Page 107 of Captive Souls

I’d gone to great pains to ensure that Stone didn’t know of my connection to Kane, but I knew if he looked hard enough, he’d find it. There was no way I’d point a needle in that direction.

I only had one choice.

And it wasn’t a comfortable one. But Piper needed to be somewhere safe while I ended this. There was only one place, two people I considered capable of keeping her that way. If I wasn’t killed on sight, that was.

“This is a nice house.” Piper craned her neck to get a better view of the architecture. I had my eyes on the very discreet security cameras I knew had followed our every move since we’d approached the gates.

My entire body was on alert, tense. All of my instincts were shrieking at me. I was ready for an attack at any moment, and it was taking all of my effort to park the car.

Piper was unaware we had just pulled up to the house of the most dangerous and notorious hitman in the country. Doubtful anyone would’ve expected a hitman to live in an affluent suburb in fucking Connecticut.

Piper was talking about the wisteria and the charm of the house.

Only she would call a hitman’s housecharming.

Despite my unease, I was almost overcome by my love for her. This person who had been kidnapped, beaten and threatened with rape, yet only twenty-four hours later could smile when talking about fuckingflowers.

Her hand rose to the door handle as I pulled the car to a stop. I caught her before she could exit.

She immediately looked at me, her cheeks flushed from my touch. Despite the overall situation, my cock swelled. A simple touch from her did that to me. The way Piper’s eyes lit up, her body leaned toward me, opened for me. My gaze stuttered on the angry swollen bruise on her eye, the split lip, recalling the purple-black spots I knew lay underneath her white, cotton blouse.

Fire crawled up my throat as I reminded myself why I was risking this. To get my revenge.

“The people who own this house are not friends.” It took immense effort to keep my voice flat. I wasn’t going to scare her by telling her who they really were, but I needed her to be mindful. “People in my business don’t have friends.” I glancedup to see the door already opening. Hopefully, he wouldn’t shoot first and ask questions later. “But you will be safe with them.”

This was an unannounced visit. Surprising people like this wasn’t wise, but I was desperate. And I was more than happy to risk my life for Piper’s safety. Though this man had few morals and killed without hesitation, I knew he wouldn’t kill Piper without reason. Though he had plenty of reasons to kill me.

She licked her lips, and I followed the entire journey of her perfect, pink tongue. “I am safe withyou.” Her statement was firm, argumentative. She thought we were going there for help; she didn’t know I planned on leaving her behind.

I caught hold of her hand, bringing it to my mouth, relaxing somewhat with her skin at my lips.

“Yes, you are.” The lie singed my tongue.

“Stay in the car,” I ordered, then I got out, Lukyan’s eyes watchful as I rounded it, going to Piper in the passenger seat, who smiled and waved at him.

I caught the slight twitch to his eyebrow, surprised that she was smiling and waving at him. That she seemed happy, normal, utterly stunning… And she was with me.

His posture was tense as I approached, and I knew he was armed, ready to fire if he so much as didn’t like the way my lips moved.

My expression was, as always, carefully blank.

“Lukyan,” I greeted.

His eyes were chips of ice, his dark brows raised. “You must be entirely fucked if you’re coming here, uninvited and unannounced. With a civilian.” His eyes slid to the passenger seat again.

I hated his eyes being on her. It went against everything inside of me to have a man like Lukyan—a man like me—touching her with his gaze.

“I came to ask a favor,” I replied, voice tight. I was unaccustomed to asking for help, and it was physically painful. Admitting weakness in front of a threat such as this went against all of my instincts. But for Piper, I would’ve done anything. For Piper, I would’ve begged at his fucking feet.

His left eyebrow shot up. Then his gaze returned to the car, where I heard the telltale sound of a door slam.

“Hi,” Piper greeted cheerfully, her hand slipping into mine with ease while the other stretched out to Lukyan to shake his hand.

Of course. Of fucking course, she didn’t listen to me. She was far too stubborn for that. Not afraid of me. And I’d liked that. Fucking loved it. Only then, I wished she was at least a little bit goddamn afraid of me.

“I told you to stay in the car.” My grip on her hand tightened to the point of pain, but she barely winced.

She gave me a megawatt smile. “I don’t do what I’m told.” Her hand was still outstretched. “Iloveyour house,” she spoke to Lukyan then. “You have to tell me about how you maintain such a lovely garden.”

---