Page 36 of The Devil In Disguise

Her smile is so beautiful up close, I thought I was struck by lightning momentarily with the force of it. I don’t know whether to stab her or kiss her for making me feel such strange emotions.

“Why don’t you just leave this place behind and start over somewhere quiet? You clearly have the money for it. I don’t know everything about how the mafia works, but you should always have a choice in life.” Amaris breaks the silence.

“It sounds so simple when you say it, but I can’t just leave. That’s not how it works around here.” At her puzzled expression, I elaborate. “Soon enough, I will have an empire to run. It wasn’t easy working my way up, either. This life is ruthless. It doesn’t care about what you want, and once it has its hooks in you, there is no escaping.”

“Surely there must be some way out.”

Before I get the chance to say anything else, my phone starts ringing in my pocket. The caller display reads Renato, bringing on the sensation of spiders crawling down my back.

“Yes?” I answer, sitting up straight.

“Come to my office, we need to have a chat.”

The line goes dead once he finishes speaking, but I keep my phone up to my ear while my head spins. Here I am, trusting Amaris when I’m supposed to be getting her to trust me.

Standing abruptly, I rake my hand through my hair. “Stay with Ace, I have to go handle something.”

When I enter Renato’s office, the two guards that usually stand outside his door are standing on either side of his desk. He has a cigar in his mouth when he sees me, blowing a big cloud of smoke in my direction.

“Come in, Kylo. I just wanna have a little talk, you can stand.” He ashes his cigar and takes a puff, then puts it out and gets comfortable in his chair. “Why did you shoot my guard?” The question is neutral, but I catch the insinuation in his tone.

My face remains impassive as I lie. “He was a rat.”

After pretending to think about what I said, he cocks his head my way and both soldiers waste no time jumping me. On instinct I fight back, but Renato’s booming voice drains the fight out of me.

“If you fight back, I will make it worse for you.”

All I can do is take the hits until Renato is satisfied. What he doesn’t know is I welcome the pain. It fuels the dark part of me that I lock up in a box and let loose in any way I know how. Fighting or sketching—two completely different hobbies, a paradox. It’s been a while since I’ve drawn, but recently I’ve been newly inspired.

These bastards are enjoying this a little too much, but they forget I know where they lay their heads at night.

Once Renato is seemingly satisfied with my bruised and bloody body, he orders his men out of the room. I’m lying on the floor still catching my breath when his face comes into view.

“This Saturday I will be hosting a special party. You will bring Amaris to the party and show her off on your arm, but you watch yourself, boy. Now, get off my floors. You look a mess.”

Chapter 16

Ace is laying down by his favorite tree while I’m laying with my head on his stomach staring up at the moon, lost in my thoughts. Suddenly, Ace barks and stands. I quickly follow suit to see what his problem is. When I see it, my mouth goes dry.

Kylo is walking slowly to his door with blood dripping down his eyebrow and chin, a few fresh bruises marring his face. The sight is oddly attractive, but the wave of concern and possession rolling through me is deeper, pushing me toward him without another thought. I’m in front of him before Ace, lightly holding his face to examine it.

“What the hell happened? I just saw you twenty minutes ago.” He grabs my hands and pulls them off his face, not responding nor looking at me.

“Kylo, who did this to you?” I urge with furrowed brows and a firm voice.

He walks inside his house and I follow, not waiting for an invite. When he looks at me again I ask, “Where is your first aid kit?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t have to do anything. If I’m offering it’s because I want to.”

Eying me carefully, he gives me a terse nod and disappears into his bedroom. His house has the same layout as mine, but that’s where the similarities end. Where my walls are blue or white, his are gray with black furniture everywhere. His kitchen has black cabinets with a light gray granite countertop and three, low-hanging lights over the island. The first thing that grabs my attention is a piano in the corner of the room. Walking up to it, I run my finger along the top of it, then something catches my eye—or someone.

It almost looks like…no, it can’t be.

There is a stack of canvases of different sizes leaning against a wall. The first one I pull back is a charcoal drawing of half of a man's face, the bottom half looks like it’s melting, or being washed away. Scanning behind me for Kylo and coming up short, I pull out the one I originally saw.

It’s a drawing of…me.

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