Chapter 22

* Trigger Warning! *

* This chapter contains torture *

Cassie's POV

At about 7am, I woke up. I was able to sneak out of bed and go to my old room without waking anyone up.

Everyone was asleep; Cole, Olivia and Carlo.

And Santiago? He is current death staring me because I woke him up like 2 minutes ago.

"What do you want, hermanita?" he asks me groggily.

"Wanna go torture our little friend downstairs?" I ask, an evil smile on my face.

"Without anyone else? Just us? Alone? With him?" he asks, an equally as sinister smile now on his lips.

The expression that appears on my face says all he needs to know. He goes into his room and changes into black joggers and shirt while I go into the adjoined bathroom to get two towels so we can clean our faces later on.

I'm already dressed in black leggings and a black short-sleeved shirt, so when Tiago has finished changing, we quietly make our way downstairs.

We manage to get to the basement without any issues.

Once we get to Adrik's cell, I almost laugh too loudly at who is guarding it.

"Smotrya kto eto. Lev Ivanov." [Looky who it is. Lev Ivanov.] I laugh.

"Nu razve eto ne veselo?" [Well, isn't this hilarious?] I grin.

Lev turns to look at me and his face drops.

He clearly wasn't expecting me.

"Moya koroleva? Kakaya-" [My queen? What-]

I raise my hand, silencing him.

"Ne nazyvay menya tak. YA nikogda ne byla korolevoy Volkov i nikogda ne budu." [Do not call me that. I have never been the Wolves' queen, and I never will be.] I grit at him.

"A teper' uydi s dorogi. Yesli tol'ko ty ne khochesh', chtoby ya ubil i tebya." [Now, move out of the way. Unless you want me to kill you too.]

"No-" [But-]

"Vy budete dvigat'sya. Yesli tol'ko ty ne khochesh', chtoby ya napomnil tebe, chto ya mogu sdelat' s odnim iz nikh." [You will move. Unless you want me to remind you what I can do with one of these.] I say, taking out a knife from behind me.

Lev gulps as he looks at my weapon.

I have a thing for knives.

"Net, mem." [No, ma'am.] he says, practically sprinting down the corridor.

I chuckle at the grown man as the echo of his footsteps fade out.

"Shall we?" I ask Tiago, cracking my knuckles.

"Ladies first." he replies, opening the cell door.

I grin sadistically and step inside to find a sleeping mutt.

He's chained to a metal chair which has been bolted to the ground.

Smart.

I roll my eyes in annoyance at his current comfort and walk over to a table that sits in the room.

I lay out my collection of knives on the table -that I'm assuming is for all the torture items they use in this room- and grab my dullest knife.

I walk over to the unconscious man and stab the knife right through his thigh. Adrik wakes up with a pained scream, and I grin, twisting the knife in his legs and I watch him as his squirms in his seat.

"Glad you're awake, sunshine." he glares at me at the nickname.

"What's wrong, rebenok? We're just gonna have a little fun with ya." [kid] I smirk as he realises what I'm saying.

"Aw, why so scared? Don't you remember how you used to wake me up, what you used to say to me every morning for 5 years, or did you forget?" I pout playfully.

I grin when he starts to struggle against the chains and try to get out.

"Leaving so soon? We- I have barely even started." I laugh when he begins to look panicked.

"They're coming for you! And when they do, they'll get me out!" he screams.

I laugh even more at him.

"Don't you think I already know that? Let me guess, they saw me in the news article and came to Italy, hid in base that I don't know the location off, and are waiting for the right time 'come and get me', right?"

His face pales and I smirk, knowing I guessed right.

To be honest, this was new information to me. And I was secretly panicking on the inside. But one thing you should know about Adrik Antonov, is that you never show fear in front of him, because he will exploit that fear and make you spiral into a pit of madness.

"Let me guess? They sent you here to do a security count or some crap, right?"

A look of confusion is plastered on his face and I giggle like a psycho.

"You forget, father dearest," I spit like the words are venom on my tongue.

I hold one side of his chair with my hand to keep myself up, and use the other to press a knife into his throat.

"I used to be by their side almost 24/7. I know everything about them and how they work. Just like how I know that Viktor was the who sent you on this mission, and he gave you the order personally. Didn't he?" I feel Adrik gulp against the knife and I smile as a small drop of blood slowly starts to run down his neck.

I turn around, dramatically sighing, and walk over to the table.

"To be quite honest, Adrik, I don't know why I'm wasting my breath on you." I say with my back still facing him.

I look over at T and we both send each other knowing smirks. Before he had time to think or respond, I slash a sharp knife straight through Adrik's chest, causing a satisfactory scream to rip from him. I smile at him like a lunatic as I stab his shoulder, re-opening the wound I caused last night. He grits his teeth, trying not to make any noise.

I leave the knife in his shoulder and walk back over to the table.

"Tell me, do you know why they call me 'koroleva nozhey', Adrik?" [the queen of knives] I ask sarcastically, my back still facing him.

"Because you're a crazy bitch." he seethes through the pain.

I chuckle and grip the throwing knives.

"Close."

In the blink of an eye, I spin and throw a knife at his face, skimming his nose. Just like I wanted.

"It's also because I never miss my target."

I stand by the door and stare at the suka in the chair.

"Hermano, wanna play a game?" I ask, facing him.

"Sure, hermanita. Which one?"

"Target practice."

"Oooooo. My favourite." he chuckles.

Target practice is a game that me and Tiago invented. He names a body part and I throw the knife.

As the leader of the Spanish Mafia, it's kinda his job to torture information outta people when they don't talk, so I help make the torture more fun and interesting for us.

I think it's safe to say that my time as a prisoner in Russia has turned me psychotic.

Just a little.

"Bicep."

Swoosh.

Adrik screams while T and I smirk at each other.

"Thigh."

*

"Knee"

"Ahhhhhhh! What the fuck do two want from me?!" Adrik screams after half and hour.

"Your pain and suffering." I say simply, covered in his blood.

At one point, I got bored of throwing, so I started stabbing.

"But I'm going on a time-out right now." Adrik's face visibly relaxes.

"Your turn, Rey de fuego." [fire King.] I say happily, plopping myself down on a chair that sits beside the table.

"Eres el Rey del fuego?!" [You're the fire King?!] he screams, frantically trying to free himself from the chains.

"Shhhhh. Too much noise pisses me off." T says, annoyed at Adrik's constant whimpers.

I smirk, knowing that mi hermano mayor has waited since the day I told him about Adrik to do this. My brother has literally sent his men here, there, and everywhere looking for this monster, but the Russians hid from us well. [my big brother]

Santiago takes out a lighter from his pocket and lights it.

"Starting off small, are we?" I ask him, surprised.

My brother is known as his alias -the fire King- for one main reason. Anybody he tortures always dies by a flame, or he tortures them with fire before he tells one of his men to finish them off. His favourite source of flame is a blow-torch, hence my surprise.

He chuckles in response.

"No hermanita." he smirks, pulling out a blow torch from behind.

I didn't even know he had that on him.

Using the lit lighter, he makes the blow torch come alive with a glorious roar.

That's my brother.

This causes Adrik to start screaming blood Mary and I roll my eyes.

I hear heavy footsteps coming from upstairs and I know that it's Cole, and he probably has an army of guards with him.

"Should we stop?" T asks me.

I look at him, then Adrik. I can see the tiny glimmer of hope in his eyes, and I wish to snuff it out.

Staring Adrik dead in the eye, I reply to Tiago with a sick and sadistic smile on my lips.

"Hell no."

Tigao gives me a twisted smile of his own and begins to melt Adrik's skin away.

Looking like a maniac, I sit in my chair and watch as Adrik struggles to get away from the burning flame, which just results in him burning himself even more. I take one of the towels and rub it over my face, cleaning off a lot of the blood.

The blue flame brings me more joy than I ever thought it could as I watch and listen to his screams increase in volume and pitch.

The door bursts open and I lazily turn around to see Cole, Carlo and Olivia freeze at the door, taking in the scene before them.

"Hey guys. Here to join the party?" Tigao says, standing next to me.

The blow torch has been turned off and they are yet to respond.

Adrik is still screaming and I roll my eyes in annoyance.

I grab another knife from the collection and walk over to him.

"Shut up!" I scream, slicing the knife through his chest, this time in the other direction, giving him my signature mark.

This makes him pass out -probably from the pain- and I smile in victory.

"Thank you." I sarcastically say to his unconscious self.

I look at the clock and see that it's now 8.30am. I walk over to mi hermano and rest an arm on his shoulder.

"See you at 12pm?" I ask him.

"You betcha."

"Great." I say happily.

I walk over to the door where the three Santini's are still frozen in place.

"Ummm. Beep beep?" I say.

Neither of them moves so I try to squeeze past them. I'm just able to get out of the cell, and I ended up being greeted by over a dozen men. They all stare at me, taking in my appearance.

I raise my eyebrow at the idiotas gawking at me.

"Hai intenzione di trasferirti o devo spostarti voi?" [Are you going to move, or do I have to move you?] I ask them.

That seems to break them out of their trance and they create a path for me to leave the basement.

I walk upstairs and make my way to the kitchen. From there, I find the drinks room and pour myself some pinot noir into a glass since I didn't get any yesterday.

Just as I raise the glass to my lips, the door bursts open. I turn my head to see none other than Cole Santini standing at the door, arms crossed and leaning against the door frame.

I turn my head back to its original position and take a generous sip of my wine. The sweet liquid flows down my throat and I almost moan at the taste. I refill my half empty glass back to the top and walk over to one of the chairs that sit in the room. I place the glass on the table in front of me, slumping in the seat, and turn to face Cole again, actually acknowledging him this time.

"Hey there. Great morning today, right?" I beam at him.

He raises an eyebrow and gives me a 'seriously' look.

I tilt my head, feigning confusion.

"Something wrong, lupo?" I ask, dumbfoundedly.

Cole pushed himself off of the wall with an expressionless face.

"So, not only did you run away from me this morning, but you thought it'd be a good idea to sneak into my basement and torture your father, without me?" he asks me, now standing directly in front of me.

I sigh, trying not to get angry at the use of the word 'father'.

Adrik Antonov has never been my father, and he never will be.

"OK, one, do not call Adrik my father. He is far from it. Two, I have every right to torture that thing after everything he's done to me, regardless who is -or isn't- there. And finally, I did not run away from you this morning. I slipped out from your grasp and tip-toed away. If I ran, you probably would've heard me and stopped me." I shrug simply, picking up my glass and taking another large of the sweet wine.

Cole sighs, bending down into a crouching position and I look at him, placing the glass back down. He sets his gaze on me, looking directly into my eyes. I begin to become mildly agitative as heat rushes to my cheeks due to his intense gaze.

Eventually, I decide to have a drink to break this weird tension. I pick my glass up and raise it to my lips, never breaking eye contact. I stick my tongue out slightly, wetting my lips, and Cole's gaze drops to the action, finally breaking the intense eye contact.

I smirk ever so slightly as I sip on my wine. I deliberately cause some of the liquid to spill from my mouth as I pull the drink away from my lips. With the glass in one hand, I use my free thumb to collect the 'fallen' wine from my bottom lip. I put my thumb in my mouth and suck it off, pulling my thumb out with a subtle pop.

Cole growls at this and pulls me to him by my waist. The swift action takes me off guard, causing me to drop the wine glass. It spills all over the hardwood floor, but Cole seems too pre-occupied with assaulting my lips to care. He is now sitting on the floor as I straddle him, and he harshly grips my thighs. I gasp at the action and he takes the opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth.

Our tongues mould together for a short while, until Cole's dominant side kicks in and he claims dominance over the kiss. Effortlessly, he picks me up and goes over to the L-shaped couch. He lays me down and breaks the kiss, only to trail kisses along my jawline and down my neck. He sucks on the base of my neck, causing a soft moan to escape from my lips. I feel Cole smirk against my neck as he licks and kisses his new mark.

Cole uses one of his hands that rests next to my head to lean above me, lifting most of his weight off of me. He looks me in eye, trailing his free hand down the side of my face, gently caressing it.

"So beautiful." he softly whispers, causing that deep shade of red to return to my cheeks.

I move to hide my face, but Cole's thumb hooks around my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"You're not trying to hide from me, are you gattina?" he asks quietly, rubbing his nose along mine.

When I don't respond, his hand moves down to my neck. He wraps his hand around the base and squeezes, not too hard, but not too soft.

"Answer the question, gattina, or get punished." he whispers in my ear.

"Yes daddy, I was." I admit, my breathing picking up slightly.

"Awww. Is mia piccola shy?" Cole asks, mockingly.

I nod my head yes and Cole squeezes a little harder on my neck, silently telling me to use my words. As much as I'd love to push him right now, I'm still sore from the other day, so instead, I comply to his demands.

For now.

"Yes daddy. I was." I reply.

"Awww. Mia povera piccola." [Awww. My poor baby.] he says, kissing me softly.

"All better?"

"Mhm. Yes daddy." I say to him.

"Good, I'm glad."

"Oh, that reminds me. I'm having a... business meeting later. It's at 7 o'clock, and I'd like you to come."

"A business meeting? As in a mafia meeting? No thanks." I say.

I already involved myself in the mafia business like that years ago, look at where that got me.

"No gattina." Cole chuckles.

"It's a special kind of meeting that requires you to be there." he states.

I stare at him blankly, realising he's being deadly serious.

I already know that if I were to try and fight him on this, I would lose. The look in his eyes say it all.

"Ok." I sigh.

"But the moment I feel uncomfortable, I will say my safe word and leave. With or without you." I state simply.

"You got yourself a deal, amore." he grins, standing up.

Cole extends a hand out to me, which I take, and he helps me to my feet. He then walks over to a cupboard and grabs a towel, throwing it over the spilt wine.

"You're lucky the glass didn't break. I couldn't been cut!" I say dramatically.

"Hey, hey, hey." he says, playing along and walking over to me.

"If you start bleeding because of some glass," he leans into my ear, his breath tickling my neck.

"Then I'd lick you clean." he whispers, licking from the base of my earlobe to the top of my ear.

I shiver in response and Cole pulls away, smirking at me. I send him daggers with my eyes, but before I can say anything, Carlo and Tiago walk in with Olivia behind them.

"Why the heck not?" Livia complains, making Tiago and Carlo roll their eyes.

"Because you don't need that kind of thing on your conscience." Carlo says firmly, Tiago nodding in agreement.

"Doesn't need what on her conscience?" Cole asks.

"Torture. She wants to go downstairs to -and I quote- 'make that son of a bitch pay for hurting my girl'." T shrugs at us, and then glares at her.

Cole looks at Olivia, then back at me. He walks behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Sorry, Liv, but she's already taken. So she can't be yours." he says with a smirk, pressing a kiss into my temple.

I smile at the possessiveness he's showing and look over to Livia who's giving puppy dog eyes.

"How about-"

"I don't share." Cole glares at her, cutting off her sentence.

"No fair." she huffs out, crossing her arms over her chest, causing her breasts to unintentionally push together and rise slightly.

In the corner of my eye, I notice Santiago's gaze lower to them as his breathing ever so slightly hitches.

"Cole, ¿ella sabe hablar español?" [does she know how to speak Spanish?] I ask quietly.

"No, gatita. ¿Por qué?" [No, kitten. Why?] Cole asks me.

I smile devilishly.

Time to tease mío hermano.

"Awww. ¿Alguien tiene un pequeño enamoramiento por allí?" [Awwww. Does someone have a little crush over there?] I say, teasingly.

Me and Cole both look over to Tiago, who instantly comes out of his trance.

"Qué- No. Cállate. Ella te gusta." [What- No. Shut up. You like her.] Tiago says defensively.

I giggle at his childish response.

"Oh, vamos. Sabes que me puedes decir, hermano." [Aww, come on. You know you can tell me, brother.] I tease further.

"Cassie." he says warningly.

"T." I say, a smile still on my face.

"Dios mío. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the basement." [My God] he groans and then leaves.

Olivia looks at me, confused, and I burst into laughter, knowing that Tiago has gone to punch out his sexual frustration on Adrik.

I wave my hand dismissively at Liv and look at Carlo as he speaks.

"Cara, do you mind if I speak with you please... alone?" he asks me.

I nod my head and move towards him when Cole's grip on my waist tightens. I sigh and spin in his arms, facing him.

"Starò bene, lupo." [I'll be fine] I say loud enough so only he can hear.

"Bene." [Okay.] he sighs, kissing my forehead.

Reluctantly, he lets go of me. I press a quick, soft kiss into his lips and he turns around to leave.

"Want me to give Adrik a 'hello' from you?" he smirks.

"Give him as many hello's as you wish." I smirk back, watching as the door closes.

Once Cole's footsteps retreat, Carlo walks towards the whiskey.

"Would you like a drink, cara?" he asks me, as sweet as ever.

It's almost like I haven't been lying to him all this time.

"Oh. Yes please. Can I have some pinot noir? There's already an open bottle."

After a few moments, Carlo comes to sit on the same couch as me and hands me my drink. I thank him and then an awkward silence takes over us.

"Cara?" he suddenly speaks.

"Hm?"

"How come you never told me?" he asks, hurt evident in his voice.

My eyes pull up in pain and regret.

"Carlo, I know that the winery is a place for you to retire from the mafia, and therefore, you are technically uninvolved. If I had told you, I thought that you would've gone back to the leader of the mafia and told them everything. I was scared that you'd sell me out, and I'd be sold back to the Russian's for a large amount of money. Back then, I thought that all mafia's- except for Tiago's- were the same. I thought you'd all lie, kill and cheat you're way to the top, regardless who gets hurt in the process. Now that I've gotten to know you all better, I understand that you are nothing like that. Despite anything that has happened between us, I still see you as my father, and I am truly sorry, for hurting you, for lying to you, and for everything."

I look up to stop the tears that so badly want to fall.

When the urge to cry isn't so great anymore, I look back at Carlo who has a look of pity on his face.

"Cara, you're like a daughter to me. Nothing that's happened is anything except your fault. Cole gave me a quick explanation of everything that happened with the Volki, and I stand beside him when he says that he wants rip them apart with his bare hands, because no-one, and I mean no-one, flesh and blood or otherwise, will touch my daughter and get to die peacefully. I'd never sell any living soul to anyone, especially not you. And if anything, I should be the one apologising. I brought Adrik into the mansion. I'm so, so sorry, cara." he says, holding my hands.

"There's nothing to apologise for. You didn't know." I weep on the brink of tears.

"Oh cara."

Carlo pulls me in for a hug and rubs my back while I cry into his shoulder. The man below my feet may be related to me through DNA, he may have helped to give me life, but this man right here, he is my father.

"Come one, pop-tart. Let's get some breakfast in you." he says after a while.

"Pop-tart?" I laugh lightly.

"Hard shell on the outside, sweet girl on the inside." he smiles.

I smile back and hug him one last time before we both get up and go to the kitchen.

"By the way," Carlo says as we walk down the corridor.

"No pressure or anything, but feel free to call me dad. Only if you want to. You don't have to. You know what. Just ignore me. I don't know what I'm say-"

"Papà." I say, holding his arm lightly.

"Stop with the rambling, please." I laugh.

Carlo looks relieved and laughs too.

"Sorry cara."

We walk into the kitchen and talk as I begin to make breakfast for the whole family.

*

After a while, Cole and Tiago came up from the basement and we all had breakfast. Livia helped me clean up afterwards and we both had a karaoke session with the radio on whilst we were doing the dishes. Once everything was done, it was about 1pm and I decided to go down to the gym for a few hours to release some pent up energy.

By the time I was finished with my rigorous work out, it was about 3pm and every muscle in my body was exhausted so I went upstairs to shower. By the time I got upstairs, I decided I wanted to soak in a nice hot bath instead, so I took a quick shower to wash off all the sweat and dirt on me while my luscious bath was filling up.

Once I was out, I changed into some underwear and one of Cole's hoodies and laid on his bed for a while. By the time it reached 4pm, I figured I should see what I have to wear to this 'special business meeting'. When I couldn't find anything, I went to find Cole to ask him if I could shop for something. He gave me his card and told me to 'go crazy'. I asked Olivia if she wanted to join and obviously she said yes.

I put on underwear, a pair of leggings and trainers, and we left in a car. I asked the driver to go to the mall and me and Olivia talked about random things. Which leads me to my current conversation with her.

"Remember earlier when we were all in the drinks room?" Livia asked me.

"Yes." I said stiffly, trying to contain my giggle.

"Was Santiago staring at me?" she asks shyly, playing with the bottom of her jumper.

"Liviiaaaaa?" I tease.

"Do you like my brother?"

"What- no! Of course not. I mean, I'm not saying that he's not attractive. But I'm not saying he is attractive either! It's just-"

My laughter cuts her off and I clutch onto my stomach.

"Oh. My. God. You two are made for each other." I laugh, getting out of the car as we've now stopped.

"Wait- What? Does he like me too?" she asks hopeful, catching up to me as I walk towards the building.

"Maybe you should go and speak to him, Liv." I giggle, opening the doors to the mall's entrance.

*

It's 5.30pm now and after a lot of shopping around, I had business dresses, blazers, suits, jewellery, and we even went into Victoria Secret and bought some lingerie. I did, however, sneak into Ann Summers while Liv went to the toilet, and bought some things to tease Cole with.

By the time we were done with everything, I wanted into a shop called 'mestnyy'. It means 'local' and is filled with some great local Russian snacks and drinks. Feeling nostalgic, I ask Liv to take my bags down to the car and tell her that I'll be down soon. As I walk into the shop, I instantly spot my favourite drink and snack. I go to the counter and pay for them but as I turn around to leave, I spot 2 familiar figures in the background.

My heart starts to race as I try to thing of a way to bolt out here fast enough that they won't notice. My time is cut shorter and shorter once I realise that they're headed right for 'mestnyy'. My heart beat picks up more and more as I panic. I decide on a really stupid plan and hide behind one of the shelving units.

When the cashier gives me a weird look, I tell him that I'm hiding and beg him not to say a word. I slip him a €50 note and he nods, taking it and slipping it into his back pocket. The door bell rings, telling me that they've come into the shop. I unintentionally hold my breath, peeping my head ever so slightly so I can see them.

Viktor goes over to one of the isles and picks up some sushki and bottled tea, his back turned to me. I look down in my hands to see the same snack and drink.

He remembers.

I feel disgusted to know that he's still as obsessed with me as he was all those years ago. I shake my thoughts away and glance at Vladimir.

I instantly feel sick to my stomach just seeing him. He's in the same suit he was in the first time he ever-

My skins becomes covered in goosebumps as I resist the urge not to shudder in disgust. He turns his back to me as bends down to grab some vodka.

Still hasn't changed I see.

With both of their backs turned to me, I take my chance and tip-toe through the middle isle. But with the odds against me, I accidently knock something over with my elbow. With my cover blown, I figure there's nothing to lose and I bolt for the door.

"Cassandra?!"

"Sandra?!"

They shout at the same time, but by then I've already sprinted out of the door and down the stairs. By the time I make it outside, I can see the car to my right, but there's two guards blocking my way. I instantly notice the wolves on their necks and point my gun at them.

I'm so glad I brought a gun with me.

"Shag." [Move.] I grit out to both of them.

My face pales as the one on the right takes off his sunglasses.

"S-Seb?" My whole body starts to feel numb.

"Sandy?" he asks, a look of confusion and pain on his face.

The shock in his voice does nothing to soothe the pain in my heart, the hurt is too much to bare.

He never reached out to me.

"Sebby. You're- You're alive?" I cry, tears streaming down my face.

"Sandra!" I hear Vladimir yell from inside the mall.

I panic and push past Sebastian, and racing to the car as I open the door, he calls out to me.

"Cassandra! Wait!"

I shut the door, still crying my eyes out.

"Drive!" I yell to the driver who zooms off.

With the window open, I stick my head out to see my brother one last time, but instead I get met with two pairs of black eyes.

The eyes of wolves.

I pull the window up, sitting in my seat and ignoring everyone.

"Please take a long, diverted way back to the mansion." I say to the driver who simply nods.

I ignore Liv's questions and the driver's worrisome glances at me. Instead I pull my hood up and cry myself to sleep.

*

It's about 6.30pm now. I woke up a few minutes ago, still staying silent. I messaged Cole and told him that I wouldn't be able to make it to his meeting. I just wasn't in the right mind set.

The car pulls up to the mansion and I look out of the back window to make sure there aren't any cars behind us. I grip onto the gun, just in case, and step out of the vehicle. I grab my bags from the back and practically run up to my room.

I see Carlo on my way and I stop to ask him where the guys are. I ignore his questions of 'are you okay' after he tells me that Tiago is in his room and Cole is just finishing up downstairs. I thank him and go up to my room to put my bags down, and then go straight to my old room.

I don't even knock. I open the door and see T sitting on his bed on his phone. I shut the door and practically sprinted over to him, wrapping my arms around his torso and crying against his clothed chest.

"Hey hey hey. What's up hermanita?" he asks, worried.

"¡Los vi! ¡Ellos estan aqui! Los 3 de ellos!" [I saw them! They're here! All 3 of them!] I shriek through my tears.

I feel him tense beneath my touch as he immediately realises who I mean.

"Wait- 3?" he confusedly asks.

"Sebastian esta vivo." [Sebastian is alive.] I whisper, unable to completely process that part of today.

"WHAT?!"

"I know. I can't believe it." I sob, my tears dimming down now.

Tiago starts to softly run his hand on my head and my breathing slowly evens out.

"You want me to tell Cole later?" he asks, carefully.

"Please. Just not about Seb. Not yet." I sniff.

"T?" I say after a while.

"Hmm?"

"No matter what happens, you'll always be my brother."

"You're my little sister, Cass. No matter what." he says back, kissing the top of my head.

Before I know it, I fall asleep in my brother's warm embrace.