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I make myself a sandwich with some nearly-expired turkey, and then I mentally swear at myself because I’ll need to feed the asshole in the living room, too. I pull out some crackers for him. No way am I wasting any meat on him.
I eat first—in the kitchen, away from his eyes, mostly to give myself a break from that pitch-black stare—and then I feed him the crackers and give him a bit of water to drink. Being so close to him again, it makes me feel some kind of way.
Damn it. Leave it to me to be ridiculously attracted to the guy we kidnapped, AKA one of the most dangerous men in the entire city. I’ve heard stories of him, but I didn’t know what he looked like. It’s funny; no one ever mentions how hot he is.
After he’s eaten a few crackers and had some water to wash them down, he grins at me and says, “For my captor, you’re very interested in my well-being. Feeding me, helping me to the bathroom—I don’t think you’re cut out for this, Thea.” It’s the first thing he’s said to me since I threatened him with more duct tape.
I ignore him as I return the small plate and empty cup to the kitchen.
“It makes me wonder if you’re really okay with turning me over to Cormac. You have to know he’s going to kill me. Maybe he’ll have some fun with me and torture me for a while first, but he will definitely kill me in the end. Are you fine with that? Do you think you can live with yourself afterward? Even with the money—”
I grip the edge of the sink and bite the inside of my cheek as I listen to him drone on. I’m not dumb. I know he’s just saying this crap to get me to let him go, but he’s not wrong. Selling him to Cormac O’Connor… it would be Silus’s death sentence, and I don’t know if I’m really the kind of person who can look the other way.
Growing up in the city, you’re supposed to learn the opposite. Never stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. If something ain’t your business, keep on walking. When it gets down to it, you have your own life to pay attention to, to care about.
Max learned the lesson young, but my brother has always had more street smarts than me. It’s why I always followed his lead, even though he’s two years younger than me. It’s always his schemes, not mine. He could smooth talk his way out of anything, and I always admired him for that. Also, I was a bit jealous.
I shake my head and push away from the sink, slow to return to the couch in the living room. I don’t say anything to Silus, nor do I look at him; my gaze rests solely on the TV. His gun sits on the coffee table, close by just in case I need it.
This day could not go any slower. Seriously. It’s like time screeched to a halt, and every second feels like a minute and every minute is an hour. A strange feeling crawls up my back thanks to the bizarre circumstance and the uneasy knot in my stomach. I feel like I should’ve heard from Max by now.
I pull out my phone and text my brother: Any updates? And then I wait.
I wait, I wait, and I wait some more. One-thirty rolls around before I get a text back from him telling me he has a meeting with Cormac’s right-hand man today at three, to keep sitting tight and that he’s got this.
What else can I do besides sit tight?
As I set my phone down, I let out a soft sigh, which Silus instantly notices—you know, cause the guy’s full attention is on me. “Not good news, I take it?”
Rubbing my face with my hands, I mutter, “Looks like you might be here a little while longer.” It’s the last thing I want to admit, especially to Silus himself, because the longer he’s here, the more danger my brother and I are in.
“I already told you, Thea, all of this could be avoided if you let me go. The money’s still on the table.”
A part of me wants to believe him, as silly as it is. Then again, why is it we can trust Cormac and his men but not Silus? Surely both men are on the same level when it comes to trustworthiness, and the easiest way to end this whole situation is to let Silus go right now and accept his money… but in doing so, I’d piss my brother off by going behind his back.
No. We’re on the path he chose and we’re sticking to it.
Silus must sense where my thoughts are at, for he says, “Would it be so bad if you made the executive decision to release me? Surely your brother would understand eventually that in doing so you’d save him worlds of trouble.”
“This plan was always stupid and next to impossible, but I agreed to do it,” I tell Silus. “And I don’t go back on my word.”
He studies me, for once not smirking that blasted smirk. It’s a more serious face, his black gaze squinted, like he’s seeing me for the first time. “I suppose that is commendable. A man—or woman—is only as good as their word. If they’re known not to keep it, then they’re not worth very much at all.”
I shrug. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry about this. It’s nothing personal. It’s not like I enjoy the thought of what’ll happen to you once the deed is done. It’s just business.”
“Business,” Silus echoes. “Yes, I understand that as well. What you should be aware of, love, is that if this business backfires in your face, you are responsible for its consequences. Are you prepared?” The way he asks that question so gravely, he sounds like he’s asking me if I’m ready to take a bullet or something.
I don’t like it, and I don’t like the way he’s staring at me, so I get up and head to the bathroom off the kitchen, mainly to give myself some privacy.
Once I’m locked in the small room, I lean my back on the door and stare at the ceiling. My breathing comes out hard, much harder than it should. My nerves are shot, fried to hell and back. Right now my hands are pressed against the door behind me, but if I take them off I’m sure I’d see them trembling.
This is bad. Very bad. Silus shouldn’t be able to get in my head like this, but it’s as if he has a one-way ticket in. He knows exactly what to say to freak me out, and the asshole probably enjoys it the entire time.
Fuck.
I push away from the door and stumble to the sink, where I turn the water on. I stick both hands under the water and splash my face with the ice-cold water, mentally telling myself to get a grip.
Letting Silus get under my skin? How stupid can I be? He’ll say anything to get me to let him go, and then he’ll probably overpower me, take his gun back, and shoot me. He’ll leave my body for Max to find, and then he’ll come and kill Max just to make sure the message is received. Silus will do all of this without skipping a beat, without fucking blinking. Us little people mean nothing to men like him.
