by E. C. Land
“Oh, it’s not just you I’ll be going after. I have things to do in this town and the next one over. My sister was killed because of some little bitch taking what wasn’t hers. And I’ll be making sure her retribution is met.” Dimitri stands from his seat and slips a small, folded paper across the table. “Until we meet again.” Tapping the paper, Dimitri leaves just as quickly as he came.
Snatching up the paper, my chest tightens as I read it.
I read it again:
Do you know where all your sisters are tonight?
Fuck.
Standing, I dig my phone from my pocket, note in hand. I start a call between all three of my brothers. They answer nearly at the same time.
“What?” This being Félix.
“I’m kinda busy here.” Nicholas would say that. He’s always busy.
“Hello,” Tristan answers.
“Have you talked to any of our sisters today?” I ask, moving to the exit.
“Sabine’s in Corpus Christi with Olivia,” Félix states, clearly more alert. “What’s going on?”
“Where’s Désirée?” I demand.
“She just got back to town after going back to New York to bring the rest of her stuff home,” Tristan says. Being twins, Tristan keeps up with her more than the rest of us. “Last time I talked to her, she was at her apartment.”
“Shit. Meet me at her apartment,” I snap, ending the call and heading for my car. Climbing behind the wheel, I start the engine and punch the gas, pulling out of my parking spot.
Speeding down the road, I block out all thoughts, except getting to Désirée’s apartment building. In the past weeks, I’ve been to this complex quite a few times. Never have I felt this gut-churning feeling like I do now.
I pull into the parking lot and slam the car in park. I rush out of the driver’s seat and up to the doors. My brothers are right on my tail as we all run to Désirée’s apartment.
Getting to her door, my stomach plummets. Her door is left ajar, and stepping inside, all you can see is blood smeared everywhere. Broken glass is scattered all over the floor, and there’s debris everywhere. Tristan runs from room to room, searching for her. Désirée is nowhere to be found.
“What the fuck?” Tristan snarls.
“Rémy, what do you know?” Félix demands.
“War. That’s what I know. We’ve just entered a war.” I swallow and hold up the note. “A man showed up at the club. His name is Dimitri Savary, and I think he’s the leader of the Uprising.”
“Why’s he coming after us?” Nicholas asks. “I mean, we don’t even know this guy. Do we?”
“We don’t know him,” I growl, looking to Félix, meeting his angry gaze. “We know his sister. Deanna. This whole mess is because of her and our father. Now he’s got our sister. We need to get her back before he does the same thing to her that he did to those women who work at Diamond Dancers.”
“We’ll get her back. If this Dimitri fuck wants a war. I’ll give him one. One way or another, I’ll get our sister back. Even if it means dying in the process,” Félix snarls, throwing a lamp that was from the side table. It shatters against the wall, falling to bits and pieces.
“I’ll kill them for hurting her,” Tristan says, raking his hands through his hair.
“Agreed.” Nicholas seethes.
Dimitri wanted a war, he’s got it. I’ll do what I must do to help my brothers bring our little sister home and keep the others protected.
I’m not about to lose any of them or Cora, for that matter. They mean everything to me, and I won’t see them harmed in the middle of this detesting war.
Epilogue
Corentina
One Month Later . . .
It’s been an entire month since everything changed in the DeLancy family. Rémy still hasn’t told me exactly what happened, but I think I’ve put the pieces together over time. A man in a suit came in, sat down, and chatted with him. He didn’t look at this guy like he was his friend, and right before he left, he dropped a note.
Rémy isn’t telling me what the note said, but I remember the look on his face when that man left. It was . . . terrifying to see. I don’t believe Désireé going missing is a coincidence, and I firmly believe this man has something to do with it. He’s the reason she’s not here. No one will confirm it, but it’s hard to miss the elephant in the room.
Rémy and I were just at Félix and Madelaine’s house for dinner, and it was the oddest dinner we’ve ever attended. The silence was damning. Madelaine and I tried to bring up subjects to talk about, but the men weren’t into it.
Now we’re here, at what’s supposed to be the happiest day of Olivia’s life, and she seems so sad. She misses her sister as much as the rest of us do. Madelaine and I really tried to make this as lovely as possible. Olivia wanted to push off the baby shower a bit longer, but we can’t push it out anymore. She has a high-risk pregnancy and will likely need to go on bed rest soon, so this baby shower is her last big event before the babies get here.
Finn still doesn’t know, but within the next ten minutes, he will. We planned everything from the baby shower invites looking like entry tickets, to a cotton candy station where they have to pick pink or blue, a homemade dunk the duck, and balloon pop. But no one’s supposed to play at the balloon pop because that’s all for Finn and Olivia. It’s how they’re going to find out what gender these babies are, and I have no doubt Finn is going to lose his mind when he discovers she’s pregnant with twins.
“You two are next, right?” Madelaine jokes, wiggling her eyebrows up and down at Rémy and me.
“Hell to the no. I want a honeymoon period, not going from ripping off panties to throwing on diapers. Nope. That’ll be in the five-year plan, right, babe?” Rémy looks at me with pleading eyes.
“More like the eight to ten-year plan,” I correct him, and Madelaine cracks up.
Rémy smiles widely. “This is why I’m locking your ass down. You know exactly how I’m feeling.” He wraps an arm around me and pulls me against his side, rubbing my hip. Poppy, who’s dressed up as a showrunner, comes rushing over to us.
She’s wearing black-and-red striped stockings with five-inch platform heels. Her pastel-pink hair is curled and she has a top hat on. She’s wearing a red and gold corset, and her skirt falls just below her ass. It’s rucked up in a white fabric, and I narrow my eyes at her outfit. “Please tell me you’re going to have this outfit for multipurpose use,” I tell Poppy, and she giggles.
“Heck yeah, it’s beautiful.” It just so happens I can wear it here as well. I wanted to dress to theme and all, but it doesn’t look like anyone else did. Poppy glances around the outdoor area and frowns. She kind of reminds me of Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter franchise.
“Well, you look lovely,” Rémy tells her, which makes her smile brightly.
Tristian walks up to us, and the second he sees Poppy, he looks at her like she’s insane. He comes up and scans his eyes all over her outfit. “Cute, right?” Poppy asks him, and Tristan shakes his head.
“No, why would you wear something like that here?” Tristan grumbles. “This isn’t Diamond Dancers. Not everyone likes your eclectic style.”
Olivia hears her brother and comes over to us. “Hey, Poppy, you look adorable! I love it.”
“Awe, thanks! This was actually something I made myself.”
“You’re kidding me.” I gawk, amazed at her seamstress talents.
“Nope, I did it myself!” Poppy smiles widely and does a little twirl. Tristian, on the other hand, walks off, and none of us know why he’s so moody.
“Liv, are you ready to pop the balloon?” Finn yells over to Olivia, and she turns to face him.
“Yep!” Olivia hollers back, and all of us women are so excited to see what gender these babies are. We walk over to the balloon pop, and instead of one balloon, there are two. Madelaine hands Finn two darts and he looks at the balloons, confused.
“Why are there two?”
“
We had some extra powder, so I made two,” Madelaine lies through her teeth, and Olivia stands next to Finn.
Finn must believe her because he gives Olivia a dart, and Madelaine starts counting to three. By the time “three” is said, both of them throw their darts, and blue comes from both of the balloons. But behind the now faded smoke reads “Baby 1” and “Baby 2”.
“What the fuck is that?” Finn asks, walking closer.
Olivia doesn’t say a thing, not until he turns around with widened eyes and an open jaw. “We’re having twins, Finn.”
He falls back onto the ground with his hands on his head, and Félix pipes up. “Just be thankful they aren’t both girls, man. You’d be shit out of luck then.”
The entire group of people begins laughing, and Rémy holds me against his side. This is what family is supposed to treat you like. It may be crazy how I had to go halfway across the world to find mine, but I love them to bits.
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