Page 47 of Thorns of Blood

I moved past him and made my way into the room to inspect the merchandise. “You’re going to have to be a bit more specific.”

“The tattoos on your back.” My hand froze, closing tightly on a Chanel silk midi dress. “What do they mean?”

All those tiny tattoos covering my back—waves, car, bicycle, origami, graduation hat, and so many more—were all things I never got to do. I could lie. Make up a cool story about it.

But what came out of my mouth shocked even me. “They’re the things I always wanted to do but never had a chance to.”

Pain that had become my permanent friend danced circles around me. I waited. For what, I didn’t know. Maybe for something—anything—to chase away these ghosts that suffocated me.

“Put a bathing suit on.”

Giovanni’s voice seemed to do just that.

“Why?”

“Because we’re going to check off some of those things, starting with your swimming lessons.”

SEVENTEEN

GIOVANNI

Long after I’d given her privacy, those tattoos on her back played in my vision over and over again. Her back was full of little symbols and words of things she’d never gotten to do in life.

Waves. Dancer.

Daffodils.

Two sets of footprints—child’s and adult’s.

Origami. Graduation hat.

Car.

It turned out, Liana could kill a man and secure a shipment of weapons without blinking an eye, but she couldn’t drive a car, swim, or dance.

Jesus Christ!

“Did your mother not teach you how to drive a car?” I asked her, keeping my eyes locked on the vast blue horizon while she changed into a bathing suit.

“No.”

“Santiago?”

“One kept me prisoner since the day I was born. The other stole my youth and innocence.” She let out a sardonic breath, but there was pain in it that was hard to miss. “Why would either of them offer me a way to escape?”

“Liana?” I rasped. “Is your bathing suit on?”

“Yes.”

I turned around and found her in a black-and-white one-piece, her smooth ivory skin hiding all the turmoil in her soul and her perfect imperfections.

“It fits,” I said softly.

“Yes.”

“Do you like it?”

Her golden eyes flicked to mine. “It’s Chanel. Of course I like it.”