Fearless Sinner (Empire of Sinners #3)

Chapter 35

Cillian

Chapter Thirty-Five

The wine is poison.

It has to be. Either that, or the bottle is supposed to explode the moment I open it like some sort of Molotov cocktail.

Chloe molds her body to me, shaking. I can feel her heart beating so fast, I’m holding her like I can stop her heart from jumping out of her chest.

Morgulis septum stasis.

When I told her those words, I thought maybe I was being over the top and overreacting, but they have come in handy just when she needed them.

Terror is writhing through my mind because I don’t know what’s going on. From Chloe’s actions I assume Lance obviously got to her and has leverage. And she’s also wired. I think the motherfucker can also see us, which means he hacked my surveillance.

I’m taking her to the bedroom because the surveillance in there runs on a different system. I have a separate recording unit. There’s one in the bathroom, too.

I know once we get there, I have to be quick. I don’t want to make him suspicious when he can’t see us.

I return my lips to hers just before we reach the bedroom and make it seem like we’re about to have sex, then I kick the door in.

It slams shut, then I set her down and signal to her that no one can see us in here.

Her chest caves, she drops the bottle of wine and starts crying in silent shudders. Then she shows me the little device on her top. I lift her top off and toss it in the corner, then we get in the shower and turn on the water full blast. I don’t know the radius of the device, but water always distorts the clarity of the sound in a transmission.

I move Chloe close enough to the shower cubicle that we can talk to each other without getting wet.

“Chloe.” I still keep my voice low.

“Oh God, Cillian.” She looks like she’s going to wither away. “Adrian has my mother. It’s him. He’s Lance Polinsky.”

Holy fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

The knowledge feels like a sledgehammer to my gut. Lance is Adrian. That’s why I fucking recognized the voice and his movements, but I couldn’t place him.

That motherfucking asshole played this game so well. There’s no way I would have guessed it was him.

“Damn it.”

“He made me choose. He wanted me to kill you, or he’d kill my mother. I’m so sorry.”

I catch her face. “You chose me. There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

“I came here with the poison.” Her breath hitches. “I brought it into the house. I said yes, but I thought if I could get to you, you’d help me.”

“You did the right thing. Morgulis septum stasis. You remembered.”

She nods. “I didn’t know what else to do. I figured if I said that, you’d know something was wrong.”

“And I did. I’m going back to deal with him.” Rage unlike any I’ve ever known floods my soul.

“No.” She grabs on to my shirt. “I have to go back. If I don’t, he’ll kill her. He told me to come back, so I have to.”

“I can’t put you in that kind of danger.” This was the very thing I worried about.

“Cillian, this is my mother.” Her voice trembles. “I can’t risk her life. I have to go back. Please tell me you understand that. If I don’t go back, he’ll know something is wrong. He may already know.”

I throw my fist into the wall. Pain shoots through my knuckles, but at the same time, an idea sparks. She’s right. She has to go back. I have to send her back to the lion’s den to get her and her mother out of danger.

“We’ve only been in here for two minutes at the most.” I glance at my watch. “But we have to work fast.”

She nods with determination. “Yes.”

“Stay here.”

I rush out of the bathroom and head back into the bedroom, my mind working overtime.

I have a bottle of the same wine Chloe brought in the drinks cabinet I keep in here, so I get that. The next thing I grab is a little poison kit from my emergency kit. Every member of the Creed has one of these. This is the kind of shit you pray you never have to use. The kit contains a deadly poison called The Whistler, along with the antidote. You’re supposed to take it with you when you’re called on an assassination mission.

I’ve never been called on such a mission, so I never had to use it, but this is hopefully going to help me take this motherfucker down. I’m going to give Lance—fucking Adrian—a taste of his own fucking medicine and use his plan against him. That fucker.

I return to Chloe and close the door, so our voices are hidden again.

“This is my bottle of wine,” I whisper. “Did he tell you anything about the poison?”

“He said it would work within an hour.”

Slow poisoning. “Good. Here’s what we’re going to do: we’re going out on the landing. I’m going to pour us each a glass of wine. I’ll drink mine, but you need to act like you’re not drinking yours because you know it’s poisoned. You hear me?”

“Okay.”

“And this…” I hold up the poison kit. “This part is very important, Chloe. This is a poison. Don’t get this wrong.”

She gulps. “You have poison?”

“Yes. We’re going to try and trick him. This is the antidote. Take this now. It’s good for five hours.” I pull out the little tablet and show her.

“Me?”

“Yes. I need you to rub the poison on one hand. The antidote will make you immune to the poison. You just need to touch him, and make sure you touch his skin. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“Do not touch anyone or anything else with that hand. Once you touch him and you know the poison has taken effect, wash your hands.”

“Just wash my hands?”

“Water neutralizes it.”

“Okay. I got it.”

“When you leave here, I’ll be just behind you.”

“You promise?”

“You know I promise. Where is he holding your mother?”

“They’re in the back room at the house. He’s closed the curtains.”

“Does he have any men with him?”

“No. He’s alone.”

That’s an advantage for me, but I need to be careful. Just because Chloe didn’t see any men doesn’t mean there aren’t any. “Here, take the antidote, then let’s get back to where he can see us.” I hand it to her, and she accepts it. “Act like you’re fixing your clothes when we walk out of the room.”

She nods, and I stare back at her for a second hoping this won’t be the last I see of her. Or touch her.

She gave me another chance. I have to make sure we have that chance at our forever.

She dries off her tears and composes herself. I take her hand and lead her out of the bathroom. When we get back to the bedroom, I pick up her top and hand it to her. She puts it back on.

I grab two glasses from the cabinet and pour wine in each, then we walk back out onto the landing, where the cameras can pick us up again.

“Make sure you come back to me later.” I smile at her, resuming the pretense, and I drink the wine.

“Tomorrow. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow.” She giggles, fixing her clothes like I told her. “We’re spending the night at the spa.”

“I miss you already.”

“I miss you more.”

I drink another sip of the wine.

“Come sit with me for a minute.”

“Of course.”

We head back downstairs and go to the living room. When I pull her into my lap, she takes the opportunity to set her wine glass down.

Well played, Chloe. She must be so terrified for her mother’s life, but she’s focusing.

I knock back the rest of my wine, then I kiss her. We kiss for a little while before I release her.

“I better get back. We need to pack before Roxanne picks us up.”

“Call me later.”

“Of course. I love you.”

“I love you more.” I imbue that promise of love in my tone, and my heart holds on to it as she leaves me.

I watch her until she leaves through the door. When it clicks shut, I allow rage to take me again.

I hear her car start up on the driveway and then rumble as she drives away, then I plan my next move, vowing blood for blood.