Page 38 of Sing For Us

“Now you are going to head inside and call Noa. Please tell him what I did to you. And one more thing,” I nod at her. “I want you to tell him that I want him to know what I did to you.” Fuck me. I don’t even argue with her and start walking towards the entrance of the building. I turn back, and she speeds off. But as she speeds off, I look at her license plate and memorize it.

I have a key to his penthouse, so I unlock it. Once I’m upstairs, I charge my phone, and when it’s on, I have about forty missed calls from Noa, frantic messages from Josh and Oliver, and Adam and Sara aren’t any better. With shaky hands, I call him.

“Noa.”

Chapter fifteen

Noa

“Noa.” My heart leaps as I hear her voice on the line.

“Where the fuck are you?!” I can barely hold my phone as I scream into it. Oliver motions for me to calm down, but I ignore him.

“I am at your penthouse. Please come. I can’t tell anything over the phone.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” I hang up and immediately call Sara.

“Are you still at Ferhadija?” Sara just got done with a job near Ferhadija, and I fucking hope she is still there.

“I am, Noa. What’s up?” Fuck yes.

“Go to my penthouse; Hana is there.”

“Fucking on it. I’ll bring Adam with me.” She doesn’t even wait for my response and is probably off to Hana. She treats her like a sister, and vice versa. The one thing you need to know about Bosnians is that we are extremely loyal. We don’t shy away from danger, and we protect the ones we love. But, fuck us over, and we will be your worst nightmare.

“You two”– I point at Josh and Oliver –“stay here.”

“Why can’t we go with you?” Their disappointment is etched on their faces. They love Hana as well.

“Hana is in danger, and I think that danger may come here. I need you two to guard the villa.”

“On it,” Josh promises and takes Oliver’s hand, dragging him to the control room. This is the only time Oliver doesn’t make a funny remark or hint at something sexual; no, he is angry like the rest of us.

I go to my garage and take the keys to my Vagabund BMW R100R. As I speed off, Hana’s frightened voice keeps playing in my head. And the inkling of knowing who hurt her is growing stronger.

***

I park my bike in the underground garage of the building and head to my penthouse. Once the elevator doors open, I frantically look for my cousin. When I see her at the kitchen island sitting with a cup of tea, I sprint towards her.

“Hana!”

“Noa!” Then we do something we rarely fucking do—we hug. My arms go around her neck while hers go around my waist. Her tears are staining my shirt, and I’m sure she can feel my thumping heartbeat. Our embrace is a silent confirmation that she is still here, as am I. My lungs take a deep, shaky breath, and after that, a long exhale leaves my chest. An overwhelming sense of relief washes over me. I let go of her and take her hands into mine, holding them firmly and looking straight into her eyes.

And that breaks me.

Her eyes are filled with tears and terror. What she saw shook her to her core, and it reminds me of when she came to me the last time her parents abused her. She was only sixteen years old, almost six years ago.

“Hana, what is it?” I ask her as she is holding out her arms, wanting me to hug her. I hate touching, but she is so distraught that I can’t bring myself to deny her a hug. Once my arms are around her, she collapses onto the floor. Me with her. We are sitting on the floor, with her across me.

“What happened?” I grit my teeth and wait for her explanation. Dread fills me as she lifts up her sleeves and pants up to her knees.

Lashes upon lashes upon lashes, mixed with blood.

Then I look at her toes as she takes off her shoes, and it’s worse than I ever could have imagined. I’ve always had a terrible feeling that her parents were abusive, but this is worse than I could have imagined. Her shoes were broken and once she took them off, I saw red. Her socks were stained with blood.

“What happened?” The anger can’t be contained in my voice. Not only what they did to Hana, the only family member I love, but also because of one simple reason—my aunt is a conniving cunt. She tried to revive my father’s organization, and she failed. Growing up in a family full of assassins isn’t enough, you have to be agile and smart.

She was none of those things.