Page 76 of Thorns of Love

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re not telling me something.”

“What?” she asked defensively. “It’s not like you tell me everything.”

“For your own good.”

She blew a raspberry. “That’s for me to decide.”

Stubborn woman. It was another thing we had in common. Except, Isla hid it exceptionally well.

“Did you talk to him?” I asked suspiciously. We both went to bed at the same time and as I drifted off to sleep, I thought she was asleep too. I eyed her and her blush betrayed her. “When?” I demanded to know.

“God, if you were my sister, I’d be a nun,” she muttered. “Doesn’t bode well if you have a daughter.”

It was my turn to smile dreamily. Twins. I wouldn’t mind two daughters. Or one of each. Actually, it didn’t matter as long as they were both healthy. Then I remembered my question. Little minx almost distracted me.

“When did you talk to him?” I repeated.

“Last night,” she mumbled, her cheeks turning an even darker shade of pink.

Then realization sunk in.

“Oh my gosh,” I muttered. “Oh my gosh. Did you… Did you have phone sex with him?” Her answer was clear in the way her blush spread down her neck and disappeared under her pjs. “While I slept? In the bed next to you?”

“Well, I had to ease his worries,” she mumbled. “I left him with a note that I never wanted to see him again. And now, I’m asking to see him. So–”

“So you played him,” I concluded, impressed. “Are you sure we’re not related?”

She let out a chuckle. “We are now.”

Warmth spilled into my chest. For her. For my new family that had recently expanded and included her. Hopefully it’d include Illias too. It’d be up to him. But he waited for me for so long. Since that night in the gazebo! I hoped that meant he was in it for life.

I waved my hand, hiding the way my heart gushed.

“Go get ready. Make yourself gorgeous but not slutty. Kind of innocently beautiful.” She rewarded me with an eye roll. “That way when I hold you at gunpoint, Marchetti will spill all the secrets in his attempt to save you.”

She gave me a dubious look. “He might be suspicious.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “He’s not a dumb man.”

“Well, duh,” I retorted wryly. “The man hid behind his luxury brand and somehow had time to run a large part of the underworld. Yeah, I’d say he wasn’t dumb. But he’s blind when it comes to you,” I declared.

Her eyes bulged out of her head. “What makes you say that?”

I shrugged. “I saw the way he looked at you in the video at the fashion show.”

“Goddamn it, you’re scary,” she grumbled, jumping out of bed. “If only we knew you–”

She cut herself off and her eyes glanced away from me. Her complexion paled and her bottom lip quivered for a fraction of a moment before she pulled herself together. There were secrets she harbored. And I didn’t think it was anything trivial but she didn’t trust me enough to share those with me.

She padded toward the bathroom, her hand on the door. “Isla?”

Her eyes darted to me. “Hmmm.”

I watched her, every fiber of me on high alert. I didn’t know what she had done… actually, she said ‘we’ so I’d wager it had something to do with her and her friends. But I knew that no matter what it was, I’d have her back. I’d murder anyone who tried to hurt her.

She was family. And a Nikolaev never turned their back on family.