Page 24 of Devil's Rage

Because I wanted her. I wanted her body, her mind—and for her to see me. To keep seeing me and calling me out and being utterly, fucking perfect. I had to clench my fists and stop myselffrom doing something like going down on my knees and asking her what I could do to have her.

“Daniel, I’m not working for any gangsters or this Hendrix, I’m not planning a hit on your family.” She suddenly sounded tired—exhausted, and her voice shook in a way that had me taking an instinctual step forward. “I slept with you to get to your computer, yes, but also for my best friend, that your family kidnapped.” I slowly turned, a strange sensation coming over me, as though the floor was suddenly further away and my entire body going from ice-cold to red-hot with awareness. “And I want her back.” Sara’s face was set, her head held up high, and she stared me down. “I will do anything—anythingto get my Lia back.”

Sara

For a split-second, the look on Daniel’s face made my heart flutter and a grim triumph take hold of me. But then it vanished as he tilted his head and all expression melted away into that aloof, amused mask, one that took on hard edges. He took a deliberate step toward me, then another, and another.

“I wonder if Hendrix will miss you,” Daniel said and dragged his knuckles down the side of my face. I jerked away, unnerved, and he laughed by my ear. “I know I will—or at least that mouth.” He briefly pressed a hand to my bare thigh, and I flinched. “And not getting to know what it’s like to feel you squeeze and come on my cock, sobbing my name between clenched teeth.”

My nipples tightened and I squirmed, but those were distant, almost instinctive reactions. I barely sensed them as my heart fell through my chest and kept falling. I wanted to scream at him, I wanted to throw something, but more than that, I wanted him to come back.

Daniel had slipped away somewhere, and I suddenly felt strangely alone in the room even as he sat down across from me.

He regarded me and then asked in an even tone, “So, what is Hendrix planning?”

“Are you fucking serious?” I couldn’t help it, I stamped a foot on the floor and glared at him. “I don’t know him. But you know Lia—Lia Goldin. She got caught in the crosshairs with that dumbass cop who had shit on the Michaelsons.” My chest rose and fell, the air sawing out of my lungs painful. “I know you have her.”

Daniel’s face didn’t move a muscle and I almost began to start second-guessing myself. Was he not in the know of everything the Michaelsons got up to? No, he shared the last name and wrote their computer programs, he had to.

What if he doesn’t? What if he doesn’t know where Lia is? What if this was a waste of time?

“If you do security stuff, does that mean you help Hendrix with offshore accounts?” Daniel asked. “Could you hack in? I might make a deal if you agree to drain his coffers, Iris.”

“Sara,” I spat at him, suddenly enraged. “Oh, I hit a nerve, didn’t I—I…” My throat went tight. “You didn’thurther, did you?” I couldn’t even say my other fear, ripping inside of me. “Just give me my friend back. We’ll leave you alone—and sure, I’ll even help you go after this other gangster dude. I will do anything. Just let Lia go.”

“Why did Hendrix kill Ivan Volksov?”

“Kill?” I tried not to worry that he’d used such a word after I’d asked about Lia. “I don’t know who that is but it’s probably because he’s an actual monster. Unlike you, Danny. I see what you’re doing.”

Daniel gave me a soft half-smile that caused my skin to crawl from my bare, cold feet to the top of my scalp. “What am I doing?”

“You’re playing a part,” I said, almost at random, and his eyes flickered. “I don’t know why you have to, either, not when—”

I suddenly remembered the compassion Daniel had had earlier around my initial balking at being restrained, the concern in his eyes when I’d asked for no handcuffs, and even when he’d thrown me into this chair, he’d been careful.

“When?” He prompted.

“Tell me where Lia is—let her go, and I will tell you.”

“Hm,” Daniel said and steepled his fingers, leaning forward. I waited, holding my breath, wondering if he’d tell me when he launched into more questions. “Does Hendrix have access to the Bratva funds? Or is he just making money off of dealing drugs for the cartels? Who’s his connection in South America? Varsai?”

“I don’t know Hendrix,” I gritted out. “Or any of that shit. Lia Goldin—”

“How many people are in his employ right now? And is that little scummy lawyer still sniffing around?”

My head began to spin, and I shook my head. “Is she okay? Will you at least tell me if she’s okay?”

Daniel paused for a moment. “Does his lawyer know what Caleb does?”

“Who’s lawyer—what?” I leaned my head back. I was getting lightheaded—it wasn’t my imagination. “Who the fuck is Caleb? What a stupid fucking name.” That was the name I had just seen on his computer, but I had no idea who he was.

A laugh escaped Daniel but when I looked at him, he was still staring at me, and then launched into another round of questions. He was relentless, the words cutting into my skin, my sense of time and place, until I let out a frustrated scream at the ceiling.

“I don’t know any of these people, Daniel.” I sounded hysterical, almost on the verge of tears, and he made a strange sound. “Do I seem like a liar?”

“Yeah,” he said, and I started, looking down. “You do, Sara. So, let’s talk aboutyou.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

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