Free Stepbrother Thief by Violet Blaze Page A

today, it wouldn't have mattered what I was wearing.
     

Aveline calls Gill on our way back to the hotel, and he's waiting outside when I get there, standing strangely still in front of the entrance, his eyes like pools of rainwater resting undisturbed. If only there were ripples.
    “Are you alright?” he asks me, little emotion lacing his words, like this is a formality and nothing more. His gaze catches on the bloodstains that my palms left on the jeans, resting there for a moment before lifting back to my face.
    “I almost got shot in the head,” I whisper, my voice hoarse. “What do you think?”
    “Who was it?” Gill asks Aveline, his fists curled tight at his sides, apparently done with our conversation. Stupid motherfucker, I think at him, still trying to get my breathing under control. Nothing like that has ever happened to me, not once. I mean, I knew the risks getting into this, but what the fuck? That was no cop, come to arrest me. I was shot at in the middle of a crowd.
    “One of Karl's guys, for sure,” Aveline says, brushing some ruby strands from her forehead. “Just one. Like he wasn't really sure we'd be there at all. I think the guy got cocky and thought he'd go for the glory. I don't really think anyone was supposed to be shot today.”
    “Take the rental,” Gill says, holding out a key fob. Aveline takes it from him with a nod. “Go switch it out for my car and meet me back here. I'll have you take everyone to my place. There's no point in playing games if Karl already knows we're here.”
    “Got it,” Aveline says as she steps back and then gives my shoulder a squeeze for comfort. “Be right back.”
    I watch Aveline walk away, her booted footsteps loud against the moist pavement. As I stand there watching her, the clouds shift and the small slice of sunshine that was peeking through disappears. For a moment there, I consider asking Gill about the whole safe house thing, but I can't find it in me to care. I just want Cliff and Solène to be safe.
    I turn back to my stepbrother, focusing my gaze on his muscular chest instead of his face. That emptiness is back, that emotionless pit that he's become. I don't know why I almost let one weird moment get to me. Regina. His voice swirls around inside my head until I blink it away.
    “Where's Solène?” I ask, wondering if he's noticed. When he'll notice.
    “In the room with my dad. They're fine. Everything's going to be fine.” The certainty with which Gill speaks scares me. I know that he'll do whatever he has to to make that statement come true. Tonight, this Karl guy or his men, some of them might die.
    “Remember when we first moved to Paris and you let me sleep in your bed?” I ask him, thinking about warm nights cuddled against Gill's black hoodie, the both of us fully clothed under the blankets, some instinctual protection perhaps against the passion that burned so hot between us. “Cliff and Elena left us alone to hit that work function she had.” I swallow hard. I can still remember the gray tulle gown my mother had worn that night, how beautiful she'd looked. “We were just starting to fall asleep when you heard a noise. We went downstairs and found that some guy had forced his way into the apartment and was rifling through stuff. You didn't even blink, didn't stop to think about what you were doing. Gill, you walked right up to him and broke his arm when he tried to take off. That night, you scared me a little bit, even though I knew you were trying to protect me.” The thief had run off after that, and neither Gill nor I had ever told anyone else about it.
    I make myself look up at my stepbrother's face, still impassive, still no sign of his feelings—if he even has any.
    “Right now, I feel the same way. I believe that you'll take care of everything, but I'm afraid of how you're going to do it.”
    I walk past him, careful to keep my arm from touching his, and head towards the stairs.
    Gill follows behind me, his