Page 119 of Alluring Darkness

ONE YEAR LATER

My hands are steady as I use a small brush to spread poison across the synthetic skin that covers Eli’s palms. He leans his hip against the white marble counter beside the sink, his eyes fixed on the door to the small private bathroom we’re currently occupying. Light from the golden lamp in the ceiling casts his face in a warm glow and makes him look even more handsome in his sharp black suit.

I’m just about to dip the tiny brush into the vial of poison again when a buzzing sound interrupts. Raising my eyebrows, I glance down at the phone in Eli’s pocket.

He sighs. Tearing his eyes from the door, he looks down at his hands, which he can’t use right now, and then back up at me.

“Want me to check it?” I ask.

“Yeah. It might be the Morellis. If they’re calling off the hit, it would be good to know that before we kill him.”

I chuckle. “Agreed.”

After carefully setting down the brush on the small lid to the poison bottle, I slide my hand into Eli’s pocket. And just because I’m a wicked little bitch, I brush my hand over his cock on the way. A shudder rolls through his body.

Narrowing his eyes, he fixes me with a pointed stare. “Careful now, princess. Just because I can’t touch you right now doesn’t mean that I can’t still fuck your brains out right here in this bathroom.”

I snicker and wiggle my eyebrows in challenge. But before either of us can do anything about it, I pull out the phone and look down at the name visible on the screen.

Worry blows across Eli’s face. “It’s Rico.”

“Want me to answer it?”

“Yeah. Kaden told me that, with me having graduated and the new first-years who have arrived, the Petrov family apparently outnumbers our family back at Blackwater this year. And those crazy Russian fuckers have apparently been coming at them hard. Something might have happened.”

Sliding my finger across the screen, I answer the call and then put it on speaker so that Eli can hear it too.

“Hey, Rico,” he says. “You’re on speaker because Raina is currently spreading poison across my hands.”

“Eli, I…” Rico begins but then trails off. “Wait, what? Poison? Do you need help? Is she trying to kill you?”

“I heard that,” I mutter.

Eli chuckles. “No, it’s for a hit. We’re out of state for another stealth mission since Connor and that forgettable face of his is still stuck in New York for that other high-profile job.” He smiles at me, knowing how relieved I am that our family’s reputation has now been restored. But then worry etches his face again as he focuses on the phone. “What’s going on? Is it the Petrovs?”

“What?” Rico replies, sounding very distracted. “Oh, the Petrovs. No, we’ll handle those morons. Don’t worry.”

“Then what is it?”

“I found her.”

Eli’s eyes widen. “Heras in…?”

“Yeah. The girl who saved my life that night.” Even through the phone, I can hear the stunned incredulity in his voice. “She’s here. At Blackwater.”

“Do you want me to come back? To help you… do something? Anything?”

“No. No, I, uhm… I just wanted to tell you because—” He stops and instead lets out an exasperated groan. “Aw, fuck. The Petrovs are here. I’ll call you back.”

Before Eli can answer, Rico ends the call.

I raise my eyebrow in silent question, but Eli just shakes his head. “He’ll call back later. And besides, we have a man to kill.”

“True.”

After slipping the phone back into his pocket, I finish coating the synthetic flesh with a thin layer of poison. It’s the kind of fake skin that actors use, so it will hold up well enough for our plan.

“Alright, done,” I say while screwing the lid back on the small bottle. “As soon as you brush your hand over some part of his skin, the poison will start to take effect. I recommend the back of his hand, since you can get away with bumping into that without raising suspicion, but any part of his body works. After the poison begins seeping into his skin, the clock starts ticking. He’ll be dead after about three hours, give or take.”

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