Chapter 39 Verity
Verity
My body needed sleep, but my brain refused to switch off. A constant carousel of nightmarish thoughts intruded. The dead-eyed girls on the stage at the club. The realization the man with the accent knew my sister and father.
His talk of Thea and a wedding triggered something in my memories, but each time I tried to recall anything from when we left my father's estate, my headache worsened.
My lack of memories told me I'd blocked out much of that period, but even I knew that squashing painful trauma rather than dealing with it was a recipe for lifelong issues.
Perhaps it was why I'd unraveled in my teens.
The room Ash had dumped me in was way more luxurious than my shared hostel accommodation.
An enormous bed, plenty big enough to sleep at least three adults, faced sliding glass doors that opened onto a small balcony.
There was a seating area with a comfortable sofa and a desk.
When I'd tried to open the doors for some fresh air, I found them locked.
It had come as a surprise when Declan didn’t take me straight to the airport and shove me on the Kelly jet, like before. Instead, Ash drove us to this luxurious hotel high above Catania. When I inquired why, Ash said something about an incoming storm grounding the jet for the next few hours.
Judging by the increasingly ferocious wind buffeting the glass doors, he wasn’t lying.
Still, it meant being cooped up in this room for a night, which didn't fill me with joy.
Staying at the hostel meant I never had to be alone.
People came and went at all hours of the day or night, which offered comfort in a way, even if the noise irritated me.
I hated being alone for long spells. It reminded me too much of my childhood. The long, lonely months and years when Papa kept me away from the rest of the world, and Mrs. Gia and Thea were the only people I spoke to.
I tugged the thick complimentary robe tighter around my body.
A soak in the tub might help me relax. It wasn't like I could leave my room and explore the hotel.
Ash made a point of telling me the door would remain locked, and he'd be on guard outside until Declan returned from wherever he'd disappeared to.
After inspecting the range of designer toiletries on offer, I chose some relaxing lavender bath salts and tipped the lot into the tub as steam filled the bathroom. When the tub was full, I stripped off my robe and climbed in.
The steaming water reached my chin as I lay back. It felt good to wash away the grime and horror of this night, only each time I closed my eyes, all I could see were the faces of those girls. Their dead eyes and limp bodies. The way the men treated them like animals, not people.
I feared the pictures in my head would take a long time to fade. Maybe they never would.
Outside, the wind howled like a banshee, but in here, I was safe. At least I thought so until I heard the suite door open and realized I'd forgotten to lock the bathroom door.
Before I could scramble out of the tub and grab the robe, Declan entered the bathroom. His hair stuck up in unruly spikes, like he'd spent the last hour raking it with his fingers, and at some point, he'd discarded his suit jacket.
Water sloshed over the side of the tub, puddling on the tiled floor, as I sank back below the surface, arms covering my breasts. My face flushed red, like always, but I refused to show the bastard his presence bothered me.
"I thought you'd be asleep," he said, keeping his eyes fixed on my face rather than my barely concealed body. Thunder rumbled outside, heralding the storm's arrival.
"I can't sleep." Besides, dawn was less than an hour away. What was the point of going to bed?
"We're not going anywhere for at least 12 hours, so go to bed." His brusque tone cut through the numb shell holding my emotions in check.
"I'd sleep better back at the hostel, where my stuff is." From the way he scoffed derisively, he didn't believe me.
"It's a shit hole."
"I sleep easier surrounded by noise and people."
His expression softened a fraction. "Turn the TV on if it helps. I don't need to sleep."
As his words sank in, I froze. What? Was this his suite? Another slow, hot flush warmed my blood despite the chill from the rapidly cooling water.
I watched in disbelief as he turned away and stripped off his shirt, tossing it over a chair.
Then he splashed water over his face. From the dark shadows around his eyes, it was obvious he'd not slept in a while.
I called bullshit on his claim not to need sleep.
The man looked like he was about to drop from exhaustion.
"I assumed this was my room."
"You assumed wrong, princess." His gaze met mine in the mirror. "There's zero chance of me leaving you alone until we board the plane."
"What?" I spluttered. "I don't need a babysitter!"
"Since you clearly didn't listen to me when I asked you to stay on the estate and then managed to get yourself caught up with people traffickers, I beg to differ."
"I took a job serving drinks in a club. It's not my fault the club's owner was shady!"
"Perhaps not, but now you're on your father's radar, so the sooner we get you away from this country, the better."
I fell silent for a moment before curiosity got the better of me.
"Who was the guy you threatened?"
"You mean the one who had every intention of handing you over to your father? His name is Avram Marku. He's Konstantin Marku's son." He sighed when he saw my confused expression.
"Back in the day, your father arranged a marriage between Thea and Konstantin.
It never happened because Kyril and Dario rescued you both shortly before the not-so-happy couple exchanged wedding vows.
" That whole day was still a blur, but I nodded.
Thea had told me about some of it. "Since Konstantin wasn't backing off, Kyril put a hit on him.
A yacht explosion took out him and his top men. "
"So who's Avram?"
"Konstantin’s half-brother. Illegitimate. Nobody knew he existed until recently, but it seems he's hell-bent on rebuilding his brother's empire and using your father to help him do it."
The water in the tub had gone from tepid to cold. Goose bumps covered me, but no way was I stepping out to grab a towel until Declan left me alone. He didn't deserve a free show.
Unfortunately, my pride couldn’t stop me from shivering in the cooling water, which he noticed.
"Jesus fuck, get out of the tub, Verity, before you freeze to death!"
"I'll get out when you leave," I said through clenched, chattering teeth.
"Stubborn bloody woman." He pulled a towel from the stack and held it out. "Here."
"I can't," I squeaked. The cold water had triggered a painful cramp in my calf. I reached down to massage it, but that just made it worse.
Declan cursed softly before scooping me out of the tub, soaking himself in the process as water sloshed everywhere.
"Stop struggling, woman!" he groused. "Or I'll drop you!"
The slippery sensation of my wet breasts against his naked chest triggered all kinds of unwelcome feelings. Not to mention a great deal of embarrassment. So I did what any self-respecting woman would do in such a situation: I closed my eyes and pretended it wasn't happening.
Gentle hands wrapped me in the towel and lowered me onto a soft bed before an amused voice said, "You can open your eyes now."
"This is highly inappropriate," I huffed, still embarrassed. When I dared to peek at him, he hovered over me. Not one part of him touched me, but the heat between us felt like it might burn the room down at any moment.
"No more inappropriate than you sleeping with my brothers." Hot, minty breath feathered against my cheek as amber eyes bored into mine. The banked heat I saw there took my breath away.
I ached to reach out and touch him. Run my fingers across the edge of his jaw, test how soft the neatly trimmed beard would feel against my skin. But I lacked courage.
He leaned closer. So close I could see the gold striations in his irises.
A shiver wracked my body, but not from the cool air blowing from the air-conditioning unit on the wall.
Was he…jealous?
Or just pissed off I'd crossed a line?
"You knew." Of course he knew.
His jaw ticked silently for a few seconds before, to my surprise, he looked away. I frowned. How did he know? Had the twins bragged about bedding me?
"Did they tell you?"
When his gaze snapped back, shame flashed in his eyes so fast I thought that I'd imagined it. Then the heat between us faded, and he stood.
"I heard them talking about it."
His words sank in. Of course. Men loved to boast about their conquests.
Evan had told all his friends after taking my virginity. I'd been the topic of scurrilous gossip for several days before some other girl made the mistake of fucking his best friend while drunk and a video appeared on social media.
At least Evan hadn't filmed me.
I forced my face to show no reaction to the revelation Ronan and Conal had bragged about fucking me. Sex was sex. Men were animals. Really, I should have known better than to expect a different outcome.
It still hurt like a bitch, though.
The mattress shifted, and when I peeked up through a curtain of lashes, Declan stood over me like an avenging angel, judging me for my sins.
The sting of Declan's admission faded as I tried - and failed - not to ogle the sharp lines of his musculature, each dip honed from years of fighting.
Faint silver scars littered his chest and abs. A reminder of the brutal life he'd lived.
Declan Kelly might wear a designer suit these days, but his body still bore the evidence of a violent past. Nobody would make the mistake of thinking he'd been house-trained. He remained a predator right down to the bone.
"Get some sleep." I opened my mouth to utter a scathing riposte, something about it being daylight now, but he'd already turned away and stalked back into the bathroom.
So I crawled under the covers, still wrapped in my towel, closed my eyes, and prayed for divine intervention because there was no way I could face Declan Kelly again after he'd seen me naked.