The Boy and His Ribbon (The Ribbon Duet 1)

I tried to stop there. I didn’t want to layer her with guilt for asking for something she should have by right, but I couldn’t stop myself from whispering, “Is that what you want, Della Ribbon? To never see me again?”

She burst into noisy tears, speed-crawling across the floor to barrel into my arms. She curled into a ball in my embrace as I rocked her and kissed the top of her head. Her little arms wrapped around me tight and strong, and we both shook at the thought of losing everything we knew and cared for.

“No! No. No. No.” Her tears wet the side of my neck as she burrowed her face into me, and even though I’d earned what I wanted and had Della obeying me and wanting what I wanted, I couldn’t help the awful taste in my mouth for being so nasty.

For shattering her dreams.

For denying her a future.

I froze.

What have I done?

Just because I was terrified of what would happen didn’t mean it wasn’t what was best for Della. There was no denying she would be better off with a family with healthier food and warmer beds. I’d always known that, yet my selfishness had stopped me from giving her up.

Della’s tears slowly dried as I stroked her blonde hair and battled a war deep inside me. This was the first thing she’d ever asked for. The first thing she was passionate about. And I’d twisted the truth to kill her dream before it’d even been fully realised.

My shoulders rolled in horror. “I’m sorry, Little Ribbon.”

Her face appeared in front of mine, and I studied the beautiful blue eyes, button nose, rosy lips, pretty cheeks, and lovely little curls.

She was far too innocent, and because of that, I was far too protective.

If I didn’t keep myself in check, I’d suffocate her.

“I’m sorry too, Ren.” She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “I don’t want to go to school. I don’t want to leave you.”

Half-smiling, I held her close and stood. She weighed so much more than she had when I’d carried her in my backpack, but I still thought of her as a baby sometimes—completely helpless and tasty for anything to come along and eat.

But she wasn’t.

She had claws even if they were short.

She had teeth even if they weren’t sharp.

Carrying her up the stairs, I whispered, “I changed my mind. You can go.”

Her entire body stiffened in my hold. “You mean it?”

No.

“Yes. I’ll say I’m your brother and our parents are out of town. I’ll lie and keep you safe.”

She threw her arms around my neck. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You won’t be able to go for long. Eventually, someone will ask questions, and then we’ll have to leave.”

“I’ll go wherever you say.”

I placed her on her feet in the corridor, needing her to hear how serious this was. “I don’t mean leave school, Della. I mean we’ll have to leave this place. This house. Once they know who we are, they won’t stop. Do you understand?”

She backed away nervously. “But…I don’t want to leave.”

I shrugged. “We’d have to leave eventually. Someone will want to buy this place. We always knew this was temporary.”

Fear filled her face then drained away as she straightened her spine. “Okay. I go to school, and we leave when you say.”

I held out my hand. “Shake on it?”

She placed her small fingers in mine and squeezed with her tongue sticking between her lips in concentration. “Promise.”

Letting her go, I padded toward the bedroom. “Let’s go to bed. You and your temper have drained me.”

She followed with yet another strange look in her eyes.

I groaned. “What now?”

“We don’t have the same name.”

I stopped, turning to face her. “Huh?”

She came as close as she could, grabbing my waistband above the brand embossed into my hip with urgency. “If you say you’re my brother, we need the same name.”

Goosebumps scattered over my arms at how smart she was; how effortlessly she saw the future and plotted potential problems at such a young age. “What do you suggest we do then?” I already knew what we would have to do, but I wanted to hear her theory first.

“Well…” She curled her nose, thinking hard. “You’re Wild, and I’m Ribbon. One of us needs to change.”

“Change?”

“Duh.” She rolled her eyes, then her little lips widened in a brilliant smile, and she hugged my leg, her face going terribly close to the part of me I could no longer control. “I know!”

Tugging her away to put distance between us, I asked, “Know what?”

“You’re my brother, so I need to be a Wild too. Can I? Can you share your last name with me?”

The amount of emotions this kid had put me through tonight was nothing compared to the crest of pride and love now.