Page 64 of Delivered to the Devil

He takes my jacket from the back of my chair, and I let him lead me to the new table with a hand on my back. I don’t know if he likes me as more than a friend, but if he does, it’s clearly not what this is about. He could easily take advantage of my fragile state, but he’s only acting caring and concerned, which makes me feel safe.

Everything moves slowly and sluggishly. I have to concentrate just to sit down on the chair he pulls out for me, and when he takes the one next to me and says something, I have to ask him to repeat.

“What’s wrong, Rebecca?” he says with a directness unlike his usual careful probing.

“Nothing.”

I watch as he opens the tea box and takes out a couple of bags. He dumps a bag of mint tea—my favorite—in one mug and a black one in the other. Grabbing the handle on the kettle, he looks up at me. “It’s clear that something’s wrong. Usually, you’re eager to get close to the water, but now you won’t even set foot outside, and you can’t even sit by the window.” He lifts the kettle to fill the two mugs, casting worried glances at me as he goes.

“Sorry,” I mumble, unable to come up with something better to say.

“You don’t need to apologize, but I want to know what’s wrong. Is it your boyfriend?” When I don’t answer, he continues. “Is he hurting you?”

“My boyfriend?” I finally reply with a frown.

András lifts a surprised eyebrow, looking as confused as I feel. “The man who called and...” He hesitates as if contemplating how to phrase it. “He spoke highly of you for the job.”

Suddenly, the pieces fall into place, and one plus one equals two again.Of course,he’s talking about Janos—who must have called to “convince” András to give me the job. I want to ask what exactly Janos said, but I’m not sure I want to know. And another question suddenly presses more.

“Was that the reason I got the job?”

András heaves a heavy sigh. “It was between you and another girl. She was fluent in both Hungarian, German, and English, and had a lot of waitress experience, so the choice fell in her favor. But then your boyfriend called... if that’s what he is?”

I swallow hard as a well of emotions tightens my throat. “He’s not my boyfriend.”Far from it.

“Then who is he?”

With downcast eyes, I shake my head and watch my hands clinging to each other on the table.

András reaches out and separates them to take them both in his own. He draws a deep breath as if he’s about to tell me something difficult. “My sister got involved with a mafia boss a few years ago. The guy appeared charming and ordinary at first, but by the time she discovered his mafia ties, it was already too late.”

Terror must be written all over my face because András reassures, “Don’t worry, she’s still alive. She lives here in Budapest with her husband and their two children and works as a nurse now.” His eyes light up with pride, but his expressiontightens again as he continues. “When she finally found out, she was in so deep she couldn’t just walk away, and he refused to let her go. Fortunately, our uncle is a supreme court judge and knows the right people. But it was a damn dirty job to get her out of it—bribing mafia bosses and high-ranking politicians. That kind of thing. The system is rotten, through and through.”

He goes quiet for a moment before continuing. “The reason I’m telling you this is that it seems you might also be involved with some bad people, and I want to help you. And maybe more importantly, Icanhelp you.”

He watches me like he desperately hopes I’ll open up to him. For a moment, I’m tempted to do just that, but then I remember who Gabor is—not just a mafia boss. He’s one of the highest-ranking politicians in Hungary and probably one of the most corrupt individuals in this whole damn nation. It’s widely known—or at least widely suspected—that the Prime Minister and his closest allies, including Gabor, skim off everything and engage in criminal activities on the side. They’re practically untouchable since they have everyone in their pockets and enough cash to bribe their way through the corrupt system.

Knowing who to bribe and having the right connections won’t help here, and I can’t risk anything happening to my sister’s family. So I end up just sitting there, staring at his hands holding mine as tears trail down my cheeks. Eventually, I can’t take it anymore—not the helplessness, not his care that I can’t accept.

I abruptly stand. “I have to go now. Thanks for the tea.” I grab my coat and leave the boat in a hurry with András calling out after me.

CHAPTER 30

“Vore”

by Sleep Token

Janos

“I have to be out of the country on urgent business for the next week and a half. I want to bring Rebecca,” Gabor says.

I clench the phone in my hand and squeeze my eyes shut as I gather my modicum. It’s getting harder these days with Gabor getting more brutal and my dick aching more with each day I can’t have her. But I manage to keep my voice calm, my question rational. “Where are you going?”

“Germany.”

I break into a laugh that dissolves the coiling tension in my gut with a burst of relief. “Germany? Are you kidding me? You want to bring a traumatized girl into a country that values human rights as high as the country she came fromandis right next to Denmark?”

“She’ll stay quiet. There’s not been a peep from her since the roses.”

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