

“Let me go,” I hiss. “You’re making a scene.”

“You don’t want to make a fuss, do you? Draw attention? That wouldn’t look good for you here, with all your nice classmates watching.” His laugh is soft and cruel. “You’ve been playing at normal life for so long… Wouldn’t want them to know what you really are.”

I glance at the students shuffling past, oblivious, and force my voice low and steady. Losing face is the least of myconcerns, but if anybody gets involved, there’s no telling what my brother might do. Who he might hurt.

“I said, let me go.”

Anatoli only laughs. He shifts just enough to lift the edge of his jacket and reveals the black grip of a gun tucked at his side.

“You don’t want to make this messy. But I could. All it takes is me pulling this out, and suddenly, half these kids hit the floor.”

My eyes go wide. “Don’t,” I whisper, panicked. “Please. Leave them out of this. They have nothing to do with us.”

He tilts his head with cruel amusement. “If you don’t listen, what choice do I have?”