“Not until you tell me who he sent to fuck with Candy.”
Her gaze snaps to mine. “I don’t know anything about that. He never told me.”
I can see plain as day that she knows the truth. Whatever happened to toughen her up, to make her sad, to make her wield that gun, it didn’t manage to make her a better liar. Ivan watches the proceedings from the corner, expression intent but remote.
Luca studies the tip of his knife. “I’m sure he didn’t tell you.” Then he turns to her, using the knife to wave in her direction, as casually as if he held nothing at all. The metal catches the reflection from the lamp. “But you would have heard something. You lived in the same house as him.”
Her eyes are on the knife. “I don’t—”
“It’s okay,” Luca says softly, even more sinister for how reassuring he sounds. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
He doesn’t want to hurt her, but he will.
“I—” Her voice breaks, and fear has replaced the defiance in her eyes. This is the expression Leader Allen would have seen when he taught her how to pray.
It makes me angry. “She said she doesn’t know. Leave her alone.”
Ivan stands, drawing all our attention. He has a way of commanding a room with just a look. The look he gives me now tells me to shut the hell up. He sits on the edge of the bed, resting a hand on her shoulder.
She freezes, and I can see her pulse jump in her throat.
“Sarah Elizabeth,” Ivan says softly, testing out her name. Then he focuses on her. “You have to understand, the Grand is my business. The people who work there, I’m responsible for them. And I should watch over them, shouldn’t I?”
Her head nods slowly, eyes never leaving his.
“Someone broke in and left threatening messages. I can’t let that go on. I can’t let anyone get hurt. Can I?”
She shakes her head no, just as slow. Her eyes are wide. There’s still fear, but it’s tempered with something else. Understanding. Because Ivan protects me the way Leader Allen never would have protected her.
He leans down and whispers something in her ear. I can’t make it out, and I glance at Luca. I expect him to be annoyed that his interrogation was interrupted or maybe just in pure business mode, but he’s watching them both with a brooding expression. No, he’s watching her with a brooding expression.
She swallows hard, looking up at the ceiling. Then at me. “He would talk about you sometimes. He didn’t like how…devout I was.”
The way she says the words leaves a chill in the air. Every one of us here knows what she means. It has nothing to do with faith.
“He said that you would be better, that he was going to find you, bring you back.”
I shiver at the thought of being in that room again. The truth is, I don’t believe he could have contained me. I would have gotten out or died trying. I’m different than I was before. Different than Sarah Elizabeth, because she’s never been outside. She’s never tasted freedom. We were born in captivity, bred and raised to be what he wanted.
“Why didn’t he just…take me?” I whisper.
“He said you had demons guarding you.”
Ivan raises his eyebrow. Of the names he’s been called, demon wouldn’t be the worst one. And he was guarding me. By sending his men to shadow me, he made sure I was safe. Watched over. Even when I ran away, he found me.
Does that make it okay, then, that he doesn’t let me leave?
Sarah Elizabeth presses her face almost into the pillow, as if ashamed. “He said he was going to draw her out. He would call her home. And I—I’m so sorry. I wanted him to. I thought when he got you back, he would want you enough that he would leave me alone. I’m sorry.”
“Who did he send?” Ivan asks.
“My brother. My brother, Alex. He’s never been… never been quite right. Something was always off about him. It was some kind of test Leader Allen sent him on, but the last time he left, he didn’t come back.”
She’s crying by the end of it, sobbing into the pillow. She looks so small curled up on the bed, her wrists and ankles still bound, helpless. Of course she would want him to leave her alone.
“Thank you,” Ivan says gently. Then he turns to Luca, “She’s all yours.”