Page 42 of Unleash Hades
“Olena,” I greeted her with a nod, pulling her attention from the man who had somehow attracted her ire. “Did you change your mind on that drink?”
The one who called the otherstronzoglared at me. The She-Bear smirked, making it clear that she liked irritating her keepers.
“No,” she said, her strong Ukrainian accent bubbling her vowels. “Maybe next time, Legionnaire.”
“I look forward to it,” I said with a smirk.
Sometimes you weren’t successful with your first contact with an asset. I knew that. But if you kept the door open to possibilities, you had a chance of linking up in the future. It was all aboutrapport -a 17th century French concept.
I took a chance, pushed off the wall, and walked up to the She-Bear with my hand outstretched. Two of the men grabbed me by the collar, pushing me backwards, but I stood my ground.
“So paranoid,” I nodded to Olena “The She-Bear” Savchenko, and she smiled back at me, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “I’m just shaking her hand to congratulate her on a good fight.”
I shrugged off the Mafia men and strode up to my opponent with my open palm tilted away from her captors.
She pressed her palm into mine, her expression gave nothing away. Her brow rose, before she resumed her look of sheer indifference.
“Congratulations,” I said, quietly. “Let me know if you ever want to get that drink.”
I pushed in for a one-armed embrace, clapping her on the back.
“Anytime, for any reason,” I said, into her ear.
I pressed our hands together even more, until the metal between our palms could be felt against our calloused hands, and I slipped my fingers away, moving back to the wall beside Rose.
The She-Bear fisted my gift in her hand, and in a practiced move put it in her pocket without her guards noticing.
“Thank you,” she said, then nodded to Rose. “I appreciate you being the first female champion in the circuit.”
She-Bear didn’t smile. She could have been reading a grocery list. But that didn’t lessen their words.
Rose lifted her chin.
“I don’t think I would have survived if I couldn’t fight here,” Savchenko nodded in gratitude.
Whatever that meant, she didn’t elaborate as she led her entourage out of the arena. The little girl following close behind.
Chapter 13
Calissandra
Iwoke up earlyto see Rafe. Today’s words of wisdom? “Keep your loved ones close.”
There he was, being wise and prophetic again. Those words stuck in my head as I went back into our building, and headed back up the elevator.
The boys came into the breakfast room in flannel pajama pants and t-shirts, their hair tousled from sleep. I had beenunprepared for the strangeness of teenage boys - the smell, the lethargy, explosive emotions and, most importantly, the heartache of realizing that they weren’t your little boys anymore. They were becoming big men, in a bigger world.
And the world had a tendency to rot the souls of rich young men…
I liked them this way. Sweet, sitting at their mummy’s table.
Disheveled, loving, and pure. They were sweet toddlers when they had first become mine. Romulus stayed sweet, but Remus? He developed the prickles and anger of an adolescent man.
It was amazing how much identical twins could differ. They were the same tall height, with copper hair that waved at their temples. Sky blue eyes looked out from below low, prominent brows. They had matured into their lips. The top was thin, while the bottom was plump, and square, giving the permanent look of a pout. They even had identical freckles at their throat.
Still, the differences between them were staggering. Romulus was right-handed, while Remus preferred his left. Romulus excelled in art and humanities, while Remus preferred numbers and found humanity, as a species, tedious.
Even the way they stood was absolutely different. Romulus always had a relaxed posture, but Remus looked like a bull about to charge a matador. He vibrated with the energy of a predator ready to attack.
