Page 18 of Deception

He’s always had a soft spot for her. The day our fathers agreed she would marry Niko was probably the best day of his life. Stupid, really, because he does not know what he’s in for.

“What are you going to do when she becomes an actual nun? I’m doing you a favour. Your poor heart,” I tease, taking a sip of my drink as I smirk at him.

It’s obvious his anger is getting the best of him from the way he’s grinding his teeth and checking the time on his watch. A coping mechanism he’s fostered from when we were kids. Niko focuses on the ticking hands as though it will erase the facts while I continue staring him out.

“Oh, come on, don’t be a pansy.”

“Stop, Tomasz.” Standing, he knocks back the rest of his whiskey before pulling his suit jacket back on. “Stop threatening to take her to the clubs. Have some respect for her, and if you can’t, have respect for me. You fucking owe me that much.”

“You realise this is as touchy as it’s going to get for the two of you?”

A scowl twists his glare into a sneer as he drops a wad of cash onto the table. “I’m done covering for you. Get rid of the girl before things get even more fucked up.”

“Is that an order, Niko?”

“I wouldn’t be so stupid,” he scoffs back, obviously taking the piss because he doesn’t apologise or step down from his power trip. “Call it friendly advice…move on. Let the men have her, and find another cunt to wet your cock…”

The fucker is lucky that we’re more family than friends. If anyone else spoke to me this way, they’d be halfway to their grave already. Instead, I push down my irritation and finish my vodka. The buzz of the alcohol numbs me enough to stomach his remark.

Let the men have her.

Ignoring the crackle of anger that crawls up my spine, I take a deep breath and stand, picking up the cash he put down on the table before I follow him out. It’s rare that I use the front door whenever I come here. It’s safer and discreet to use the back door. Especially when we’re doing business. But the more his words repeat in my head, the more impossible it becomes to pull back in the opposite direction.

“What? Are you coming home with me?” Niko calls over his shoulder when we reach outside. The dry laughter in his voice fuels my already simmering rage. As he pulls out his smokes, he turns to grin at me with a shake of his head. “Who’s touchy now?”

Son of a bitch. The curse rampages through me. My hand draws my gun from the holster beneath my jacket as I step closer to him, pushing him into the shadow of the awned entrance with the barrel of my weapon.

“Really? You took a bullet for her, and now you’re going to kill me?” Not that he’s worried because he carries on lighting his cigarette without a single shudder or an inkling of fear. Taking a long, leisured puff, Niko narrows his eyes at me, savouring the hit of nicotine before he blows out the smoke. “Is she that deep under your skin?”

“You’ll continue doing as I bid you, Nikolai. Red stays where she is for as long as I say. If you don’t make sure it continues that way, our friendship is void.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s where I want her.”

“It’s you that’s meant to destroy her, not the other way around.” Taking another puff of his smoke, he presses forward.

“I won’t warn you again,” I tell him, grasping his jaw with one hand while I stow the gun with the other. “This is the first and last time,friend.”

A vapid scoff rumbles from his curled lips as I take a step back, taking his money from my pocket. I shove the cash into the breast pocket of his jacket before walking away. By the time I reach the edge of the sidewalk, my driver is pulling up.

The entire journey back to the palace, my head is spinning with his fucking words. By the time we come to a stop, I’m in half a mind to turn back and make good on my threat. Still, it’s not his steps I climb, nor his door that I walk through in the dark. It’s not Niko’s sleeping form that I watch in the dim moonlight.

Aside from the fact of it being a strange thing for me to do—it’s her.

Lucy Stanton. My Little Red. It’s her I want to set eyes on. The girl whose hope clings on day after day even when it’s obvious that her will is fading.

Motherfucking hope needs to take a hike so we can move on from this. I can be rid of her and?—

My train of thought evaporates as I draw closer, and she turns onto her side, facing me. Pale skin glows in the silvered light that makes her lips seem darker. A bruised shade of pink that makes my pulse race with the need to trace the perfectly bowed lines. It’s a pity that something so beautiful should have such a tragic fate.

Is she that deep under your skin?

I wait for the anger that’s simmering in my veins to erupt. My hands are clenched, waiting for my control to dissipate. I’m ready and eager to tear her to pieces. Yet when her eyes blink open, my pulse trips over itself. Heat flares to the surface of my skin, as though I’ve been caught red-handed doing something I shouldn’t be.

“Are you going to kill me now?” Red asks, her usual husk a little more gravelly than normal.

For an instant, it’s impossible to say anything. My tongue feels numb while my throat is swollen, like I’m allergic to her gaze and presence. Still, I shake my head, taking a step closer as I tell her, “No.”

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