13. No Promises, No Lies
13
NO PROMISES, NO LIES
RORY
“ I ’ll tell you what, answer a few of my questions and I’ll let you go.” His smile was beautiful and almost convincing. “I promise.”
My hands tighten into fists, where they’re tied—a little too tightly—behind my back. “A promise is just another lie, dressed up to look beautiful enough to believe. Preying on hope.” I mutter under my breath, looking away from him.
Despite my sheltered upbringing from the worst of this world, I wasn’t na?ve.I knew who stood before me; figured it out before he stalked back in here to question me. Aidan O’Rourke: the Irish Devil, second son of the mob, and Breakers’ enforcer. He was chaos personified, a captivating mix of skill and brutality. I’ve seen their faces, know their names. There’s no walking away from this.
Not for me.
I lean back in the chair his henchman wrestled me into and watch him study me from the corner of my eye.
“What’s your name?”
“Rory.”
He’s silent for a long moment, trying to get a read on me. If he’s surprised I answered, he doesn’t show it.
“Why do you dance at Elements?”
The question is unexpected, and I can’t help but look up at him in surprise. “I—I don’t?—”
“Don’t lie,” he warns sharply.
“No promises,” I bite back.
He smiles. The devastating kind of smile. “No lies,” he repeats, his green eyes darkening.
“Contrary to what you might think , I didn’t lie,” I snap back at him, although he is not someone I should be mouthing off to.
“I’m not a dancer.” I glare at him. Getting kidnapped clearly makes me cranky.
A muscle ticks in his jaw. He still thinks I’m lying. Whatever, screw him .
“If you’re not a dancer, then what were you doing at Elements?”
Should’ve been ready for that… I bite my lip to buy time and watch him track the movement. There’s no way I can tell the truth and not make this situation exponentially worse. A quick bullet in my skull, as some unknown dancer, would be a Godsend compared to what the Irish would do to Adrik Kostalov’s daughter.
Still, my competitive nature flares at this little game we’ve started. No promises, no lies . Thinking fast, I shrug, brushing him off. “I went to Elements with a friend.” It’s not an outright lie, although, calling my bodyguard a friend is stretching the truth— frenemy , maybe…
Aidan’s face gives nothing away. “And do you usually end up in the back office of a strip club when you visit them with friends ?” His arched brow is dripping with skepticism and is on my nerves.
“No,” I snap again, exhaustion giving way to irritation and a short fuse. “Gunshots started, and I got pulled in there.” Also, technically not a lie—just out of order .
The way he stares at me gives me the shivers. It’s intense… he’s intense. Ever since he entered, the room feels smaller, and it’s harder to breathe. I’m pretty sure he could tell if I outright lied, but skating the line between truth and lie… he doesn’t seem to know what to think.
“And so what?” The way he cocks his head reeks of predatory authority. “I’m supposed to believe you just happened, to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? That the girl who bumped into me earlier this week at the rink is the same girl I find in the Russian Pakhan’s office a couple of nights later? You expect me to believe that’s just a coincidence ?” He straightens from where he’s been leaning against the far wall and takes a step toward me. It’s an effort not to cringe back. Every instinct in my body screams danger .
Run.
He knows it. His eyes glitter with the challenge.
It’s an intimidation tactic. Or at least it should have been since, now I’m even more determined not to react the way he’s expecting me to. To fall apart into a crumbling mess where I ramble out every useless fact I can think of about the Bratva to save my own skin.
No . He can thank my brother Niko for that. Years of being bullied at his hands, and I’m unshakeable. A goddamn CIA lock box.
All Aidan’s managed to do so far is piss me off. I lift my chin and meet his eye. I was already on thin ice, dead anyway, so... Fuck it.
“More or less,” I shrug. “Have I given you a reason not to believe me?”
He stares at me.
And damn it all to hell, I stare right back. Keeping my face carefully blank, I refuse to back down. Though, my eyes—I fear—betray me.
If I didn’t know any better, I could’ve sworn the corner of his mouth ticks up. The alarm in my head going off once more at the faint smile. But just as he takes another step, leaning in toward me so only inches separate us, a knock reverberates off the heavy metal door.
Aidan’s mouth snaps shut. Neither of us turns, not wanting to be the first to break our little stare-off.
I choke down a swallow. At least an hour has passed since they locked me in here. I’ve had plenty of time to take in my surroundings. This room, this building , all of it, serves a purpose. No one would hear me scream. No one heard what I’m sure were countless others screams as they met their end in this very room. I think of the drain just under my chair, but I still refuse to look away from the devil before me.
In the end, it’s he who finally caves, when whoever’s outside bangs once again, louder this time.
He turns back, shouting out to whoever is waiting outside, “One sec!”
I try not to flinch at the sudden boom of his voice. I refuse to be afraid of this man. I have spent every single second of my entire life terrified. At least I could say I wasn’t a coward when I stared down death.
Aidan O’Rourke turns back to me, a scowl on his face. I know he’s being beckoned to go. Pissed off sure looks good on that jawline.Aidan is muscled and honed to perfection, the product of relentless discipline. With dark brown hair and piercing green eyes, he’s like a beautiful storm, untamed and lethal.
He reaches again, this time into his pocket, flicking open a knife as he walks toward me. Instinctively, I lean as far back as the chair will allow, but he circles around until he’s behind me. Where I can’t see him.
Fuck. Not the way I’d expected to go out. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. But instead of cutting my throat, the knife slips through the ropes. With a sharp tug, I’m cut free.
Slowly, I bring my sore wrists into my lap. My shoulders ache from being stuck in the same position for over an hour. My eyes stay on Aidan, keeping the danger in my sights.
“Sit tight. We’re not done here.” He barely looks at me again before banging on the door. The heavy metal vibrates with the sound of his palm hitting it, reverberating through my brain.
The door slides open effortlessly to let him out before slamming shut again. The voices fade in the hall— they’re leaving .
I look down. He didn’t cut the ropes from my ankles, each still bound to a leg of the chair. It’ll take ages to untie them.
I sigh, looking around. I’m in what I’ve worked out was, at some point, an old freezer room. And I’m good and stuck in here. He wouldn’t have cut me loose if I could escape.
Reaching down, I get to work loosening the impossibly complicated knots Liam was kind enough to supply. I wonder what the hell their plan is. And how do I survive it?