Chapter 24
The Flame
My first instinct was to shrink back. To fear the mask. And instinct won. The terror slithered down my spine, my legs began to shake, and my lip trembled.
But then he cocked his head, and in a flash, all fear vanished and instead was replaced by a furious rage.
A rage that had me forgetting logic and sanity, and had me marching towards Silas, brandishing scraps of paper in his face.
“What is this?” I demanded, slapping the sheets against his chest. “What the actual fuck is this, Silas? How long has this been going on?”
He huffed under his breath—a huff that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle—and looked around the room.
Yeah. Okay. Fair point, buddy.
It was plainly obvious that this had been going on for years.
“Why?” I asked. “Why me? What were you hoping to gain here, Silas?”
His gloved hands reached towards me, resting on my shoulders so that he could spin me around. Gently, he marched me back over to the computer, removing one hand from my shoulder and pulling the chair out for me, gesturing for me to sit.
I did, mainly because I was silenced by how scalding his touch had felt on my skin.
But also because I really was interested.
The only way I was going to learn anything was if I saw it with my own eyes.
My father had kept me in the dark so long, I knew I could never rely on him for the truth.
Silas would never tell me—even if he had been willing to talk—he’d expect me to learn for myself.
So if he was at least willing to guide me, I was damn sure going to go along with it.
Besides, if I focused on what he had to show me, I wouldn’t have time to berate myself for missing his hands on me.
Stupid, touch-starved woman!
Silas silently spun me around and tucked the chair under the desk, and then he bent over the back of the chair, hovering over me.
I looked over my shoulder to see his face lowering until he was practically cheek to cheek with me, and then my attention was snapped to my other side as he grabbed my hand, placed it on the mouse and covered it with his own.
His touch was soft, almost tender, as he guided my hand, moving the mouse through the computer, accessing files I never would have thought to click.
His other arm wrapped around me to type at the keyboard, entering passwords he didn’t bother to hide, and I closed my eyes for a second, breathing in the scent of him, feeling the strangest wave of comfort being wrapped inside his embrace like this.
And then reality came crashing back in.
This was Silas. My kidnapper. And I was wrapped up in his arms fucking inhaling him.
I was one seriously messed up woman!
I pulled my face slightly away from his and straightened my spine, focusing my whole attention on the screen in front of me, and not the confusing man by my side.
Silas’s breathing was slow and steady as he navigated his system, and then his hand was resting against the desk, his finger tapping gently as he selected a video and let it play.
It was the middle of the night, but I vaguely recognised London Docklands. I’d had lunch there with my girlfriends only a few months ago.
There was a ship docked, and a crane was lifting out huge shipping containers, dropping them to the ground with little to no care.
“Careful with that!” Adrien barked from somewhere off the camera. “If another of these bitches die, I swear to fuck you’ll be eating her remains for the remainder of the fucking month!”
Someone laughed in response, murmuring something I couldn’t quite hear.
“No point letting quality meat go to waste!” Adrien laughed back, and then suddenly there he was, as handsome as ever, that winning smile, the beautiful face.
And his evil fucking heart lying beneath it all.
The video continued playing, but I both felt and sensed the silver mask turning in my direction, watching me instead.
I forced my expression to remain neutral, even though I was slowly dying inside at what I was witnessing.
Silas had been right to show and not tell. Because I’m not sure I would have believed this if I wasn’t seeing and hearing for myself.
“A little birdie tells me you’ve got quality meat arriving at home yourself.”
Silas’s gloves creaked next to me, his fist clenching.
“Quality for now,” Adrien laughed. “Let’s see how she looks a few years from now, once I’ve finished with her.”
“If you need any help, you know where I am, man. I’ve wanted to take the Carbones down for years. I—”
I didn’t hear the rest. I didn’t want to.
They were talking about me. I was the “quality meat” Adrien was referring to.
I felt sick to my stomach.
I flinched violently as the shipping container was ripped open, and I got the briefest flash of naked women, all of them screaming. All of them looking terrified. Beside me, Silas’s breathing changed.
Whether he noticed my discomfort, or he thought I’d seen enough, Silas clicked off that video and opened another.
This time the screen filled with my father’s office. And there he was, my own father, sitting with Adrien Vescari.
“This isn’t something you enter into lightly, Vittorio.”
“I’m aware.”
“So why now?”
“Why not now?” My father chuckled. He leaned back in his chair and gestured around the room. “I have everything here. Every house in this city is under my influence. I’ve expanded throughout Europe, and I have ties in America. I’ve done all I can with real estate.”
“It’s quite the leap to go from real estate to drugs.”
“Is it? It’s swapping one type of brick for another,” my dad laughed.
Oh, lovely. A drug joke, I thought to myself.
Silas’s gloved thumb gently stroked over my knuckles, as though he could sense my growing anger.
Adrien smirked faintly, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “And what exactly makes you think I’d be interested in bringing you into my business ventures, Vittorio?”
“Because I know this city better than anyone. Every major development, every luxury apartment, every hotel chain expansion in London passes through me somehow. You already have money, yes, but money is no good if it’s dirty.
I can help you with that. I can offer another legitimate business to clean it.
Expand it. Hide it where nobody thinks to look. ”
Adrien leaned back in his chair, looking bored already.
My father kept talking anyway.
“I’ve built an empire much like yours, Adrien.
We both have a public image to maintain.
And I can offer you one way to do that. No one would think twice about merging my company with yours.
And whilst I have nothing but respect for you and what you’ve done for the Vescari name, I do have one thing you don’t have—connections.
Politicians aren’t touching you. I’ve sold them houses.
Property investment groups think you’re powerful enough.
I own most of them. And if I don’t, I have them over a barrel.
You want doors opened to you without a single question?
I can help with that. Think about it, Adrien.
Where do those girls go once they’re brought in? ”
For a second, Adrien almost looked startled. But he covered it quickly when my father chuckled again.
“I know all about the girls. Sign with me, I could have you a safe house with fifteen bedrooms like that,” he snapped his fingers together.
Adrien gave a quiet laugh beneath his breath and stood from the chair smoothly, buttoning his suit jacket as though the meeting had already concluded.
“You’re not offering me anything I couldn’t achieve on my own, Vittorio. You think there’s not other real estate agents ready to get their hands dirty?”
“None as wealthy and as connected as I am.”
“Interesting you should bring that up—let’s talk wealth for a second. How’s that second mortgage treating you?”
Second mortgage?
“How is Sophie handling her new weekly allowance? How much did you cut it by? 50k?” He sucked his breath in between his teeth. “That’s quite the downgrade. It seems you need me more than I need you. Come back to me when you have something interesting to offer.”
My father’s expression shifted instantly.
Panic.
Real panic.
This wasn’t going the way he planned at all, and he was on the verge of losing it.
“Isabelle,” he called out suddenly, stammering over the word.
Adrien paused near the door.
“Isabelle,” my dad repeated, sounding much more confident now.
Slowly, Adrien turned back around, and my stomach twisted at the smug satisfaction on my dad’s face.
“There it is,” Adrien murmured. “You’re finally ready to play.”
My father straightened in his seat, smoothing his hands over the desk before folding them together carefully.
“I’m listening,” Adrien said, walking back over to the desk but not sitting back down.
“The public has been waiting years for you to settle down,” my dad said calmly.
“Your image is powerful, Adrien, but unstable. You’re running the risk of becoming a playboy.
And that’s not what the public wants to see.
You risk sponsors, advertisers. Your carefully crafted empire can be crumbled with one bad accusation.
And we’re all hearing rumours of the women from your clubs going missing.
How long do you think you can distance yourself from that for? ”
Adrien folded his arms as he pondered my dad’s words.
“A wife changes that. A beautiful wife?” He smiled faintly. “That becomes the fairytale.”
Adrien remained silent.
“You marry my daughter, and suddenly the press stop questioning your nightlife and start printing headlines about romance. Legacy. We frame it correctly, and the public will eat it alive. And what better than a woman who already knows her place? One you don’t have to worry about embarrassing you in public, or one you’ve got to train.
Isabelle has had obedience groomed into her since she was born. ”
Adrien sat back down. As the chair groaned beneath his weight, a grumble echoed in Silas’s chest.