My destination required that I make two left turns. I’d walked this same path so frequently I could have completed it with my eyes closed. Even the part where I had to input a security code.
I went around the last corner and found myself faced with Declan’s mother. She was coming through the set of double doors I needed to enter. This wasn’t a typical occurrence. Since being with the Andreous, I had only seen Dakota a handful of times.
She slowed, and her attention wavered between Hannibal and me as if she couldn’t quite decide where to look.
She stopped walking altogether and crossed her arms, mouth turning down as I came closer.
“I thought you were a temporary fixture in this house, but it seems my son is really keeping you around.”
“Yes, he is.” I maneuvered around her so that I could get to the security device.
She snorted loudly and shook her head. “The statement was rhetorical. That means I didn’t need a response.”
“I know. I still gave one.”
From my peripheral, I saw her take a small step closer.
“Look, I know you think you’re the be all end all for him, but my son deserves someone--.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Dakota. Old age has made you miserable.” Luca interjected, cutting off whatever she’d been about to say.
I finished keying in the code and glanced over my shoulder.
I hadn’t known he was behind me. Dakota’s mouth opened and closed. Her finely arched brows seemed to dance in tempo with her rapidly changing expressions.
“And just what the hell does that mean?” she questioned, tone rising.
“Exactly what you think it does. Leave the girl alone.”
He moved around her and took hold of my arm just above my elbow, gently.
“Screw you Luca!” Dakota snapped at our backs.
“Not a bad idea. A good fuck would dislodge the stick you’ve got shoved up your ass. Unfortunately, I’m no longer interested.”
Her reply didn’t sound cordial, but it was cut off by the closing of the soundproof doors. Now standing in the hall lined with dimmed chandeliers, Luca released his hold on me.
“You know to ignore her, right?”
I nodded, subtly studying his toned arm. I think he’d added yet another tattoo.
“Good. You looking for my son?”
Another nod I followed with a, “Yes.”
“He’s in his office.”
I glanced down the hall, already walking the next path in my mind. “Okay…thank you.”
“Course.” He flashed me a smile.
If not for the silver hair he’d be Declan’s identical twin. Tapping Hannibal, I started walking again, hearing a soft chuckle carry from behind me.
Luca didn’t follow all the way down, going instead through a door on the right that led to the kennels. I passed all the playrooms, the viewing rooms, and at the end of the hall I took a left. When I got to the door I was seeking, I knocked. Declan called for me to come in almost right away.
He was seated behind a large black desk, a plush chair at his back.
I had only been in this room a few times, but it always looked the same. The space was decent sized. Bookshelves took up one whole wall, a suede lounge was against another.
Declan’s head lifted after I shut the door, removing his attention from the file in his hands. “You didn’t have to knock. You could have just come right in.”
“Okay. Next time I’ll do that.”
He smiled at me and there was nothing to do but try to return it. He gave me a hundred feelings I couldn’t put into words. It was hard to look at him sometimes. The fluttering he invoked was twice as evident and much stronger than it’d been the first time, he ever spoke to me.
“Come over here,” he implored, placing the file folder face down.
I left Hannibal to wander the room and sat my tote bag in one of the chairs in front of his desk before accepting his offered hand. The second he had hold of me, he wrapped his fingers around my wrist, and I was guided around to sit on his lap.
He smelled good, as per usual. I placed my palms on his forearms, stroking the maroon fabric that hugged his biceps.
“Did you sleep okay?” he asked, securing me to him with an arm around my middle.
“Because of you and Ethan.” I let my tone carry a silent question.
“He’s in the holding room. Waiting for me, actually.”
“Oh.”
With his free arm, he stretched around me and opened a middle desk drawer, retrieving a thin cellphone.
“This is for you, since the last one was put out of commission.”
I glanced down at the phone, then lifted my gaze to his. Eyes like shined silver stared back into mine. His sudden obscure expression gave nothing away.
Didn’t he remember what occurred the last time I had one of these?
“I don’t want it.”
“That will never happen again,” he said, his voice firm. He always did this. Responded to all my unspoken questions and concerns. It was nice not having to explain all the things I didn’t know how to verbalize. Lifting my hand, he eased the phone into it, ensuring I had a tight grip.
“You need a cellphone, especially when you go out. I have to be able to get a hold of you.”
His points were understandable. I didn’t like it, but I would accept to appease him. I could handle this. It was just a phone, after all.
“It’s already set-up and ready to go,” he continued. “And speaking of going, Toby should be out front by now.” He lifted me off his lap but kept his arm around my middle.
Taking hold of my face, he tilted my chin so that my head was angled upward, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. When he tried to pull away, I wrapped my arms around his neck. I felt him smile, his tongue skimming my lower lip. I gave in right away, pressing myself against him as he kissed me deeper.
If I could have molded us together, I would’ve. I would climb inside him and stay there forever if I could still have Ethan.
Declan took hold of my arms and gently unwound them from his neck, leaning away from me with a grin.
“You’ve become insatiable.” He ran the pad of his thumb across my mouth. “I want nothing more than to bury myself inside your pussy and fuck you until the only thing you remember how to do is breathe, and even that will be a struggle.” He sighed and shook his head, placing one last kiss on my lips. “Tell my grandaunt I said hello.”
Pushing down the urge to demand more of him, that he do everything he just said, I simply nodded and moved to collect my bag, slipping the cellphone inside it.
“See you soon,” I tossed over my shoulder. Hannibal came to me without being called, and together we left the office.
Chapter Two
Declan
“Andreou men are fucked up. We’re monsters. We embrace the dark side whole-heartedly.”
My cousin said this to me once. I thought of it often, and I couldn’t agree more. Watching Helena leave reminded me of that night. I wanted to place her in a cage, gilded and beautiful something fit for the depraved princess she was, but a prison all the same.
Rationally, I knew I couldn’t do that to her. Understanding her came with the knowledge that Helena needed freedom.
Even Ethan pushed the issue when it came to her being able to go where she pleased whenever she pleased, leaving me to keep my steadily growing thoughts of possession to myself.
Life hadn’t been kind to her. The shitty hand she was dealt from the moment she was conceived was the very reason why she could never fully be part of modern society. In a way her ill-fortune was my blessing. I adored everything about Helena, especially her beautifully twisted mind. As my cousin said, our family embraced the dark side. Madness ran in our blood. It was intoxicating high we would always chase and feed.
I never thought Ethan and I would find someone so imperfectly perfect for the two of us. But again, societal norms would never accept who we truly were.
It was better for me not to dwell on thoughts of her being out amongst the mundane. I didn’t worry about her hurting them, I worried someone would try and hurt her. And where would that put me? A jail cell.
Leaving the confines of the office my uncle and father had randomly surprised me with, I walked down the hall and around the corner to where Ethan was waiting for me.
Pushing the door open, I waited for the smell to register, breathing through it with ease. We tried our best to keep the holding area clean, which was why a heavy layer of bleach could always be detected, but we simply couldn’t control when someone needed to relieve their bladder or how they reacted to the drugs that were administered for various reasons.
I’d grown accustomed to the stench of shit, piss, and vomit since having to be around it nearly my entire childhood.
It was comical seeing those who weren’t used to it try and keep their expressions neutral. Like Ethan. He stood near the center of the room, arms crossed, brows pinched.
“If you keep holding your breath like that, you’ll pass out.”
His copper eyes shifted in my direction. “I’m not holding my breath. I’m brainstorming,” he lied.
“If that’s what thinking makes your face look like, I advise you to stop doing it.”
He grinned, flipping me the bird. “You let her leave?” he questioned.
“Did I have the option of not letting her?”
“Course you do. You’re the boss.”
I frowned. What the fuck kind of statement was that?
“I don’t want to be her boss or police her. I want to do what’s best for her.”
“Don’t you always,” he sighed, diverting his gaze and changing the subject. “This place is full.” He nodded his head in the direction of a few kennels, each containing a terrified man or woman.
It was a redundant statement. Of course, the kennels were full. We were approaching our busy season and with a potential merger in the works, the requests coming in were endless. But I didn’t want to talk about that. I wanted to know what was making him so moody lately. He’d been in this cycle for the past few days, and I knew him too well for any bullshit games.
The conversation would have to wait, though. Behind me the door swung open for the second time and my father walked in with what could only be called a ‘spring’ in his step.
“What’s got you so giddy?”
“Maybe he finally got rid of your mom,” Ethan joked, back to his usual disposition.
I laughed despite my growing irritation.
“The day that happens I’ll be much more than giddy. Let’s not make ourselves depressed speaking on that witch. I wanted to show you something I tested out the other night.”
“In here?” Ethan asked, looking around for his answer.
“No. In my room. I just need to grab one of these unfortunate fools.”
We shared a look, and then watched him approach a kennel.
Without bothering to take a glance at the chart attached to the front of it, he input the numbers for the combination lock. The man he removed was unsteady on his feet, making him either a new arrival or someone recently dosed with a sedative for whatever reason.
He was filthy. His skin had obvious dirt splotches and his was beard in desperate need of a trim, serving as a net for god knows what. The clothes he had on were just as bad, worn and ragged. We followed as my dad damn near dragged the man out into the hall, taking him straight to his playroom.
“Flip my light for me.”
I did as he asked, flicking the switch on the wall, changing the bulb outside the door from red to green.
“What is it you’re wanting us to see again?” Ethan asked, going to assist him in tying the man down.
“Just wait and watch.”
Knowing my father, the possibilities of what we were about to witness were endless. I wasn’t privy to everything he did when he let his creativity run free, but I’d certainly heard the stories. He was getting more debauched the older he got. And the man had a lot of aging left to do.
As Ethan took over tying the man into the altered dental chair, my father walked over to a side-table. That’s when I noticed the weight-set he’d recently added to his randomized torture objects.
“Are those your dumbbells?” The question was rhetorical. I myself had worked out with this exact set.
“They’re necessary for this.” He returned to his chair with a medium sized, thin piece of sheet metal.
“You just had that lying around?” Ethan asked.
“You’d be surprised what I have hidden in here.”
I watched on in silence, now fully invested in seeing where he was going will all of this. He sat the piece of metal down, then using a utility knife he withdrew from his pocket, cut the man’s shirt from his body. The piece of ragged fabric hit the floor at the same time the man finally began to gain lucidity.
“W what are you doing?” he stuttered, “The hell is this?” His gruff voice pitched to an irritatingly screech-like sound, arms straining against the leather restraint keeping him in place.
“Panicking will only make this worse, sir,” Dad stated.
He lifted the piece of metal up and laid it flat on the man’s barren chest. “Now, each of you hold a side,” he instructed.
Without question, I moved to the right, Ethan remained on the left. We both of gripped the sheet-metal to keep it still while my father retrieved one of his dumbbells, a forty-five pounder.
“This is the fun part,” he explained rather gleefully.
Being gentler than I thought possible when he was in his element, he placed the weight in the center of the metal. The man beneath felt the effects immediately if his reaction was anything to go from.
Dad grabbed another dumbbell, and then another, taking his time adding them in what seemed to be triangular pattern.
The man was wheezing long before the first bone broke. A sharp crack snapped through the air, and a breathless, agonized moan barely managed to escape from his mouth.
“You hear that?” Dad questioned, grabbing another weight.
This time the metal shifted as another bone was crushed. His face was turning a lovely shade of red; veins having broken due to a lack of oxygen. I wished I could peer inside him to see if his lungs were filling with blood. A weak cough had driblets of it spraying from his mouth.
“Where did you come up with this? Why did you come up with this?” Ethan asked. I could tell he was genuinely curious, as was I.
“I saw it in a movie and thought, why the hell not? Different time period so I had to improvise, but it works.”
“As you can see. It’s up to me to determine how long they’ll suffer. Do I stretch it out or do I crush all the shit in their chest quickly so they can suffocate faster?”
“Slower,” I replied matter-of-factly.
“Exactly. The best way to do it.”
“And this man?” Ethan tapped the dying guys forehead. “He’s nothing more than a test subject? Where’d you get him?”
“I went to see that new cute nurse, and then I had to make a run for Julian. I saw this lucky sonofabitch on my way back. He was carrying cans past the DP. Got right in the car when I asked if he wanted a ride. Talk about a great morning.”
I wasn’t sure where to start with any of that. My cell began to ring, slicing through our conversation.
I withdrew it from my pocket, holding a finger up when I saw the name on the screen.
Why was she calling me?
“Hello,” I answered, walking away from Dad’s latest display. I could feel Ethan’s presence right behind me.
“Hey, Hun. How are you doing? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“I’m fine. Did something happen?”
“Not anything too serious.”
“Meaning?” I stepped out into the hall and began making my way back to my office to retrieve my keys. I was already estimating how long it would take me to get to the bakery and planning what I would do to Toby, ev
en if whatever happened wasn’t his fault.
“Helena was approached by a man.”
I felt my brows furrow. “And?”
“There is no and. I just thought you’d want to know.”
That was it? I was prepared to kill a man that had been part of the Dahlia team for over a decade, and make sure Helena never left the property again. With a sigh, I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“I appreciate the concern Aunt Tony, but Helena isn’t going to entertain a random man.”
She laughed softly. “I know that. I’m no idiot Declan. I was in the back when he came in, so I can’t tell you what was said. It was the way he ran out of here when he saw me that made me call, like a fire had been lit beneath his ass. He was new too. Never seen him before and you know I see every damn body.”
I stepped into my office, leaving Ethan to shut the door.
“Has she said anything?”
“No, but when does she ever?”
That was true. Helena wasn’t at a point where she would open up to anyone that she wasn’t fairly close with. She liked my grandaunt, but not that much.
“I’ll wait and see what she says about it. Thank you for calling.”
“Of course, you make sure you come see me soon.”
“The moment I’m free.” I promised, disconnecting the call. She had never taken a liking to what the family did. She avoided the chateau at all cost, but she was supportive in every other way that mattered.
“What happened?” Ethan asked.
I rounded around my desk and sat down, relaying everything I was told.
He leaned over the back of one of the other chairs, grinning at me. Not exactly the reaction I was expecting.
“What?”
“I think you two might be overreacting. Helena’s gorgeous and lacks a ring on a certain finger, why wouldn’t men attempt to talk to her?”
“Fuck that”, is what I wanted to say, but refrained. Instead, “Did you miss the part where he ran out of the shop?”
“Nope.”
“I disagree. She’s mine—ours—everyone knows that. If a ring will make that more apparent, I’ll buy her the biggest fucking ring in this town and the next.”
Iniquity (Dahlia Saga Book 5) Page 2
