Страница 284 из 349
My actions resemble something my father would dictate.
A pathetic perversion.
Pure weakness.
The only thing stopping self-loathing from coating me like a second skin is how I refrain from lowering my attention. I don’t add a visual violation to my pitiful demand. Instead, I stand there for long moments, silently cursing a conscience that is at its loudest around her, as I stare into those spite-filled eyes.
She’s tainting me. Turning me into a fool.
“Get dressed,” I growl. “You can stay until Luca and I return to the island.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, the plump of her breasts taunting my peripheral vision. “You wanted me at my most vulnerable so you could reject me? Is that it?” She scoffs and shakes her head. “You’re such a prick.”
Yes, I’m a fucking prick.
I’m far worse, too. Especially when she continuously pokes my volatility.
“A fucking sociopath,” she spits.
I clench my fists. “And what does that make you? You’re the one who fucked me to claim victory.”
“I didn’t fuck you for anything other than pleasure. You’re the one who keeps continuing these mind games when I stopped long ago. I’ve had enough, Cole.” Her voice waivers. “I can’t take this anymore.”
I can’t accept her accusation, not when she’s the most recent contributor. I’m not the one who’s lying here. If I’m a sociopath, I’ve certainly got likeminded company.
I step into her, my shoes bare inches from trampling her delicate toes.
“You’re wrong,” I snarl. “I’m the one who stopped the mind games.”
She throws up her hands. “You just—”
“I just tried to fucking test myself,” I roar, the sound ricocheting through the room. “I wanted you naked because I was trying to prove I could fucking resist you. But if I lower my gaze, it will only confirm I can’t.”
She rears back as if I struck her.
I guess I did.
I hit her with a dose of painfully regretful truth.
“Get dressed,” I repeat. “And make sure you’re ready to leave once we return.”
She doesn’t respond, not other than the swipe of her tongue against her lower lip, which is made with blatant apprehension, not seduction.
Good.
She should be apprehensive because I’ve never been this unstable.
I storm for the door, forcing my attention back to where it needs to be—on my father. On the necessity to make him pay.
“Cole?”
Fuck. I pause, and this time I don’t make the mistake of looking back. “What?”
“I can’t resist you either.” Her voice is a whisper. “You could’ve asked me to do a lot more than drop the sheet and I would’ve complied.”
The admission stiffens my dick. “I know. Last night you made it clear you’ll go to great lengths to stay.”
I stalk into the hall and pound out the distance to the living room, ignoring how badly I want to believe her.
She almost has me convinced last night wasn’t a ploy. My entire consciousness is contemplating the possibility of her malleable body being beneath mine purely for pleasure, not manipulative profit.
And that, in itself, makes her fucking dangerous.
The amount of power I’ve given her is insane.
“Trouble in paradise?” Luca sits forward on the recliner, elbows on his thighs, head in his hands. He stares at me as I walk farther into the room, his scathing expression telling me exactly where his thoughts are.
“Don’t say another word,” I warn.
“I shouldn’t have to,” he mutters, “but I will. You’re not doing something fucking stupid like falling for her, are you?”
I answer him with a glare.
“Good.” He rests back in his chair. “I thought you might have forgotten she works informants for a living. It’s her job to screw people over to make an arrest.”
“Your lack of faith is insulting.” I continue toward the kitchen in search of something to numb the hangover. “You’re also getting really close to overstepping your place in life.”
“I’m watching your back. That’s what I’m here for. The way you two were eying each other on the pier last night set off a whole heap of warning bells. The subsequent fucking only cemented my concern.”
I grip the counter and hang my head. “I hope, for your sake, you stayed off the video feed.”
“Rest assured, your lily-white ass isn’t something I want to see. The acoustics were more than enough, fuck you very much.” He shoves to his feet. “It’s a big house and all, but I don’t think you realize how easily sound travels through the rooms.”
“You were the last thing on my mind.” I yank open a drawer, then another, and another until I find a plastic bottle of pain relief. “And don’t you dare judge me for fucking her when the alternative was to drink myself into a coma.”
“It’s after lunch, so it seems like you did both.”
I open the pill bottle, throw three capsules in my mouth, then use my hand to cup water from the tap to swallow them back. When I straighten he’s still appraising me, his gaze digging deep.
“But neither choice is any of my business. All I’m saying is that you’re giving her more ammo to put you behind bars.”
I stiffen, hearing an accusation of rape in his tone. “It was fucking consensual.”
“I know. Believe me, I heard her consent. Continuously. For too damn long. But it’s not going to stop her from fucking us over once she gets back to Portland.”
“No, I won’t.” She inches from the hall, wearing nothing but my suit jacket cinched around her middle by her arms. My guess is that she grabbed the closest item of clothing before leaving the room in a rush to snoop. “I believe in what you’re trying to do. And if you’re successful, all the good you’ve done will outweigh the bad.”
“You truly believe that?” Luca shoots her a look of scorn. “Your abduction, being sedated and hog-tied, having a gun pointed at your head? All that shit will be wiped off the slate?”
“I built my life around a career that brings monsters to justice. Who am I if I’m willing for Luther to remain free just because he can’t be punished by the authorities? It’s better for him to be dead since you’ve made it clear there’s no other alternative.”
I don’t pay her any attention. I watch Luca instead. I notice how he straightens, his brow furrowed in dawning belief.
He believes her.
It’s not only me she has wrapped around her little finger.
“There’s something else I need to say,” she continues. “Cole, you wanted me to admit last night was a mistake, and you’re right. It was.”
Fuck.
My hangover increases tenfold. My brain pounds. My gut churns. I keep my focus on Luca and jerk my chin at him. “Have you eaten?”
He nods.
“Then give us a minute.” I won’t let her air our dirty laundry in front of an audience. Not if it’s another attempt to create humiliation. “I’m going to make some coffee, then I’ll be ready to leave. Call a boat to come pick us up.”
“Amar is already on standby. He won’t take long to get here.” He sends a skeptical glance at Anissa, then focuses back on me. “I’ll wait for you on the pier.”
I dismiss the instinct to demand a different driver. I don’t want the old fucking Greek anywhere near here, but I also don’t have the luxury of showing any more weakness toward the feminine snake in the room. I have to keep my mouth shut as Luca makes his way outside, sliding the glass door closed behind him.
“Continue,” I drawl, meeting Anissa’s gaze.
She cringes, a whole heap of discomfort marring her features. “Yesterday, I was convinced your plan was the right thing to do. Any alternative the authorities could provide would be too risky and time consuming. Let alone the money associated with that type of operation when the Greek police would block US officials at every turn.”