Page 20 of The Sinners Gambit

Killian

“Wh-whatareyougoingto—?”

“I won’t be hurting you, firecracker. I wish you’d believe that. But I think you need to see this to fully understand. Come on.” I force softness into my voice.

She follows me as she’s taking everything in, likely still trying to plan her escape. Even with her remaining calm for the most part and only trying to attack that one day, I know there’s a lot more going on in that intelligent brain of hers. “Why do you call mefirecracker?” she asks.

Naomi looks intrigued, eyes wide. I move a sconce in the hallway that opens a hidden panel requiring a biometric scan. We walk down a secret hallway within the walls and start navigating the incline down.

I smile before answering with, “Because you have a dark light within you that shines through when given the opportunity. Those are the moments where one can truly peep into your soul. The real you.”

“You think you know me from some internet sleuthing. You don—”

“I do, because I’ve been watching you for a while. Not just what you try to hide on the internet, butyou. I’ve seen it all, and you're more at ease when letting those inhibitions go. I know that you only like sugar in your coffee when you’ve had a good day, but regardless you stir the cup not three times, not five times, but seven times exactly.” She quietly gasps. “I know that when you’re faced with injustices your first thought is ridding the Earth of them, even if your facial expressions and actions say otherwise. I know that even though you’ve been single for so long, you leave the left side of the bed open. Even if you don’t think you’ll ever open your heart enough to let someone sleep there. I know that you fill your wardrobe with florals to blend in and be the perfect little daughter to the Adams family, but what you really crave is to stand out. And I want to give you the space to beyouall the time, with no judgments or reservations.”

“That’s insane!” she yells.

“No, what’s insane is how you treated Axel. He didn’t deserve that. Me? Maybe. But not him.”

She looks at the floor. “I-I shouldn’t have said that to him. I just can’t stand to be here.”

“I think that’s the biggest pile of bullshit I’ve ever heard. You love the games and bickering. You love every minute of it. But something’s holding you back.”

She glares at me. “Like I fucking said before—you don’t know me.”

“I do. Butyoudon’t knowme.So, I’m going to try to fix that so I can start earning that trust.”

“That will never happen. I’ll never fucking trust you.”

I smile like the Cheshire cat. “But you will. And once I earn that trust, I know you’ll let me all the way into that mind and heart of yours.”

She scoffs as she rolls her eyes so hard they vibrate. “In your dreams.”

“Every night, beautiful.” I wink at her.

We make it to the door of my dungeon, and I put in my biometrics again and a key code.

“This is a lot of security,” she says.

“I think you’d be secure too if you were murdering people.”

“I wouldn’t do what you do. I don’t kill—” she starts to stammer out.

“I know. I meantifyou did,” I say, but my eyebrows furrow in confusion. That was an interesting response—most people would just take the statement for what it is. Maybe she just likes arguing.Yeah, that’s probably it.

I open the door and move aside to let her in. It’s pretty massive for a dungeon, but I wanted the “whole nine” for my work space—myrealwork. The tech world is for show.

“There are five separate rooms for torture and interrogation down there.” I motion toward the back hallways. “And there’s a bigger room for multiple people right here. As well as a space that will be outfitted for . . . something else.” I point at the room ahead of us. “All are sound proof.”

“Why would it matter? I’d think you’d want the others to hear the screams,” she says as she walks closer to the rooms to look inside through the small double-paned windows on the doors.

Because the sounds that come out of that seventh space are for my ears only.She’s not ready for that though—not yet.

“Sometimes we tag-team trying to get information, and it’s just easier to not have them hear each other. If we don't care, we just take them to the larger room all together.” I’m both intrigued and slightly taken aback by how calm she is.

“And you have a weapons room down here?” she asks as I raise an eyebrow. “For the torture?”

“Yes, it's through those doors, but it's also locked securely. We don’t want to take any chances if they escape the rooms.”

---