Seduced by Chaos

by Stephanie Julian

  But even though he knew what she was, Teo wasn’t looking at her like she was a circus freak. Or a possession to control.

  Those hazel eyes were steady. Calm. Concerned for her.

  As her heart rate calmed, she thought back to what he’d said.

  There’s something between you and me that works differently…

  She took a breath. And then another.

  “What… What do you mean there’s something between us?”

  Though he barely moved, Teo relaxed. She felt it as a slight lessening of tension in the air between them.

  “I mean, there’s something different about how we interact. Isn’t there?”

  She paused, thinking carefully about how much she wanted to reveal. In her gut, she knew Teo wouldn’t hurt her. But her brain realized he wasn’t being completely honest. He was holding something back. Just as she had.

  Her hands flexed around the sheets clutched at her chest, reminding her that she was naked. She wanted to take a shower. She needed a few minutes alone. She needed to get the hell out of there.

  But that would mean leaving Teo. And she so didn’t want to do that.

  That left her only one choice. Tell him everything and hope he was half the man she thought he was.

  But she’d do it on her own terms.

  “I’ll tell you what you want to know, Teo. But I’m going to take a shower first. I just need a few minutes to clear my head and get my thoughts in order.”

  She saw him mull that over for a few second before nodding. “Okay if I make us some breakfast?”

  Her relief showed in the small smile she gave him. “Sure. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  Still holding onto the sheet, she skirted the bed, heading for the attached bath. But before she could make a clean getaway, Teo stepped in front of her.

  The man just towered over her. And again, she was struck by the fact that he didn’t terrify her. He should. Other men—men not as big as Teo—had frightened her.

  With one finger under her chin, he tilted her head back, far enough to lay a soft kiss on her lips. No tongue, no heat.

  For such a big guy, he was amazingly gentle.

  And it melted any lingering edges of tension from her body. She longed for his arms to enfold her, for him to draw her into the warmth and security of his body. She actually started to lean into him just before he pulled back.

  The smile tugging at the corners of his lips drew an answering one from her.

  “You better get in the shower,” he said, “or I’ll be tempted to join you.”

  She wanted to say, “Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.” But she knew what would happen if he did.

  And she really did need a few minutes to get her brain back in working order.

  She made it to the bathroom without looking back.

  * * * * *

  Teo watched her go, rooting his feet to the floor so he wouldn’t follow her.

  Damn, but he wanted to.

  Still, they could both do with some down time and he was starving. Another byproduct of the amentia—he needed to eat on a regular basis or his body would eat away at itself. The amount of food he consumed in a week would terrify his mother and should have made him obese twelve times over. Instead, he fought to maintain his weight.

  He didn’t want Lacey to think he was snooping but he did look into the rooms he passed on his way down the hall. He thought he’d passed the kitchen right as he’d come up the steps last night but he wanted to know more about the woman he’d fallen so hard for.

  Too bad there wasn’t one damn personal object in the entire place.

  The second floor held only one bedroom and he’d already seen how spare that was. The bathroom across the hall was pristine. And stark white.

  The large room in the front of the building had a TV, a couch and a traditional Etruscan dining table, dark walnut and low to the ground that any etera would think was a coffee table. A galley kitchen sat along the far wall.

  No pictures on the walls. No magazines lay on the table. The only light fixtures were the ones on the ceiling.

  If he didn’t know better, he’d think no one lived here.

  His jaw started to tense again and he made a conscious effort to loosen it.

  In the kitchen, he opened the fridge and freezer, almost surprised to find both fully stocked. Pulling out what he needed, he pushed everything out of his mind and let himself get lost in the familiar comfort of cooking.

  He’d become a damn decent cook in the last fifty years and by the time Lacey padded into the kitchen, he had juice, omelets, bacon, and strawberries and yogurt spread out on the table.

  Her hair lay in a thick, wet braid over the shoulder of the oversized, white button-down oxford she wore, and her eyes refused to meet his.

  “This looks great, thanks.” She motioned toward the table. “A man of many talents.”

  He sat at one end of the couch, determined not to push her. “You live alone, you learn to cook or you starve. Or you go broke. I found I liked it and I had some aptitude for it.”

  She sat on the other end and picked up the plate closest to her. After a few bites of the omelet, she finally looked at him, her eyes wide.

  “Tinia’s teat, this is amazing. Do you really only cook for yourself? Are you sure you’re not a four-star chef for some fancy restaurant somewhere?”

  He gave her a haughty stare, eyebrows raised. “What? Are you trying to tell me guys can’t cook just for the hell of it? I’m offended by your narrow-mindedness.”

  Her sidelong glance assessed him for few seconds before her mouth twisted into a lopsided smile.

  “You’re a tease, Teodoro de Feo.”

  He let his own smile break. “Yeah, but you like that about me, don’t you?”

  Her smile tilted up just a little more. Good, they were making progress.

  They ate in silence after that, cleaning the table of every bit of food. She wasn’t shy about eating and he liked that about her.

  Hell, he liked everything about her. And nothing would change that.

  But would she still want him after she learned his story?

  With a sigh, he set his plate on the table and settled into the couch, turning so he could see her. Lacey followed his lead, scrunching herself back into her corner of the couch and wrapping her arms around her bent legs.

  After resting her chin on her knee, she stared at him for several seconds.

  “My twin sister and I were raised by our parents in Maine,” she started. “The nearest town was twenty miles away. My parents thought we would be safe there, I guess. When we were seventeen, our mom explained what we were, how we were different. What it would mean to our lives.” She stopped, took a deep breath and let her eyelids drift shut for several seconds.

  “A year later, two men came to the door, shot our father in the head then shot our mother in the back as she tried to protect us.”

  Lacey watched Teo so closely, she swore she could see a physical manifestation of his rage like a haze around him.

  He was furious on her behalf.

  And she felt nothing. She couldn’t. Or she’d never get through this.

  Now that she’d started, she didn’t want to stop.

  “They took us to a building in New York City. We could see Central Park from the windows, when we were allowed to be in a room with windows. We were a month away from our eighteenth birthday when we entered that building. We came into our powers three months later.”

  She swallowed down the bile that wanted to rise, forcing herself to retain eye contact. Teo’s gaze was steady on hers and he’d submerged that rush of fierce anger.

  “We were sold to the Mal. They used me and my sister to blackmail politicians and other businessmen or as rewards for a job well done. In some ways, we were lucky. They didn’t start to…use us until our powers kicked in. And by that time, we couldn’t have stopped ourselves.”

  Images she thought she’d tried hard to forget crowded to the forefr
ont of her brain, trying to break free of her tight control. She fought them back with a mental bitch slap. If they got free, she’d break. And she’d been broken enough. She’d promised herself she’d never be broken again.

  “They kept us well. We were never hurt, never hit. Unless we asked.” And yes, she’d asked. “They barely ever threatened us. They didn’t have to. If we refused them anything, they starved us. And not by withholding food.”

  She forced herself not to cringe as those memories bullied their way into her mind’s eye. Screaming until she lost her voice. Masturbating to gain a release that only helped for a few minutes. Becoming a rutting animal who thought only of sex.

  She wondered what Teo would think of her had he seen her like that. She had to tell him, had to make him see what she’d been. So he would know. So someone would know.

  “After the first few months, when the hunger got so bad we couldn’t breathe without wanting sex, we started not to care who we fucked, just so we did. Carmen, the woman who took care of us, seemed to have all the answers. She told us we were lucky, that if our parents had tried to let us lead normal lives, we would have become killers.”

  Teo shook his head. “No, Lacey—”

  She held up her hand, cutting him off. “She wasn’t wrong about everything, Teo. I think she actually cared for us, as much as she could. We found out, purely by accident, that the men who kept us held her young son captive. She was as much a victim as we were. She made sure we had whatever we wanted. Books, music, movies. Fresh-baked cookies at one in the morning. She made the best chocolate chip oatmeal cookies I’ve ever tasted. I miss those cookies sometimes.”

  She smiled up at him, trying to get his expression to soften, just a little. He looked carved from stone. But those intense hazel eyes burned. He wanted to commit murder.

  And she couldn’t stand the thought that the men who had held her captive might turn their sights on Teo. She never wanted to be the cause of another man’s downfall because they’d had the misfortune to have sex with her.

  “How did you get away?” he asked when she didn’t resume.

  She shrugged. “They got sloppy.” And by then, they’d only had her to deal with. “They thought, after so many years, that I wouldn’t try to get away.”

  “They underestimated you.”

  The confident tone of his voice made a rueful grimace twist her lips. “They got sloppy.”

  He reached for her slowly, as if she would bolt. The hand he’d had resting on the back of the couch reached for her shoulder. She couldn’t help it. She stiffened but he didn’t stop. He placed his large, warm hand on her shoulders and let it rest there. He didn’t try to draw her closer, just stared into her eyes.

  “No, Lacey. You outsmarted them. Don’t let them steal that knowledge from you.”

  Looking into his warm eyes, she could almost believe it.

  The part of Teo that was ruled by the amentia wanted to rip into something with his teeth and hands. He wanted to kill the men who’d stolen her, raped her and forced her to endure a life of hell for years. For making her believe, even just a little, that they’d saved her from a worse fate.

  His entire body wanted to shake, his muscles drawn tight with restrained violence and it took his entire will not to give in to it. To hold himself still and keep his expression neutral. He didn’t want to lose his control, didn’t want her to think he couldn’t restrain himself. But it was so fucking hard when he could practically taste Mal blood.

  As he focused on trying to breathe normally, he watched her tentative smile become a little more sure.

  “It took me a month to plan my escape, and when the time came, I only had a few minutes to make it work. The Mal owned the entire building so it was wired and warded from top to bottom. But every two months, never the same day, they had someone come in and redo the wards floor by floor.

  “They were stupid enough to do them the same way every time. Top to bottom. I guess they figured it was safer that way.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I figured out that when Bobby, one of my guards, told Vic or Carl that he was going to check on the generator, he was going to help whoever came to strengthen the wards. I managed to work enough of a glamour to get me out of the apartment, away from Vic and Carl, and into the hall. Then I waited for them to get to our floor. I followed them through the stairwell as they went floor to floor. I managed to make it to the ground floor without them realizing I was there.”

  When she paused, Teo asked, “How did you hide the fact that you could work a glamour?”

  “Carmen taught me. My sister Cara couldn’t.”

  Cara had always been weaker. Softer. Sweeter.

  Gone.

  Tears filled her eyes and she glanced away. She knew better than to show any weakness. Someone would find a way to turn it against her.

  But she should have known Teo wouldn’t let her hide. The couch cushions shifted as he moved closer, his hand wrapping around her neck to rub at the tense muscles there.

  She tensed, waiting, trying not to succumb to the warmth of his body or the mesmerizing motion of his hand on her neck.

  “What happened to Cara, sweetheart?”

  Blessed Goddess, his low, husky voice wrapped around her senses in a haze of heat. But it didn’t touch the bleak ice in her heart.

  She took a deep breath. “She killed herself two years ago by breaking one of the windows and jumping from the fiftieth floor.”

  His hand paused in its gentle motion on her neck for one brief second then resumed its steady pressure. If she hadn’t been so attuned to him, she might not have noticed. How had she gotten so close in so short a time?

  Dangerous. It was dangerous for her to feel so much for him in so short a time. They’d only met last night. And here she was, spilling her guts. She hadn’t said her sister’s name aloud since her death. Had refused to speak of her to their captors. Wouldn’t even discuss it with Carmen, who Lacey had heard sobbing after her death.

  Wasn’t sure she could continue if he asked her to.

  He didn’t ask. Instead, he wrapped one arm around her shoulders, slid the other under her legs and lifted her onto his lap. She didn’t even pretend to herself that it wasn’t where she wanted to be. She just settled against his broad chest and let her eyes close.

  And let herself believe Teo would be there when she woke up.

  Chapter Five

  Teo felt Lacey slide into sleep minutes after he pulled her onto his lap.

  Her entire body went limp in complete surrender, her breath warm against his chest. His complete concentration on that rhythmic sensation was the only thing holding the amentia in line.

  And the knowledge that he knew exactly how to bring down the Mal bastards who’d made Lacey’s life hell.

  He sat there for half an hour, making sure she was completely out. When he rose to take her back to her bed, she didn’t even murmur in her sleep. He thought about climbing in bed with her but knew he was too restless and too wide awake.

  So he went back to the living room, pulled his phone from his pants pocket and called the only person he trusted with this secret.

  Cam picked up before the second ring. “Teo, what’s wrong?”

  Teo’s lips curved at the intensity in his brother’s voice. “I need you. Can you come?”

  His brother’s voice whipped through the line. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I just…need to talk to you.”

  “Give me the address. I’ll come to you in two minutes.”

  After he recited the bar’s address and closed the phone, Teo glanced back at the door to Lacey’s bedroom. He’d closed it so he wouldn’t disturb— Hell, at least he could be honest with himself. He’d closed the door so she wouldn’t hear him as he betrayed her confidence.

  He felt only a small twinge of guilt because he knew if those men had done this to her, they’d do it to another woman. And he couldn’t live with that. Cam wouldn’t stop until he found them. And when he did, Teo would make
them burn.

  A minute and a half later, a slight pop announced Cam’s arrival. Teo knew his oldest brother could transport himself from place to place magically without making a sound. The noise was for Teo’s benefit. He’d always hated being snuck up on.

  As the oldest, Cam had had decades of practice taking care of his siblings. For more than fifty years, before Rio had arrived, Teo had been the youngest. And when he’d been infected with the amentia, Cam had practically driven himself crazy trying to find a cure.

  Cam’s dark eyes met his directly before skimming over him. Checking to make sure Teo was okay. Teo didn’t let it bother him the way it used to. It was an ingrained habit for Cam. He did the same to their parents and brothers. It’s what made him so damn good at his job as a security specialist, his ability to size up the situation in seconds.

  When Cam was done looking him over, he let his gaze roam the apartment, his frown deepening by the second. His gaze lit on the closed bedroom door before he turned back to Teo. When their eyes met again, Cam lifted one dark brow. Teo’s cue to spill.

  “She was seventeen when the Mal killed her parents and kidnapped her and her twin sister to use as sex slaves. She’s querciola.”

  He’d said the magic word and Cam’s eyebrows shot toward the sky.

  “Holy fuck, Teo.” Cam kept his voice low but Teo still heard complete and utter shock in his tone. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  He shook his head. “Her sister killed herself. Lacey escaped about a year and a half ago and has been on the run ever since. She settled here six months ago.”

  Teo could see Cam’s mind working. In temperament, he and Cam were the closest among the brothers. They didn’t have to rely on words to communicate. Cam knew what Teo wanted.

  “She doesn’t know what you’re doing, does she?”

  Teo shook his head. “She swore me to secrecy.”

  Cam snorted. “That’s gonna come back to bite you.”

  Not if she never finds out. “I want names, an address. And I’ll take care of it.”