Page 35 of Heartless Heathens

“You want to parade her in front of Frollo and dangle your little trophy in front of him? That’s fine, but you’re not going to treat her like shit. You and I both know, even if she was remotely in on whatever the fuck Frollo was planning, thatnoneof it would be within her control. She’s a victim, a pawn at best.”

He was far too angry, which meant he was already too invested. Too involved. It was the Pisces in him. We were twins but I was pretty sure he sucked up all the astrology personality in the womb. I was just a useless fuck that didn’t belong anywhere or relate to anything.

“Are you just a pawn then, Romina?” Sonny stood up, closing in on her quickly.

Felix tried to shield her from him, but he was too quick and held her by both of her arms while he stared into her face. “Tell him what you told me,” he growled out.

She shook her head forcing Sonny to rattle her for the truth like a small toy.

“Father F-Frollo raised me,” she stuttered out fearfully and then winced while she waited for Felix’s reaction.

“What were you doing here, Mina?” Felix asked her in a soft tone.

“I was hungry,” she answered, not seeming to mind giving Felix as much of the truth as he asked for.

Sonny frowned his eyebrows.

“Why were you hungry?” I asked and she looked at me for just a second before darting her eyes back over to Felix and Sonny.

Felix nudged her to answer.

“Because Father Frollo hadn’t brought me food in a few days,” she explained softly.

Sonny rubbed his temples and paced back and forth across the room and voiced his thoughts out loud. “And he’s claiming he doesn’t know her. Said she’s a stray, not a student.”

“Why would he lie?” I asked and Felix immediately cut in.

“Why would she?” He was fond of her, it was so like him.

This looked like a trap from every angle if you asked me, but I couldn’t see what the end game was. Whywouldshe lie? Father Frollo was a slimy, untrustworthy piece of shit. I didn’t need to ponder all the possible reasons why he’d lie about knowing some girl on his property.

“Did the contractors come back to get the rest of their tools?” Sonny asked and I shrugged in response.

He disappeared from the room and came back a mere minute later holding a power drill in his hand. He switched the attachment on the end for a nut driver, letting me know his patience had grown thin and he was headed for that steel door. He folded his sleeves up with care before attaching the drill to each individual bolt and unscrewing them. After the first few he leaned his shoulder to the door and beckoned me over with a tilt of his chin.

“Hold it up while I get the rest,” he instructed and I nodded, leaning into the door while he got the rest of the pieces loosened.

The door was heavy as hell and sweat dripped down the side of my face while I used most of my strength to hold it up.

“Felix,” I called out and he abandoned the girl’s side to come help.

The three of us struggled but were able to get the door lowered all the way to the floor. The dusty smell of the old attic began to seep into the air of the chapel and Sonny looked back at me with raised eyebrows.

“I’m telling you, whatever’s up here, that’s our ticket out of this shithole.”

I looked over my shoulder back at the girl who probably had no business being here while we uncovered Frollo’s dirty secrets. She was gnawing on her lip and twisting the fabric of her uniform skirt nervously in her hands, uncaring that she was flashing us what looked like Sonny’s boxer briefs under the skirt.

“Are you just gonna let her stay here?” I asked Sonny.

“What’s she gonna do?” he asked sharply.

“What if she sneaks off and tells Frollo?”

“She ain’t workin’ for him,” Felix snapped in a hushed tone like he didn’t want her listening to what we were saying.

I didn’t give a shit if she knew I didn’t trust her.

“How can you be so sure? You’ve known her less than twenty-four hours.” I crossed my arms, annoyed that my own brother could be seeing things so differently than me.