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Carlos leans in closer, his voice a dangerous whisper. “Oh, but you will. Because if you tell them anything… anything about me at all, I will murder the man you love in front of you.”
One thing I’ve always been exceptionally good at was knowing when someone was lying. My mother used to call it my superpower. I was so skilled at it in fact, my father would call me into meetings with his friends and show me off like a circus act. People I knew would eventually learn that lying to me never worked. I knew there was no Santa Claus before I went to school, and I knew the truth about the birds and the bees much earlier than a child ever should as a result of this strange but undeniable talent.
And one thing I know for absolute certain: Carlos isn’t lying.
My jaw drops. I quickly close it, but it’s too late. He saw my reaction. I know he thinks he struck a bullseye when his eyes light up.
“I don’t love anybody,” I lie through gritted teeth. I’m an outsider in every world I’ve ever touched... at least they think I am. The daughter who betrayed her family, the lover who deceived her allies, the sister who let the devil take root in her own flesh and blood. My only home is a prison of my own making.
He shakes his head and laughs maniacally. It chills me. “I watched the way your eyes light up when he walks into a room. I saw the way you pined for him when he’s not there. I heard you ask for him. I saw you stare after him.” He spits on the floor. “You’re in love with a fucking Russian pig. Father would’ve killed you for less.”
Also not a lie.
I look away, caught between the knowledge that he’s found me out and the ultimatum he’s issued.
Everyone will think I’m a liar.
Isabella. Her husband, Lev.
Ollie.
I close my eyes against another rush of emotions.
Carlos is cold and cruel, a vivid reminder of the brother I once loved, but another beast waits for me…one whose darkness I fear just as much as I crave. He’ll find me.
I have to escape and leave all of them. I have to find a way out of here.
I have to start over.
All over.
There’s no going back, no safe harbor. All I can do is run until there’s nothing left of the girl I once was.
I reach a tentative hand to my cheek and work my jaw. Not broken. Good. It’ll mend.
“You will find out what they know and report back to me. And when you are done—when you’ve done everything I’ve said here, we’ll take the next step.” He smiles. My stomach swirls with nausea. “I may even forgive you.”
Lie.
He won’t. Forgiveness to him is as foreign as kindness. He’d have to have a heart.
“And if I don’t?” I ask. I want to know where I stand. I like it better that way and always have.
The men behind me make sounds of disbelief. Even Carlos needs a minute. He blinks in surprise. It feels a bit victorious.
“If you don’t, I’ll kill him first and make you watch, little sister, before you join him.”
Little sister.It hurts worse than when he hit me.
A pang hits my heart when he calls me that. I remember being only three years old, cowering in fear in my father’s study. I’d broken his prized possession, a hideous bookend his father carved into the shape of a serpent with a thick square base. I knew I’d get the belt for that. I wasn’t allowed in his study.
Carlos saw me, his eyes wide in surprise when he found me crying in the study just moments before my father came home. I told him what happened in a rush of words seconds before my father came in.
He didn’t even hesitate but spun on his heels and took the blame. “I’m sorry!” he said to my father. “It was an accident.” I wept as he took the punishment meant for me, without a whimper, without a tear, and later nursed his wounds.
What happened to the brother who defended me? My father planted the seeds. Power and greed are insidious beasts that can destroy a man’s heart. I blink, and a tear rolls down my cheek.
I can’t help but pitch a final plea to the brother I once knew. “What happened to you, Carlos? We used to be friends. We used to love each other.”
