When he stops firing, I raise my voice. “Would you teach me?”
“Teach you what?” He pauses, arms still straight in aim. “To shoot?”
“Yeah. I’ve never done it before.”
“Where’s Luca? I’m not the sort of teacher you want.”
“He’s asleep. And I don’t think the noise is something he’s going to want to be around for a while after he received another hit to the head.”
He shoots me a scowl. “Then what about your brother or Sarah? Even Keira would be a better option.”
“Nobody is awake.” I shrug, feigning indifference while my pulse hammers, waiting for him to lose patience with me. “And we’re both already here…”
Just like I want to fix the rift between Luca and Sebastian, I also need to mend the damage I’ve caused with Hunter. The less enemies I have, the stronger I’ll be.
“Fine.” He pins me with that scowl. “You’re going to have to move closer.”
I inch toward him, my pulse ramping higher as I stand beside his bulky frame.
“Here.” He grabs my wrist and smacks the gun in my hand, the casing warm from his hold. “You’re going to want to—”
A throat clears behind us and I swing around to see Sebastian, his eyes wary, chin high as he stands at the foot of the stairs. “Am I interrupting?”
“Fuck no.” Hunter snatches the weapon from my grip. “I was praying for a savior.” He maneuvers around me, all strength and thumping footsteps as he yanks off his earphones and throws them at my brother. “Godspeed.”
I’m left stunned silent as Hunter storms up the stairs, slamming the door behind him.
For moments, Sebastian and I just stare at each other. Sister to brother. Victim to criminal.
I think this is the first time we’ve been alone since Luther stole me. Truly alone. Without weighty emotion or people hovering close. And now that we’re here, I’m not sure what to say.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He shifts his focus over my shoulder, no longer meeting my gaze. “Was he teaching you how to shoot?”
I nod, finding it hard to come up with a response when he looks entirely defeated. I’m the one who broke him. Me and my feelings for Luca. “But he wasn’t overly enthusiastic about talking to me, let alone handing over his gun. He told me he wouldn’t be a good teacher.”
Sebastian huffs out a laugh. “I don’t know why. He would’ve killed more people than you went to school with.”
My mouth falls open. I hadn’t been oblivious to Hunter being a murderer, but those numbers aren’t what I’d pictured.
“It was a joke,” he drawls. “I’m sure the number hasn’t reached triple digits.”
It’s my turn to breathe out an awkward laugh. “You all have really inappropriate humor.”
“It comes with the work environment.”
The criminal environment, I mentally correct. The death and destruction.
Silence returns. The awkwardness, too.
“Want me to leave you alone?” he asks.
I want to say yes. It still hurts to see him. To remember our childhood and the familiar bond we had. The yearning for the past is excruciating. But I have to think about him. And Luca. I have to concentrate on the future. “No. I actually came down here looking for you.”
“Is that right?” He raises a brow, the slightest hint of hope entering his eyes.
“I thought it was time we talked.”
He straightens, broadening his shoulders. “What do you want to talk about?”
I swallow over the adamant pulse in my throat and drag in a steadying breath. “I wanted to apologize for the way I’ve treated you, am treating you, and will probably continue to treat you.”
“Okay…” He winces. “So this hatred of me is a lifelong commitment?”
“No, it’s not. And I don’t hate you, I just…” My chest tightens, painfully squeezing. “I’m trying to protect myself the only way I know how.”
“And you think you need protection from me?”
“Not from you, no. I need protection from the possibility of losing you. Everything else has been taken from me, Sebastian. Too many sisters in Greece were murdered. And anyone who defies Luther always disappears… Maybe if you weren’t a part of this—” I wave a hand to encompass