Page 4 of Hers to Claim

Rio moved to stand over him, reaching down to touch his face. “Hey, Nova going missing is not your fault.”

Cisco grumbled. “I should have checked in with her before now. We’ve just been so busy.”

“You’re fond of her,” Mari noted.

“Yeah, sorry, I forgot you don’t really know about that.” He leaned into Rio’s hand for comfort and then turned to look at Mari. “She and I ran away from the same orphanage when we were kids, and we looked out for each other after that. Basilio picked us up off the street together.”

“He did that a lot,” Rio said. “Picked us up in pairs and then separated us as soon as possible to isolate us, but still used thatconnection to threaten whoever was being particularly difficult that week.”

Mari hadn’t known that disgusting aspect of her father’s habits, though it didn’t surprise her. He was nothing if not a master at manipulating those around him by using their emotions. She recognized the note of sadness in Rio’s voice, though. “Who was it that you lost?”

“Tris.” A watery smile softened his face. “He was my best friend.”

Cisco kissed Rio’s hand but didn’t say anything.

Even though Mari knew it would break her heart, she had to know. “What happened to him?”

“He was the first to die on the top floor of the club. Up until that point someone always came in to break up the fights before it went lethal. After Tristan, that all changed.” Rio broke down into tears.

Cisco pulled Rio into his lap to cuddle him for a quiet moment.

Rio continued a while later, after he settled, “They realized they could harness more magic in the short term with more suffering. That was when everything really started to turn.” He swallowed roughly. “Tris was a phoenix, so he came back. He always came back no matter what they did to him. Until he didn’t.”

Cisco nuzzled the side of Rio’s face when he started to cry again and then whispered something so softly that Mari couldn’t hear.

Her heart ached for Rio. Even though there was nothing she could do to erase all the terrible things that had happened to him, she desperately wished there was. But there was nothing to be done for any of them. The pain from their shared past lived under all of their skin, and sometimes the only thing to do was feel it.

“That was the night that I tried to leave. Basilio knew somehow what I had planned and he took it out on you.”

“Saints, Rio,” she whispered, tears rolling down her face. She’d had no idea, and there was nothing she could have done, but it still tore at her. The fact that her father had broken him so terribly absolutely gutted her.

Rio eased from Cisco’s lap and crossed to kneel in front of her, his hands reaching to wipe her cheeks. “It’s okay,” he said softly, leaning to gently kiss her. “You were just trying to survive, same as all of us.”

She tried to swallow back her tears, and managed after a while. “It’s so fucking awful. Every time I think I’ve reached the bottom of it, there’s just more.”

Rio smoothed his thumbs over her skin. “It’s over. That’s the most important thing. Whenever it really hurts I just remind myself that it’s done. Whatever we do now, whatever mistakes we make, it will never be like that again.”

“Okay.” She nodded into his hands. “Okay.” She sniffed. “We’re going to find those missing submissives.”

“Yeah we are.” He smiled. “And we’re going to take out the fucking trash and clean this city up.”

“Fuck yeah we are,” Cisco growled. They both looked toward him where he sat across from them watching them with wonder. “And once we’re done with all of that I’m locking you both in the pool house and we’re not coming out for a month.”

Mari laughed. “I might need some alone time after a couple of weeks. I’m just saying.”

Rio took one of her hands and kissed it. “I’ll keep him busy while you sneak out for movie night once in a while.”

Something sharpened in Cisco’s expression. “Will you? And how are you planning on accomplishing that?”

All of their phone notifications went off at once, breaking the rising tension. Rio was the first to get his out of his pocket.“Looks like the lists from Willow. Shall we start so we can get to the month-long staycation quicker?”

They spent some time going over the lists and deciding what order they should tackle the suspects in. While they were at it, Kima came back and accepted the job, so she and Cisco took a while to discuss which of the guards should be assigned what tasks. They worked well together, and Mari thought she was a good choice for a second-in-command. She was smart and seemed to know her business, and most of all Cisco trusted her. The respect he held for her opinion was obvious in his body language, so Mari relaxed as she listened to them plan.

They had their first family dinner since her father had died that night. It was a very different experience from the ones her father had overseen.

Mari was formally introduced to Bren, who was a waifish man with messy blond hair who toed the line of androgyny beautifully in skintight leather pants and a fringe vest. With his impeccable eye makeup, he reminded her of a rock star from the glam era. When she asked what he did she was not at all surprised when he said with a wink that he was a singer.

Kima sat next to him, but Mari couldn’t tell from their interactions if they were just friends or more, and looking at Tilly for some indication wasn’t any help at all. Her friend’s hawklike stare went everywhere in the room except Kima. She’d have to ask later.

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