Page 85 of Sweet Deception
In this moment, I fully understand the kind of people I’m dealing with.
What was I thinking, infiltrating that wedding? And now I’m about to go face the man who runs this place, the man who this placebelongsto? I’m paralyzed as Darren puts the car in park and climbs out. I don’t even twitch toward the exit. How can I?
I’m so far out of my element, it’s not even funny. The fact that I’ve come this far with my head still attached to my body is just sheer dumb luck.
When Darren figures out that I have no intention of getting out of his car, he comes around to my side and opens the door.
“Let’s go.” He offers his hand. “We’ve kept my uncle waiting long enough.”
I climb out of the vehicle, hugging Piro.
With one hand on my lower back, Darren leads me into the ginormous mansion he calls home. I do my best to keep my jaw off the floor as I drink it all in. Giant crystal chandeliers. Fine art worth millions of dollars. Marble floors. Red carpets. Whatsmells like gourmet food simmering in some two-thousand-square-foot kitchen, I presume. Maybe that’s where Darren developed his culinary skills…growing up in this place?
We stop briefly in what appears to be a billiard room, though the space seems far too luxurious for such a pedestrian name. After telling me to wait inside, he disappears. At first, I think he’s gone to alert Shane that I’m here, but he instead returns to usher in a young woman with deep brown, gold-flecked eyes and hair the color of black tea.
She introduces herself as Kiara before immediately zeroing in on Piro in my arms.
“Kiara will take care of Napalm while we go talk to Shane,” Darren says.
I tighten my grip on my feline companion. “I can keepPiro. It’s fine.”
Kiara smiles, her eyes crinkling like my grandmother’s. “I promise he’ll be fine with me. I’ll spoil him rotten.”
While she appears sincere, I’m terrified to part with my little guy. I have no idea whether I’ll ever reconnect with him. With trembling hands, I surrender him to the eager Kiara, who does seem like she’s got a PhD in the ‘spoiling adorable creatures’ department…
Darren guides me to a sprawling staircase that would fit right in at Buckingham Palace. We climb two flights up to the second floor and weave through a network of warmly lit, if completely intimidating, hallways until we reachthedoor. It’s big, imposing, and guarded by two muscle-popping statues similar to the ones who were assigned to me at the safe house.
The men step aside to let us in, but before we go any farther, Darren turns to me. “I didn’t want to leave you, you know.”
My heart surges into my throat.
What the hell do I say to that? And why is he telling me now?
But then he pushes open the door to his uncle’s office, and we’re inside, once again facing the man himself.
“Veronika, I’ve been expecting you,” are the first words from the older man’s unforgiving mouth. Shane glances to one of two leather armchairs facing his desk. “Sit.”
I do as he instructs, folding my hands to hide their trembling. Darren comes to a position of rest behind me, still standing. Even with him there, this is the most terrified I’ve ever been.
Shane’s questioning begins, and it’s immediately obvious he’s a masterful investigator. His focus on my connections to and knowledge of their rivals is nothing short of surgical. Calculated to thenthdegree.
As he probes the extent of my network—the women I’ve vanished, the electronic trails I’ve erased, and information on how I created new identities—I become increasingly exposed and vulnerable. Though I maintain my composure every step of the way, I realize there are absolutely no guarantees about my safety. I also understand no path forward exists that’s not paved with the simple truth.
Surely Darren would’ve told me if I had nothing to fear from this interview. Instead, his last words to me were grave, as if one wrong move could end in my death.
Throughout this interrogation, Shane regards me levelly and reveals nothing.
When he concludes his questioning, the room reverts back to horrible, exacting silence. I sit as still as I can, yearning to float away like a microscopic dust particle.
I don’t know how long the moment lasts—forever and a day—but eventually, Shane shifts to Darren.
“Keep her close. Her skills might prove useful.”
Bozhe moy.Monsoon rains of relief flood through me.
I passed the test.
But my reaction confuses me. I’m mollified by the prospect of being held captive by mafia men? And more of them this time?
