brutal

Chapter 4

VERENA

Mclean swung the doors wide open to reveal a spacious penthouse. A large L-shaped couch faced a wide screen television screen, the bar and kitchen behind it. A glass staircase led to a balcony that overlooked the entire place with a single door that I assumed was a master bedroom above.

Jasper marveled at the glass chandelier overhead and looked at the entire penthouse with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

Irene asked Mclean, the hotel manager, where one of the bedrooms were. He gestured to one of the doors adjacent to the stairs. Without hesitation, she strode for it and shut the door behind her.

That's what getting no sleep does to a person.

"Anything else, madame?" Mclean asked, the bellboy placing the last of our bags on the marbled flooring.

I smiled at him and patted him on the back. I've known him for three years now, and he too was a bellboy the last time I saw him. The man was in his mid-thirties; happily married with two kids I sometimes brought presents to on Christmas when I had the chance.

"I'll call if I need anything. Thank you, Mclean."

He returned the smile and beckoned the bellboy to join him in leaving the room. Mclean opened the door to reveal Reid and Sabine in the other side. They muttered a few words of greetings, then left after Reid's dismissal.

Sabine entered first and hugged me immediately. "God, I've missed you so much, Verena!" Her hold on me grew tighter and Reid had to pry her off me.

"Please excuse my wife. She's oddly fond of you, sister." Sabine pushed him and gave him a death stare before returning to me with a smile.

As if she had only noticed him, she tilted her head at the sight of Jasper beside me and cocked an eyebrow. "Let me guess... Jasper Garcia?" She said, pointing a finger at him.

"Your husband told you about me?" He queried with a playful tone.

She looked up at my step-brother. "Told me enough. But he's often too biased, so it's quite difficult to tell if he's telling the truth."

Reid scoffed at her and sat on the couch. Sabine grabbed Jasper's and my own arms, pulling us down with her as we sat down on the other side.

"So," she turned to me with excitement written all over her face. "Reid tells me something's big going down on the night of the gala."

I tilted my head and looked at Reid that suddenly found the chandelier more interesting than the conversation. "Do you tell her everything?"

"She's my wife," he said without looking at me. "Of course she knows everything."

Sabine threw her blonde curls back and crossed her arms. I remembered the day they met four years ago. She was a doctor, and Reid nearly bled to death after a gunfight in one of our many warehouses in New Orleans.

They hated each other at first; Sabine always getting mad at Reid for being the most unruly and annoying patient ever, and him getting mad at her for being so morose and strict. He had to stay under her personal care for a month, and I had to play the part of the mediator.