Darkest Deception (Deception Series)

41

“Careful how you talk to me, Ambrose. Threats won’t work well with me,” he grits out.

His voice is the only clear indication that he is feeling threatened by me. His hands rest casually on the table, his body relaxed, and not a single muscle in his face moves or tics.

“If you think, for one second, that I will sit back and watch you leave him in there, you are mistaken.” I point a finger at him. “You need to bail him out. The appeal needs to be done right this second.” I slam a hand on the table, my voice dropping low.

Remo raises a brow, joining his hands on the table. “Do you know what I could do to you? I could have you killed and gone.” A small muscle in his jaw twitches. That’s all I need to see to know he is fuming.

A smirk travels across my lips. “Your wife will love handing you the divorce papers if you carry through with that threat.”

Remo stills, his unwavering eyes fixed on me.

A second ticks by.

Then another.

And I know the victory here is mine.

His love for Aurora won’t allow him to harm me in any way, not when we have been growing closer again, and one small mistake from him could have Aurora suspicious. She isn’t dumb, nor is she a mindless fool.

She may be forgiving, but not when it comes to those she loves.

Grabbing my bag, I turn around, happiness a piercing light in the darkness I was drowning in.

“Two days.”

I look over my shoulder at his hardened face and smile.

“That’s right.”

I flick my hair over my shoulder and make my way outside.

“Miss Ambrose.”

My head snaps up, and I rise from the waiting room chair. My trembling hands become harder to hide with each step I take closer to the visiting room.

With my heart in my throat, the only thing I can think about is Helia’s hate and his raging fury. How could I ever ask for forgiveness for something I didn’t do?

The tall, muscled guard holds the door open, and I nod at him on my way in.

I hold my breath.

For a second.

Two.

Three.

Until I am seated in the grey plastic chair.

The clear glass in front of me keeps me separated from Helia’s wrath, and his handcuffs restrain him from reaching for me.

Tears gather in my eyes, but I blink them away. Now is not the time for me to get emotional. I have to set records straight with him. I need to clear up this misunderstanding and build a happily ever after for myself.

The lock turns and the door on the other side opens. My mouth opens with a small gasp as Helia walks in.

His hands are cuffed, but he is as handsome as ever, even in his prisoner uniform of grey trousers and shirt, showing off his muscles, with his tattoos peeking out. His hair falls into his eyes, unkempt and unruly.

My hand flies to my mouth, and the minute he raises his head and his eyes align with mine, my world tilts and explodes.

Those emerald diamonds collide with my own, and I forget how to breathe.

I remember how I fell in love with him and how far I could go for him.

He couldn’t have been bailed out due to the evidence against him, but we need him out before our trial. Remo will be pivotal in getting Helia out.

“Helia.” The whisper falls from my lips.

I watch him settle into the seat in front of me. He doesn’t speak, nor does he look me in the eye longer than a second before he looks away.

The door shuts behind me, and we are cloaked in silence.

My lower lip trembles, but I bite it, holding myself together.

“Helia,” I try again, my voice croaking.

He looks up for a second at me, and it feels as if I’ve been holding my breath, just waiting for him to look at me.

He doesn’t speak.

No jokes.

No remarks.

“What are you doing?” I snap.

He blinks, the tendons in his neck flexing.

“How dare you leave me like this?” I continue, speaking in the only way I know. “How dare you not believe me? How could you not trust me, Helia?” My hands shake in my lap. “Was our love this weak?”

I keep looking between his eyes, trying to find anything, but I come up empty. His jaw tics as he stares at me, his eyes so intense I feel them cut through me.

“Mum left. I kicked her out before she could do anything more. I’ve sent police after her for a domestic violence case and have her locked up. Aurora helped me. She stayed over at my house and looked after me. Remo even came a couple of times. Everything happened. Everything settled.”

My voice drops to a whisper. “Except you.”

I look at my lap, at my pale, trembling hands. The prisons need to do a better job of keeping the temperature warm.

“You left. You didn’t trust me enough. You found me guilty of a crime I never committed. I know I wrote that email, but I wasn’t thinking. Mum had just said some things to me that really hurt me. I was losing you because you hid yourself from me. I didn’t have Aurora. I didn’t have my company. I was lost, running out of options, and still… I didn’t send it. I couldn’t.”

When I lift my eyes, I find a rush of emotions in his. Like an angry storm waiting to strike destruction.

“Ambrose.” His strong voice echoes around the room. “Won’t you ask me?”

He lifts a brow and leans forward, resting his arms on the small separator between us.

“Won’t you ask me if I have lost?” he says.

“Lost what?” I frown.

He inhales, his brows dipping, and he looks the very exact image of a lover admitting defeat in front of his love.

“My heart.” He leans back in his chair, runs a hand through his hair, and looks to the side before looking at me again.

And then a curved smile touches his lips.

“I fucked up. With the only woman in my life I’d be willing to go to these lengths for.” He chuckles to himself, shaking his head.

“I don’t understand, Helia.” Why isn’t he asking for proof? Why isn’t he blaming me?

“You, Ambrose, took everything from me. How could you make me love you so much that even when hate took over me for a second, I still couldn’t hurt you? I couldn’t handle seeing you in pain because of me.”

My heart thunders inside of me. It flutters and races with each word coming out of his mouth.

“It’s not my first time in here. Stop stressing, Emerald. When I get out, I will claim you, a ring around your finger, the biggest diamond you want, the most expensive wedding gown, the biggest wedding hall. I will give it all to you all. We both collided in a way that the universe could be laughing at us right now. Two of the most unlikely people have fallen in love. How does that work?” He raises his brows with a smile.

“Helia.” I scramble closer to the divider between us. “You… Even if you fell into the ocean, I would find you. Even if you drown me with you, I would accept death if it meant loving you till my last breath. Never doubt me. Never doubt my love for you.” I place a hand against the glass, and he raises his own, placing it against mine.

“You will rise to the top, Ambrose. You will be right among the people who have always thought of you as little. You will rule this kingdom. I promise to get you there.” He tilts his head, his eyes following a lone tear falling down my cheek. “Don’t cry, baby.”

I start laughing, wiping the tear away.

“When I get out—”

“Promise you will?”

Helia stops, a smirk pulling at his lips, and he looks more handsome than ever. “Your love is a spell. You have me hooked on you; you have me dancing to your tune. Nothing will keep me away from you. Okay?” He dips his chin. “Okay, Ambrose?”

I give a jerky nod. “O-Okay.”

He smiles. “Good girl. Now go back to work. I will be out soon. There is only so long they can keep me in here.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“Remo didn’t tell you?”

I shake my head.

“The prison governor practically eats from Remo’s hand.”

My mouth drops open while Helia’s laugh booms through the room.

“You will need a long paper for me to name the people who bow to Remo. Crazy world we live in.”

“The elite circles… the ones Dad wanted to get into,” I whisper, my eyes wide.

Helia helped Remo rise to the top of this circle.

“How does one get into this circle?”

Helia chuckles, and a cold shiver touches me at the empty sound.

“You get on Remo’s good side or you have an insane amount of money. You can also make dirty deals with Remo, which provides you with more power through his connections, hence the private parties every so often. It’s a circle full of people hiding their dirty work.”

“You can’t be saying this here,” I look around for cameras.

“Any and all video footage of me in here will be removed by me personally. It’s also currently being monitored by Remo’s men. Don’t worry.”

I take in a shuddering breath, not realising a side of London existed like this, but then again, why wouldn’t it?

“Are there any deals you or Remo have made with people that are outrageous?”

Helia lifts an amused brow at me. “What do you want to hear?” He crosses his arms, sitting back into the seat like being in a jail cell doesn’t bother him at all.

And here I was, worried sick about this man.

“Remo’s random purchases of some private islands? Me getting yachts? Or me erasing murders from the eye of public and Remo making deals with many people who end up owing him favours?”

I instantly look around, glancing up at the cameras in the room and trying to see the guard outside the door behind him.

Helia’s empty laugh snatches my attention back.

“Not a single soul can touch me in here or ruin me. They will need more than a big army and a helicopter to keep me in here.”

I have a very, very bad feeling while looking into the dark forest of Helia’s eyes, knowing that I am his obsession. He’s wrapped around me like a tangled web of yarn.

The only way out is through death for me and him.