Page 35 of Claimed
I bite at my lip. “I was hired to buy them,” I murmur. Every word is like ash on my tongue and I watch my freedom slip farther and farther away. “By a demon named Azz.”
His body goes rigid and a wall slams up in his eyes, hiding whatever he is thinking. Not that he was easy to read before.
“I was to secure the cases by whatever means necessary,” I continue, searching his expression. “If I didn’t win them in the auction, I was told to steal them.”
“And why does Azz want them?” he asks, his voice so damn emotionless it might as well be coming from a robot.
I try to shrug. “I don’t know. Honestly,” I add as his lips mottle. “It’s not my job to ask questions.”
And asking Azz anything results in pain.
He sets the glass on the floor beside him and climbs to his feet, pacing in front of me. “Have you worked for him before?”
My heart skips. “Yes.”
His nod is curt. “Good. We will need any information you can share. Description, addresses, any points of contact.”
I wince and he turns, catching the motion. “I can’t do that.”
He stops pacing. “If he wants the Brightex, Onyx, I promise it’s not to destroy it. We need to question him. Find out how he heard about it.” I try not to react to how my name comes out in a sexy rumble. When Azz says it, it cold. Like him. But when Caine says it, it’s hot. Sexy and mysterious.
“If I tell you, what will you do? Take him into custody?”
“Yes.”
I lean back. “Then I’m sorry. I’ve told you all I can.”
He whirls to face me, tousling his dark hair more. “Why are you protecting him?” he snaps. “He’s a demon.”
“So are you,” I say without thinking.
He rocks back like I struck him, and I immediately regret saying it.
Should I expect any less from a demon working as a colony enforcer? He has apparently tried to do the right thing despite what he is. Tried to be good in a world that is not.
It makes my stomach knot.
Even a demon can be a good guy. And I can’t because I was weak. Because I let Azz force me into a deal instead of just letting him take my head.
I drop my eyes to my lap, unwilling to let him see the4 self-loathing I know is filling my face.
His dark clad legs appear in front of me and he crouches down. One pale hand lightly grips my chin, forcing me to look at him whether I want to or not.
Oh, I could fight him on it. Bruise my skin like I have made Azz do numerous times. But there is something so gentle in Caine’s touch. Something tentative. Or restricted. Like he doesn’t quite trust himself.
“Are you worried he will come after you?” he asks, his deep, sinful voice low. “The colony can offer you sanctuary. We can protect you, Onyx.”
I gaze into his face. “No one can protect me from him, Caine. No one.”
He scours my features and something like understanding makes his fingers flex over my skin. “You made a deal with him,” he breathes.
Unease and pain rips through me. Unease that I am so easy to read. And the pain that he now knows just how weak I am. How weak I was.
“Onyx?” he asks. “Did you make a deal with Azz?”
My lip trembles, and he closes his eyes as the first tear rolls down my cheek.
“Shit,” he swears and pulls away.
