Page 29 of The Devil We Know

My entire body freezes, and my jaw clenches as the insinuation behind his words sinks in, and now I do look at him, but suddenly, he won’t meet my eyes.

I’m saved from any kind of response that I’m dying to come out with when the older man says, “Jessica, consider yourself a guest for the time being. I’ll have one of the women set you up with your own quarters while we get this sorted.”

I turn and focus on him as I nod and reply, “Thank you. That is appreciated.”

The man nods and motions to someone on the outskirts. Then, the next thing I know, a middle-aged woman is beside me, and she motions for me to proceed with her back across the room. I do as I’m told, suddenly desperate to be out of this room and away from these fucking people.

We pause at the doorway as one of the men opens the door for us, and then we walk through. I pause for a moment, glancing over my shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of Matt.

But he’s gone.

12

An Answer, Of Sorts

Matt

When we got thecall to report for a situation briefing, never in my wildest dreams would I have considered that I would end up face-to-face with Jessica.

I’ll admit it was only my lifetime experience of controlling my outward emotions that kept me from completely giving away our relationship.

And to say that would have been a disaster is a serious understatement.

I also realized that she likely said she was here for Matt and intended to find me rather than Matteo. And of course, Kaian would naturally assume she was for Matteo because no one is gonna send anyone for me.

What an absolute fucking clusterfuck.

My first instinct is to reach out to Darius and find out why Jessica is here. There’s not a chance in hell she would be here if she wasn’t somehow involved with those fucking assholes, and why any of them would think it was a good idea to send her into this hellhole is beyond me.

And I’m fucking pissed.

I barely manage to temper my anger as the men around me discuss the pertinent details of how we’re supposed to handle this new situation.

I’m still reeling as I finally manage to exit the room, and Kaian, being the observant person that he is, is right on my heels, and I know I only have a matter of moments before he’s all up in my ass, trying to figure out what the fuck my problem is.

No sooner are we through the doorway and the door is shut behind us than he asks, “What the fuck’s going on, Matt?”

I don’t bother looking at him as I reply, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t give me that shit, man,” he responds. “Maybe you can pull one over on those other assholes, but I’m not that stupid.”

I ignore him, hoping that he’ll drop it though also knowing that he won’t. So it’s no great surprise to me when he adds, “Seriously. If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I can’t help you.”

I turn to him then and say, “You can’t help me.”

He glares at me, his arms crossing over his chest as he says, “Like fuck I can’t.”

I don’t know what it is about this guy, but I’m not entirely sure I trust his mission to possibly help me. Typically, when people consistently go out of their way to help you, it’s because theyhave an agenda that would be detrimental to your overall well-being.

He stares at me, waiting for me to say something, so finally, I shrug, and shake my head. “I’m not saying that you’re not capable of helping me, Kai. But helping me would only put you at risk, and I’m not willing to do that.”

This time, his eye-roll is obnoxious, and he snorts and then replies, “Give me a fucking break. You don’t get to decide where and when I put my life at risk.”

“Well, that may be so, but right now, I don’t really see how you can help. That doesn’t mean there won’t be something that comes up in the near future, though, so consider your offer noted.”

“See that you do.”

He stares me down until I nod in agreement, and then he nods as well before turning and exiting the room.

---