Chapter 24 #2
“Liar,” he growls, his grip tightening on my arm until it almost bites.
His eyes burn into me, and for a moment, I can actually read him a little.
Anger. Betrayal. And something else buried deeper, something that might even be hurt.
But just as quickly as they appear, the emotions vanish behind his walls again.
“I swear I don’t know,” I insist, swallowing thickly as I try to push away from him. His fingers only clamp down harder, and then—like touching me suddenly offends him—his lips curl and he lets go all at once.
The release sends a jolt of restless energy through me.
My fingers fist in my hair before I even register moving, pacing taking over because standing still feels impossible.
Tugging the short strands gives me just enough sting to stay present while my mind whirls chaotically.
What do I say? How much should I tell him?
Do I hold back until he makes good on his threat and tosses me back into the frigorifer? The thought alone makes me shudder.
When I finally look up, I find him watching me, those green eyes fixed on me with a hard glint that hits right in the center of my chest. A stupid idea sparks anyway—what if I can turn him to my side? He’s caught me; trying to deny it isn't going to help me. But maybe honesty will.
It feels like I’m holding my raw, vulnerable heart in my hands and offering it to him on a platter as I start speaking.
“They never told me who they were. A couple of weeks ago, I was in the hospital when a woman disguised as a nurse came into my room and tried to drug me. I neutralized her and snuck out, but I should have known more threats were waiting for me outside.”
I risk another glance at Roan. He hasn’t moved an inch—just tracking me with his eyes while I pace a trench into the floor. I swallow and keep going.
“I was grabbed and overpowered by a few men right outside the hospital. A sack went over my head so fast I didn’t even have time to run or fight back.
After that… I had no idea where they were taking me.
All I know is we drove for what felt like hours but could have been minutes—I lost all sense of time.
” My knees feel weak beneath me, threatening to buckle.
“Then a different man climbed in beside me and told me he had my sister. That if I didn’t do what he asked, he’d kill her. ”
The terror hits me all over again. How had he gotten custody of Kayla from Stacey? Is he someone close to Stacey? Was this Stacey’s revenge for my betrayal? I knew my actions wouldn’t go unpunished, but this?
In that car, I had a choice: defy him and risk losing Kayla forever—after already gambling with her life once—or do whatever this new asshole demanded.
He’d tossed something on my lap before he left, and when the sack was finally pulled off my head and my arms were freed, I saw it was a photo.
My sister, bound and gagged in the trunk of a car that looked suspiciously like the one I’d been driven around in.
At that moment, I would have done anything. Anything.
“Yes, I did come here to spy,” I admit, the words tasting like ash.
“I was told to get close to your family. He said you guys were smuggling people into the country and wanted me to get proof of that. He wanted me to feed him all the information I discovered—about you, about your father, about your importations, shipping schedules, everything. I didn’t even know who you were at the time.
He just gave me a target and threatened me with my sister’s life.
I was supposed to observe and report. That’s it. ”
Not totally, a guilty voice hisses in the back of my mind.
Because after finding whatever he wanted… I was supposed to kill Afrim and Roan. But I can’t tell him that part. I stop pacing to look up at Roan, my heart pounding a hard, desperate staccato. I need him to believe me. I need him to be on my side.
“When was the last time you reported to this person? What information have you given him?” Roan’s voice is hard, unforgiving, and my heart sinks at his tone.
“About a month ago. Right before you came back from Long Island. But I didn’t have anything concrete to give him at that point. Just told him about the bar, the plans you had for the estate...” My voice thins. “And… Afrim’s medical condition.”
His jaw tenses again, and my heart sinks even further. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Maybe I just sealed my fate.
“He hasn’t been in contact with you at all since then?” he asks, and I nod in response.
Silence stretches between us, heavy and suffocating.
And the longer it lingers, the harder it becomes for me to breathe.
He’s just standing there, still holding the pills in one hand and the crumpled receipt in the other, staring at me like he isn’t sure what to make of me anymore.
Like he can’t decide if he wants to choke me or kiss me.
“You were sneaking out of the estate to chase leads on your sister, weren’t you?” he says suddenly. “So you can get her out of the clutches of the man holding her over your head.”
Oh. Oh.
He must have followed me one of those nights when I left the estate grounds.
The last night. It has to be that last one—the night I met that fucker who knew my real name.
Roan started calling me Katina right after, then had me move into his house. Not just to keep me close.
To watch me.
To stop me from sneaking out again.
My lips part in disbelief. It all makes sense now. “You—you saw me kill someone.” He saw me kill that man and dispose of his body. How did he remain hidden from me?
Because you dismissed your instinct like an idiot.
I felt eyes on me that night, but I chalked it up to paranoia and kept going. Stupid.
The corner of Roan’s mouth twitches, the barest hint of a smile. “You were very efficient.”
I gasp, taking a step back. Efficient?
God—what if he recorded me?
Roan stops my retreat with a raised hand. “Frankly, I don’t give a shit about one less fucker in this world. Besides, I’ve killed more than my own fair share of jackasses to judge you for that.”
I nod slowly. True. He’s not exactly sitting on a moral high horse here, is he?
Yet a wave of relief washes over me that he doesn’t think I’m some kind of monster.
“So, um… what happens now?” I gesture between us.
“Are you going to throw me back into the frigorifer? Hand me over to Dhimiter to torture me?”
“That depends on you,” he starts, closing the distance between us.
“So far, you’ve only passed along scraps—nothing he couldn’t have found out without you.
But now, you’re most likely armed with more valuable information.
” He stops in front of me, close enough that I feel the heat radiating off him.
“Are you going to let that slip to my enemy?”
My heart pounds so hard my chest aches. Is he… giving me a chance? I search his eyes. “No,” I say, grounding myself in the word. “No, I’m not. I want to gain the upper hand. I’m done being used. Done having my sister held over me.”
“Good.” His voice rumbles with something warm and dark, and his hand glides down my arm.
His fingers brush my skin, then twist until they’re wrapped loosely around my wrist. The breath punches out of me when my core clenches, my belly tightening in anticipation.
“You have no loyalty to this man, do you?”
“N–no,” I stutter, and I inhale sharply. Get it together.
He’s not trying to seduce you.
“Then give it to me,” he murmurs. “Work with me to take down the man holding your sister hostage.”
Hope flares in my chest, bright for half a second before reality stomps it out. “That could put Kayla in danger and—”
“Shhh.” He runs his thumb over my racing pulse. “I’ll find your sister and get her safely away from whoever’s holding her prisoner. But in exchange, you don’t give this person any more information. Instead, you trail him the next time you meet and find out who he is.”
“You think I haven’t tried that?” Frustration bubbles up, my thoughts starting to fizzle out under his touch, so I tug my wrist out of his grip and walk away from him towards the window, needing some fresh air so I can breathe. So I can think.
“I did try once before,” I continue, staring out at the garden. “He figured it out within minutes and sent me a video of my sister getting hit. I learned my lesson. If I follow him again, she pays for it.”
He sighs, the sound edged with the same simmering frustration I feel.
“But—” I draw a deep breath as I turn back to face him. “I want to give it another try. With your help.” This is more than what I expected from him, more than I’d dared to hope for. “I’m done letting people use Kayla to control me.”
And with Roan Permeti on my side, I have more than half a chance to actually win this fight.