Page 30 of Sweet Deception
Meanwhile, if I ever needed evidence this man knows about trafficking, I have it. He has an abandoned warehouse where he brings his captives. That’s got to be somewhere in the beginning of theHuman Traffickers Handbook, right?
Darren leads me to a metal chair and spins my ass toward it. I sit, still petting Piro reassuringly, more for my own peace of mind than anything else by this point.Breathe, Nika. Keep breathing.
“Who were those men shooting at us?” Darren’s next question shocks me for a few reasons. One, because I thought those men were affiliated with him until they started aiming at us both. Two, because I thought even if he wasn’t with those guys, he must’ve known them. Do mafiosos really shoot at men they don’t know at all?
But most importantly, I’m floored by how his voice has gone back to velvet-cloaked gravel. He was nothing short of unhinged in the city, driving all insane while demanding I talk. He was so convincing that I thought that level of crazy was…his true self. But the fact that he can put that guy away so completely and return to this remarkably sane-seeming creature is the scariest part of this.
I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Just who the hell is this guy?
Jerking my chin in his direction, I swallow. “I…until they started shooting at us, I thought those guys were yours. So, your guess is as good as mine.”
After uttering those words, I clamp my jaw shut.
Say nothing. Reveal nothing.
Darren grills me with his eyes for another agonizing minute. Then he circles me where I sit, a shark contemplating his next meal.
Finally, he stops. Directly in front of me.
His eyes are heavy on my face. My mind races as I weather the weight of his stare. Maybe we’re both thinking the same thing.
Who the hell were they then?
I recall the threatening message Maya received the day I got back from Vegas. Maybe they figured out that she and I have been searching for Lucy, and they came to my place to put an end to me since Maya got away clean.
Which means if Darren hadn’t shown up…
Okay, so he didn’t just save me from getting shot in that alleyway so he could shoot me himself. He saved me from human traffickers.
Or…he’s a human trafficker who plucked me right out of the palms of…other human traffickers?
Bozhe moy, what has my world turned into?
Darren leans in close, crouching in front of me with his grasshopper legs. “Listen up, Veronika Kotova. This is your last chance to tell me everything you know.”
Nice try.My lips stay buttoned up.
I have information he wants, and the longer I keep whatever I know to myself, the longer he’ll keep me alive to extract it.
Our eyes meet, and the electricity that zips from his irises into mine could jump-start a huge-ass car. It radiates in every part of my body.
I force myself not to wince away from his intensity. Not even one centimeter. I will not back down or show him that he intimidates me.
“Who hired you?” Darren’s voice becomes impossibly gentle, and the tenderness throws me.
A man so obviously capable of mayhem shouldn’t be capable of infusing his rough voice with this much softness.
My eyes skate down to the hand clutching his gun.
I’m uncertain of my safety with Darren in every respect.
But the real question is…can I barter for my life with the information he wants from me?
There’s only one way to find out.
I tip my face up and away, remaining completely silent.
