Category: New Release

♦ ♦ ♦

I pocket the phone again, opting to keep it
until I’m satisfied, and turn back toward my waiting vehicle, walking over the
two dead men on my way. By the time I’m in front of the driver’s side door, I
have one of The Elixir staff on the phone.

“There’s something you need to deal with out
here,” is all I bark into the phone before hanging up and focusing on Della,
who still stands on the sidewalk, a little dumbfounded. I know she won’t run
because I have something of hers, and clearly, she’s scared at what I’ll learn
about her, which means safety is now secondary from her perspective.

“Get in.”

She looks around, her big eyes scanning the
street before glancing toward the dead men. Debate rolls over her expression in
the form of a downturned mouth before she side-steps them and walks toward the
car, stopping on the passenger side. I watch her, brows lifting slowly as I
silently command her to enter the vehicle.

“Don’t make me repeat myself. Men have died for
less.”

“You wouldn’t kill a woman.”

Some made men won’t because they view women as people
too gentle to do harm, to be needing protection instead; that if they were to
harm them, they have an unfair advantage. I don’t think like that because it’s
sometimes women who are the nastiest of snakes. They use their gender as
protection, knowing they can do anything and walk away unscathed. Women and men
are equal in their ability to lie, steal, cheat, and betray, and for that, I will
hurt a woman if the situation calls for it.

“You don’t know what I’ll do, so if you value
your life, get inside the car.”

She levels her gaze at the vehicle. “First, my
phone.”

My teeth grind together, annoyance working at
my nerves. It’s like she’s completely forgotten the part about her being in my
debt, not the other way around.

Gripping the top of my door, I’m seconds away
from going around the car and throwing her ass in the back myself. “You are in
no place to bargain, Della. Last time I’m repeating myself. Get in the fucking
car or I’ll find you a place to sit, and I promise, you won’t enjoy it.”

The skin between her eyes furrows and her nose
does this cute little flaring thing as the spark of fight is still lit inside
her, but she finally obeys me and ducks inside the car.

Fucking Christ. I don’t know what I’m getting into with this
woman, but already, I’m exhausted trying to figure it out. I slip into the
driver’s seat and immediately start the car, suddenly eager to get back home
and be alone with her.

In my peripheral vision, I watch how she
squirms, pressing her legs together and moving her body as far away from me as
possible, right up against the passenger door. Her head is angled away,
watching as we drive down Sainte-Catherine Street.

She remains silent, wisely not asking for her
cellphone again. I maneuver us quickly through the other vehicles on the road,
managing to make it to the highway in record time, then up toward the Corsetti
mansion.

As I pull off toward my house, I wonder how she
made it there the first time. Mentally, I list the things I’ve learned about
her, and what I actually know about her. Her name certainly isn’t Anna, but if
that’s what she went with, it means there was an Anna on the guest list. Did
Della know and choose a name that would guarantee to get her inside or did the
name end up on the list because she managed to get it there? Who was Anna
supposed to be? Who brought her to my mansion, and why? Is this some giant ploy
to get close to me and she created this whole persona to do just that? The girl
I met last night avoided me at the party though, so why would she run off when
she gained my attention? Or is that part of the game she’s conducting?

And why do I feel like I’m part of some
malevolent plan? I design the games, no one else, and Della will learn
this very soon.

I pull into the driveway, throwing the car into
park, and leave it right in front of the house, rather than inside the
multi-car garage we have. I’ll get someone to put it away later. Before exiting
the car, I take her cell from my pocket and toss it onto her lap. The only use
it has is gaining her submission, and now that we’re at my house, her phone is
meaningless.

“Next time, don’t leave it around a stranger’s
house.”

She grasps it eagerly, barely glancing at it
before sliding it into her small purse. Strange, for someone to be so excited
about their technology and not even give it the attention I’d assume she would
have.

I get out of the car and by the time I make it
to her side, she’s also opening the door. Finally learning the rules.

“Come.”

Without looking at her, I enter the mansion, walking
past the single soldier stationed by the door. She’ll follow because she has
nowhere else to go. I lead us down the hallways and toward my office.

At the doorway, I stand aside, letting her go
first. She stops at the door and glances wearily at me, her brows dipping over
her eyes.

“How do I know you won’t hurt me once we get in
there?”

“That depends. Do you deserve to be hurt?”

Her lips press together and instead of
responding, she enters my office. Her silence tells me everything though.

She’s stacking up her falsities, but they’ll
all come crashing down soon. Liars can only maintain deceit for so long before
they crack. And I’ll be the one to make her crack. To shatter and spread those
broken pieces.

She’ll reveal everything before long.

♦ ♦ ♦