Page 17 of Deception

I keep staring as the ghost of my captor’s touch burns over my flesh. Angel wings flutter above me with a scorching glow, paradise and salvation blazing to damnation.

“Little Red,” he utters, delight ringing mockingly in his voice as he grips my hand hard enough that I feel the power of his hold deep in my bones. Standing, he lowers to lean over me as he rumbles in my ear, “Welcome back.”

With a deep inhale, he presses his nose into my hair. Meanwhile, his stubbled skin scratches over the curve of my neck. It’s impossible not to feel the tug of his smile when I gasp at the sensation tugging and twisting deep in my belly. My senses have been in the dark for so long that now they’re sparking with eagerness at every brief touch, leaving me bereft and yearning for more contact, more of his touch as he pulls as away and stands to stare down at me. His hand flattens over my open palm and presses it to the bed.

“Rarity wins admiration,” he chuckles darkly, followed by his swift departure.

Tomasz leaves me with nothing but the buzz of the outside world in the distance and the deafening pound of my heart. I recognise his words, but my brain is still too fuzzy to pinpoint where from as I keep staring at the painted ceiling. His scent lingers in the air long after he’s gone, and I wait for fear to find me, but if anything, I’m relieved.

Now that I’ve had a taste of death or near death, I know what to expect, and it’s not half as frightening as I made it out to be. The knowledge that I escaped its grasp is thrilling. If I can survive death, I can survive anything.

7

TOMASZ

The music weaves through the hum of the conversations in the restaurant. It’s busy enough that it takes the waiter too fucking long to bring a fresh round of drinks.

“What’re you going to do with the girl, then?” Niko asks before he finishes his last drop of whiskey. “I told you she’s good to go.”

“Go? Who told you she’s going anywhere?” Tipping my head back, I grin up at the ceiling. “She’s wearing down. Slowly…”

“You need to do something soon because I can’t keep telling your father that she’s still weak. You’re my friend, but your dick isn’t worth my neck. So whatever it is you want her for, get it over and done with so we can get back to normal.” When I laugh at his statement, he adds, “Besides, there’s only so long I can keep my father away from her. If he realises that I’m covering for you, we’re both going to be in the shit.”

“The problem with all of you is that you have no patience. Some games are meant to be savoured and?—”

“Except this isn’t a game,” Niko snaps, smashing his glass down on the table, hard enough that it’s a wonder the crystal doesn’t shatter. “The longer she’s here, the more likely they are to come for her. We have enough on our plates with the Romanian pigs interfering with shipments.”

“You need to relax.”

Nikolai has always been uptight. He’s more like my father than I am. They’re afraid of what might happen. The what ifs or maybes weigh far too much on their decisions.

“Relax? Have you lost your mind? I had to tell nine women over the last week that they’re widows. If we carry on losing men at this rate, we’re going to become weak.”

The waiter finally returns with our fresh drinks, and I swirl my vodka around the cold glass.

“Fuck, Tomasz! It’s only a matter of time before they think they can get one on us.”

“Your fear is pathetic, Niko. Soldiers die—it’s the way of the world. How it’s always been. You need to get used to it or get better at fixing them.”

Indignation pinches at his brows as he clenches his jaw with anger flaring his nostrils. Licking over his teeth, he clucks his tongue before he spits, “She killed my cousin, and every day that I lie to your father…to mine…I’m betraying my family. For what? You’re not doing anything with her. Fuck, you haven’t even seen her in the last three weeks since she woke up.”

“And?” I take another swig of my drink, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it as I wait for him to carry on with his bitch whining.

I see her every night in passing when she’s asleep. Other times, I watch her pace around her room from the window in my office. It’s how I know she’s wilting. All that strength that’s coming back to her is eating at her powerlessness.

“You’re wasting time playing pointless games with the girl, and it’s fucking with your head. It’s fucking with your reason, and it’s going to cost you. It’s going to cost all of us.” He huffs out a curse under his breath before levelling me with disgust blaring in his eyes. “The English bastard calls her a weapon for a reason, you know? She’s the brotherhood’s weapon, and they’ll come for her.”

Maybe he’s right and they will come for her, but it’s been almost two months and they haven’t yet. Their traitor has made sure of it. They won’t start a war for a dead girl, and while Lucy might still be breathing, she’s already marked for a grave.

“Let them,” I exhale on a long breath, reclining back into the bench seat before taking another drag of my smoke. Niko’s agitation at my impassiveness is palpable as I blow out perfectly formed Os.

“Tomasz!”

Meeting his stare, I shrug as I tell him, “Let them come.”

“What about your mother? You realise that she’s too sick to go anywhere? And Vanya? They’ll take her, or worse, they’ll send your enemies for her, and then what?”

“Finally!” I laugh, sitting up as the sound echoes over the music and chatter. “That’s what all this is about? Vanya? My fucking sister? You realise that even when you marry her, the likelihood of fucking her is slim to none, don’t you?”

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