ROSE ||18+ (on hold) (Fatal #1)

9 - Good Cupcakes

ALEXI

Rose looked small sitting there, beside me, in my car as I drove. She was curled into herself, Ariel clenched to her chest, and she looked at everything with cautious eyes.

She hadn't touched anything, as if scared of ruining something.

She could destroy the whole fucking car and I'd still want to kiss the fuck out of her loud mouth.

"Rose."

"Yes?" She whispered. Even her voice was shaky. My jaw clenched.

"I'm surprised you aren't asking me questions."

"I..." She squirmed a bit on the seat, circling deeper into herself. "I...I am tired, Alex."

Alex. She rarely called me that. Alexander had been the name my mother gave me at my birth, but then my father decided it wasn't Russian enough and changed it to Alexi instantly.

"We'll be there soon," I said. "Have you eaten anything?"

"I ate a cheeseburger," she mumbled, and I snaked a glance at her as her eyes closed. Slowly, she fell asleep. Ariel followed her.

I stopped the car at the side of the road and turned towards her.

The moon lit her face up just the right way as if some of its light was reserved just for her - to make her glow. Her hair, strawberry blond, was down in waves, parted in the middle and caressing her cheeks. Her chest rose and fell gently, and her tiny hands clutched her ginger ball of fur to her body as if the little thing would keep her safe from everything.

I extended my hand towards her and caressed the side of her face with the back of my hand, the skin warm and soft under my touch. I allowed myself just that.

Then, I restarted the car and drove to the tiny house I had bought. It was a bit out of the way and secluded. I hoped Rose wouldn't freak out about it being far away from civilization.

The garage opened as soon as I neared it and I parked my car. I had just one car here, a joke in front of my collection back home. I wasn't even a collector of cars, I preferred bikes.

I picked her up, pain shooting down my arm from my shoulder. Ariel was still tugged to her chest and walked inside the house. From the outside, it looked shitty, but if someone looked closer they'd noticed the bricked windows and the too-strong-looking doors.

I took her to the guestroom and set her down on the bed. I took her shoes off and tucked her in. Ariel instantly decided to explore the room and smell everything. I watched both of them for a while. Let Ariel scratch the shit out of my hand. And walked out, closing the room behind me.

Bringing Rose here had never been the plan. It was not safe. She could figure shit out. She was smart.

But seeing her, sitting there at the corner of the bookstore, looking like someone had ripped the heart out of her chest - I couldn't help myself. Most of the Bratva thought I was heartless. And I was.

I was so convinced that I was.

Till her.

. . .

My father was a cruel man. He was cruel to me, but that was something I was used to. What I could never bring myself to get used to was him hurting her.

Hurting my sister.

She looked just like mom, and acted like her too often, too.

I kneeled beside Alisa, cradling her head to my chest as she cried silently. The doctor worked on her wounds, sealing another away with stitches.