Page 115 of Deception

I can only hope that they didn't spike the water with something.

Kneeling by the door, I can make out voices, far away, but intelligible. Time slips away, losing meaning as I try to piece together anything I can from the conversation.

Most of it is banal, they’re playing cards to pass the time like a damn cliché from a movie. My eyes drag closed, exhaustion weighing on me.

I fight it for a while, but it’s a losing battle.

When I come to, I'm shivering, curled against the stone wall. Every muscle aches.

And the need to relieve myself is so bad that I almost can't stand it.

I hold out as long as I can. But there’s only a little shame and a lot of frustration when I finally cave and have to take care of it in the corner, as far from the door as possible.

Resuming my vigil, I crouch low, pressing my ear to the slits in the bottom of the door. The voices are louder now, closer.

“So what the fuck are we supposed to do? Just wait around here for days?”

“I'm fucking starving.”

“Me too. Make Harry go get us some food.”

“You kidding me? That guy’ll get us pinched.”

“Chill out. You’re too high strung.”

“Hey, the last thing we need is one of those insane brothers tracking us back here. We got the boss’s prize. Now we wait.”

“She's pretty good looking, isn't she? I wouldn’t mind a go at her.”

“No way. Keep it in your fucking pants or I'll have to chop your dick off.”

Good. someone is in charge, at least.

For now.

Waiting can make thugs like that nervous, though.

I have no sense of time in terms of actual daylight, but I get the impression that I’ve been here all night and into the morning. Both men sounded groggy, like they just woke up.

“Geez, you’re such a fucking killjoy.”

“Hey, I don’t want to be the one who has to explain shit to the big boss when he gets here.”

“When’s that?”

“Tonight. After dark.”

Which means I have another day to wait. And Alessandro has a day to find me.

25

ALESSANDRO

Bloodlust and rage start to clear.

Minutes or hours pass as I bludgeon and slash my way through every thug that came here tonight.

I demand answers. I kill those who can’t give me any.

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