Page 116 of Remi's War (Four Dark Horsemen 2)

A tiny, four-year-old thing who notices me as she plays with her doll on the blanket, and her ocean-blue eyes light up. “Remi!” Jimena exclaims, jumping up and running to me, her pink dress swaying around her, as well as her dark hair in a ponytail. “Catch!” she yells, opening her arms wide, and I do, raising her above my head and spinning around as her melodic laughter erupts.

Then I hug her close, and she squeezes me tight, leaning back and grinning, her lips smeared in chocolate. “Mama said I could have a cupcake before dinner.” Her brows furrow. “Is it bad?”

Tugging on her ponytail, I shake my head, and she grins back again, reminding me so much of her brother.

The minute they brought her home, she eased everyone’s pain, and she has been doted on constantly.

The princess of the castle deserves no less.

And strangely, she likes me too. I used to sing lullabies to her, and my voice calmed her down the most.

In a sense, I started to think about her as my younger sibling and filled the role my friend would have if he was here.

Besides… Santiago would want me to look after Jimena.

She loves to play in the garden and speaks two languages fluently while constantly interrupting my work or studies by coming to hug me or share a secret.

Or hear stories about her brother.

His picture is on all the walls in every room, and she loves to ask questions about him, already loving him by default.

That’s what Jimena does the best, showers everyone with love and makes us smile, even if we don’t feel like it.

She gasps and wiggles her body, wanting to get down, and I put her back on the ground, already knowing who awakened such a reaction.

There is only one person whose company she prefers above mine.

She claps her hands together and screams, “Florian!” With this, she darts off behind me, and I turn around to see my two friends walking side by side along with Estella, who trails in front of them.

Octavius doesn’t leave his little sister alone lately in that damned house of theirs, where his stepfather does whatever he wants and their mother is useless.

Sometimes it feels like his and Florian’s mothers are in competition for who is the biggest bitch to their kids.

Countless new scars mar his body, added on top of the old ones, not to mention the one on his cheek for everyone to see, but Octavius takes it all.

He will withstand anything if it means protecting Estella.

Florian gets on a knee, opening his arms wide, and Jimena almost knocks him down, slamming into him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Hi, my princess.” He greets her with the nickname we all bestowed on her and then picks her up, adjusting her on his hip. “How are you?” He wipes away the cake from the corner of her mouth.

“Great. You’re here!” The girl loves Florian to pieces, but then I think he is destined to be loved by women regardless of their age.

He was a romantic at heart, dreaming about one big love, and just glued his nose to his sketch book, creating all the pieces he hoped to display in their jewelry house while ignoring the constant gazes his way.

Something changed one year ago, though. He transformed into a total whore and sleeps around with so many girls in our high school I lost count.

His only rule?

Never go for the younger ones. In fact, he doesn’t even sleep with our classmates, finding it too messy, and just goes for the girls who are in the grades above us.

I like sex as much as the next guy, tried it myself a few times, and it manages to give me a temporary reprieve from the tension constantly present in my life that urges me to punish everyone around me.

But actually spending all my time on it?

Fuck that. I have more important stuff to do, like study and work, and girls are a constant distraction.

“Of course. We’d never miss it,” Florian replies and then tickles her on the belly, which makes her giggle, and she presses her cheeks to his, sighing. He grins at me, rolling his tongue out.

Discretely from the girl’s view, I flip him off. The asshole thinks her affection for us is a competition or something.

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