by Ella Miles
I stand up and pour myself another glass of scotch, shooting the glass of liquid down my throat for courage to go do something that someday is going to lead to a broken heart.
And then I go in search of Julian, who is, of course, nowhere to be found on the main level. His car is still in the garage, though, which means he’s in his bedroom. The one place in this house I feel completely uncomfortable in. Julian knows that.
Fuck.
But I’m not going to let the fact that I have to talk to him in his bedroom stop me. I’m on a mission. A mission to save Zeke’s girl.
Zeke’s girl—what I wouldn’t give to earn that title myself.
The door to Julian’s bedroom is closed. So I knock. I’m not about to walk in on him indecent or fucking another woman or touching himself. That’s exactly what Julian would want.
But of course, it doesn’t stop Julian from opening the door shirtless. He’s wearing his dark dress pants and no shirt.
His body is nice. He has abs and hardness in all the right places. He has a slim waist and wide shoulders. But I guess it’s the evil heart and wicked eyes that stop me from pining after him in any way. It’s hard to be attracted to someone after you’ve seen them kill someone just because they fucked up and brought you the wrong food. A big turnoff, trust me.
“Yes?” Julian says, his eyes telling me to ogle his body like he’s doing to me.
“We need to talk.”
He holds the door open, and I step inside, ignoring his perfectly unflawed body. Unlike Zeke and I’s body that has been marked with bullet wounds, with knives, with scars, Julian’s body is perfect. Because he has people like me who do his dirty work, so he never has to.
“You breaking up with me, Aria?” Julian asks at my choice of words.
I wish—I wish I could break up with Julian, but somehow, I keep finding myself more and more in debt to him.
“What will it take to ensure that you never go after Lucy?” I ask. I don’t even know her last name. All I know is that Zeke needs her protected. So I’ll protect her with my dying breath. I’ll do anything. I can’t pretend I wouldn’t. I need to try to manipulate Julian into trading Lucy for a simple task I can do for him.
But Julian knows me too well. He knows I have a thing for Zeke. Worse—he knows I’m in love with Zeke. He was the first to know, even before I realized it myself.
Julian shakes his head in disappointment. “I thought you were better than that. Are you really going to keep loving a man who will never return your feelings?”
I don’t answer that. Because I am better than that. I am stronger. And no, I don’t plan on spending the rest of my life loving Zeke when he’s in love with someone else. But from the outside looking in, I’ve hurt Zeke so many times. If I can do something to mend the bonds I’ve broken between us, then I will.
I put my hands on my hips, staring Julian down, refusing to talk to him about my feelings.
“What will it take?” I ask again.
He stretches, and his pants hang lower on his hips. Gross.
“Let’s see,” he rubs his chin, pretending to think. But he already knows what he wants. It’s the same thing he’s always wanted—me in love with him.
He’s never raped me, except for the one time he came close. He’s never taken it because he wants me to offer myself to him willingly. The only thing I’ve offered is my loyalty. My skills are working in his favor. That’s the best he’s ever going to get.
“Julian,” I hiss my warning.
He cocks his head. “Aria Torres.”
Chills surge through my body, and not the good kind. If Julian calls me anything other than his pet, he always uses my real name—Aria Torres.
No one else calls me that. Not Nora, not Hugo, and not Zeke.
Sometimes I feel like the only person I can truly be myself with is Julian. He’s the only one who knows everything about my past. He’s the only one who can see my true feelings because he’s desperate for me to turn those feelings towards him.
“What will it take for you to leave Lucy alone? For you to tell me where she lives so I can make her disappear? So you can never find her again?”
“Don’t you mean so Zeke can never find her again?”
“No.” I’ll tell Zeke where she is. Even if it will kill me to see him run to her.
“You’re getting better at that lying thing, Aria.”
I frown; he’s noticed. I’m so close to being able to lie out loud that it scares me, the temptation of it. Because if I can lie, I can be in control again. Right now, I’ve only been able to lie to myself.
“But you aren’t there yet.” Julian sighs. “You know most people see you as the devil’s right-hand woman. But you are every bit an angel.”
“An angel that can murder you and sleep peacefully right after.”
He grins. “That sounds like the very definition of an angel to me.”
“You’re stalling.”
“Am I? I guess I’m just hoping you seeing me shirtless in my bedroom will give you ideas. Especially since that oaf doesn’t know a good thing when he sees it.”
“This was a mistake,” I say, turning and pretending to walk out. I know the second that I rescind his ability to strike a deal with me, he’ll gravel. He likes our arrangements. He likes keeping me close.
“Wait!”
I smirk but then let my expression fall when I turn around. “Yes?”
“Agree to a date.”
“What?”
“Go on one date with me, and Lucy is off the table.”
My eyes widen—he’s serious. I thought I would have to trade years of my life to protect Lucy. I thought I would have to do something big. Something huge to keep her safe. But all he’s asking for is one date. One single date.
And somehow, one date seems like the worst thing he could ask for. A date with the devil, not exactly thrilling. But not the worst he could ask for.
“One date. Two hours. No kissing.”
He puts his hands in his pockets with a grin. He looks like such an innocent boy, not the horrible serpent he is.
I hold out my hand to make the deal. “And no sex.”
He sighs. “No sex, not unless you agree.”
“I want her address, now.”
He pulls out his phone and types something before handing it to me.
I study the Seattle address until I have it memorized.
I sigh. I don’t know who Lucy is, but her life just got a lot more complicated. Even though I trust Julian to keep his promise to me, I know Zeke won’t. Which means I have to make her disappear. Get her to a new place, with a new identity. It means I have to tell Zeke where she is and that she’s safe.
It means Zeke will be one step closer to realizing I have feelings for him—true feelings.
And it scares the shit out of me.
Because I don’t want him to know the truth. The truth will kill me. The heartbreak will end me.
I’d rather pretend I’m a strong, unbreakable woman—the independent, calculated siren.
Instead, I’m just a woman who fell in love with the wrong man. Then I fell in love with the right man, but it was too late. Because the right man hates me. The right man is in love with another woman. The right man will never love me back.
I hold my hand out again until Julian’s hand meets mine. I’ve made deals with him before for love—but this time, I know I got the better end of the deal. One date to save a life is nothing, especially when it means saving Zeke’s love.
“When?” Julian asks.
“Tonight, I want to get this over with.”
14
Zeke
I open the door after the petite knock barely makes me aware of the presence of someone at the door.
I assumed it was Siren, and she was timid after talking with Julian. But when I open the door, it’s one of the last people I expected.
“Nora, what brings you to my door?” I ask, hesitantly.
“Aria texted and sa
id you were going to be in need of a plane and wondered if I could help,” Nora answers, pushing past me into my house without waiting for an invitation.
I rub my neck, not having a clue what to do with Nora while we wait for Siren. I’m not the best at being friends with women. At least not the kind who wear dresses and makeup and don’t have a clue how to hold a gun—women like Nora.
Women like Siren, like one of my closest friends, Kai, who belong in this world and wield a gun as good as the rest of them, that kind of woman I understand.
“Siren isn’t here right now,” I start, but notice Nora has already made herself at home with a beer in my living room. She’s flipped the TV on, something I haven’t had time to watch since I’ve moved here.
I brace myself to watch one of those redecorating shows or reality TV shows, but instead, she flips to a soccer game.
“You like soccer?” I ask.
She nods. “I lived in England for a while, and I fell in love with soccer.”
By the way her eyes are following the men’s asses on the screen, I’m not sure if she fell in love with the game or the men. Or both.
But I grab a beer and sit on the couch next to her, hoping the game is enough to distract me while I wait for Siren to get here so we can make a plan on how to steal a billion dollars. I’m not bad with security systems, but I’ve never stolen that kind of cash before. So I’m hoping Siren has a better plan than I do.
Because my plan is to shoot Julian in the head, and hope none of his men kill Lucy before I can get to her. Which is a stupid, idiotic plan. Not one I will be able to risk. I won’t risk Lucy’s life.
I feel her before I see her. Of course, Siren let herself into my house.
“Don’t you have a house of your own?” I ask, my eyes leaving the TV for the first time in an hour.
Nora glares at me, thinking I’m an idiot for asking.
But Siren just sighs. “No, I don’t have my own house, actually. I have a room at Hugo’s, a room at Julian’s, and here. I would sleep at Nora’s, but she still lives with her parents in Anguilla, and just sleeps in hotels when she comes here. So no, I don’t have a house. And I’m sorry if I prefer your house to Hugo’s or Julian’s, but I don’t have a lot of choices.”
I swallow. I made a mistake. I realize now that I’m not even sure if Julian pays her with money for the job she does.
I clear my throat. “Do you have a plan?”
“Of course,” she responds, but she doesn’t look happy. Nora and her exchange a glance, and it looks like they’ve had an entire conversation I’m not privy too.
“So, where are we going? Who are we stealing from?”
“France,” Siren answers.
“Okay? Who’s in France?”
Siren walks down the hallway to the bathroom.
“Hugo’s parents,” Nora answers.
We are stealing from Hugo’s parents. “His parents have that kind of money, and Siren had to sell her soul instead of them helping their son out when he got in a bind,” I put together.
Nora nods solemnly.
Siren pops her head back in. “Do you have a dress I can borrow?”
“Nope, I’m all out of dresses,” I answer.
Siren rolls her eyes.
“Yep, I brought one in my bag,” Nora answers.
Siren nods.
I look at her closely. “You really want to steal from your in-laws?”
“Don’t you?” she asks.
“Well, yea…but I just thought…”
“Trust me, I’ve wanted to steal from them for a long time. If Hugo is an ass, they are the hole he came from.”
Nora runs off and returns a moment later with her bag. She starts digging through it and tosses Siren a black dress.
“Are we going tonight? Is that why you’re getting dressed up? Should I change?” I ask.
“No, we aren’t going tonight,” Siren grabs the dress and disappears down the hallway.
I follow after her and catch the bathroom door before she closes it.
She bats her eyes at me as if waiting for me to leave so she can change, but I’m not going to. She’s hiding something from me. If she’s planning on crying in the bathroom again, I want to know about it.
I open my mouth to ask her what happened and why she was crying, when she throws her T-shirt off over her head and starts undoing her pants.
Yep, there goes thinking about anything other than her body.
I should go. I shouldn’t keep looking at her when she’s undressing. But it’s too late. There is no way I can walk away now. Not from a mostly naked Siren.
“Why aren’t we going to France tonight? Wouldn’t it make more sense to fly overnight so we can sleep on the long flight?” I ask, finding my words somehow, even though I’m sure my mouth is gaping open as I stare at her.
“Nora can’t fly us all the way to France in her little propeller plane. She can fly us to Miami, and then we can catch a flight from there.”
Miami.
I stare at her, devoid of emotion. She knows Miami is Enzo’s base of operations. Is this a ploy to get me there and then use me as bait for my friends?
If it is, she’s a very good actor, because she gives me nothing.
“So, we can’t fly tonight?” I ask.
“We could, but the flights to France usually don’t leave until the evening. We wouldn’t make it to Miami before the flights leave for the night. We will have to wait until tomorrow.”
Her words make sense, so I try not to read too much into them.
And then she unhooks her bra, and I watch with wide eyes as it falls to the floor at her feet. But I’m not looking at her feet. I’m looking at her perky breasts and pointed nipples. She totally knows she has me under her spell. There is no hiding how I feel in response to seeing her naked body. My reaction is immediate and intense. My cock pushes hard in my pants against the zipper, desperate to have my way with her again.
My brain shouts never, while my cock screams aways. And my heart—that asshole has sped up at the beautiful sight of her, and it wants to give her another chance. We’ve already given her two! Two chances, and both times she hurt us.
Her breath catches at my response. She grabs the dress off the vanity and slips it over her head in one quick motion like she wasn’t just standing in front of me, baring her gorgeous tits to my face.
She reaches behind her and pulls up the zipper in one motion. This is Siren, and she never needs a man’s help. I can no longer breathe because Siren is standing in front of me in the tightest fucking black dress. It barely covers the important parts of her. The dress belongs to Nora, who is a good half a foot shorter than Siren.
She flips her hair back, and I realize now why she can’t wear a bra with the dress.
I’m drooling, staring at her breasts in the dress that accentuates her curves, and her nipples are just visible enough beneath the fabric to be sexy, but not overtly.
She looks damn good in that dress.
She turns away from me, running her hands through her hair to fluff it. Then she’s searching for the drawers of my bathroom until she pulls out a couple of makeup items. Makeup she must have stashed in here earlier.
She starts applying red lipstick, and that’s when I come to my senses.
“Siren? Why are you getting all dressed up?” And why don’t you want me to get dressed up?
Her eyes cut to me out of the corner of her eye, but she finishes applying her lipstick and looks at herself one last time in the mirror before she turns to me, as if she knows that when she answers, she won’t be continuing to apply makeup.
“I’m going on a date,” she answers.
I take a deep breath as she hasn’t said with whom yet. Hugo? Or me?
Since Hugo is in the hospital with a broken wrist and kneecap, I doubt it’s him.
And since I’m standing here not in date attire, I doubt it’s me either.
“Hmm, and who is taking you on a date?”
Sh
e bites her lip. “Julian.”
I lose it. “Julian? You mean the asshole who has you trapped in a contract for ten years? The asshole who is blackmailing me into turning over my boss to him? The man who is slimy and evil and killed innocent men? That man? The man I thought you hated?”
She nods.
“So let me get this straight. It wasn’t enough that you are married and have been fucking me, but now you want to date Julian? How many other men are you sleeping with?”
Her face turns red. “How many men am I fucking? Really? That’s the question you care about?”
“Yes,” I growl. I care. I want to know just how big of a slut she is. I want to know what number I am on her list among many.
“None! I’m not fucking anyone. You were the last man I fucked, and hell will freeze over before I do that again.” She tries to move past me out of the bathroom, but my large frame is blocking the way.
“Move!” she gruffs.
“You really are a slut, Siren. You’ll spread your legs for any man if it means you get something in return.”
Shit, I may have taken things too far by calling her a slut. But I’m pissed. It was one thing to learn she had a husband. Even one she doesn’t love. It’s another thing to learn that she also wants to date Julian, the most vile man on the planet.
Her eyes water in anger, sadness, shock. Yep, I definitely took things too far.
“You’re an ass,” she says, shoving me hard against my chest, pushing me back out of her way so she can escape the bathroom. She struts to the living room with me right behind her.
“Yea, and you’re a slut,” I say, doubling down on my insult. I don’t think I’ve ever used the word against a woman before, but heartbreak will do that to a man. Make you lash out in any way you can to prevent the pain.
“Shoes,” Siren says to Nora, who is sitting on the couch watching our exchange wordlessly. Nora reaches into her overnight bag and pulls some strappy black heels out.
Siren snatches them and starts putting them on while still standing. That’s how much of a hurry she is to get away from me. Not that I blame her, I want to get away from her. She starts walking toward my front door with her shoes halfway on.
