Treachery

Luca

I have to stay mad at him.

Not one second can pass where I let my guard down and look at him as if he’s any person other than the one toying with my life.

I have to stay mad because if I don’t, my heart will beat a little too hard, my breathing will become more difficult, and I’ll soften in all the places I never wanted to let him touch me again.

Thankful for every snarky remark Ta

Keep the hits coming.

Keep the insults spilling out.

Keep pushing me around because it’s easier to hate him than to feel the way I did in the car when he acted human for once and offered his condolences for the loss of my parents.

Most people would think the war between us is the hardest part, but inside, I know that the truth is he hurt me the most when he was kind in those few and far between moments.

It hurts when I believe I could care for him if he were a different man. It hurts to know that, since the minute I first met him, all I wanted was for him to smile and say kind words.

But no.

Not Ta

The man can’t be bothered with a kind word unless he earns money for each syllable spoken.

Knowing that, I stay mad, even though my skin tingles where our arms are linked, and the scent of his cologne is doing incredibly sinful things to my body.

After greeting a few unfamiliar faces in the crowded rooms of the mansion, Ta

White tents are arranged over the sprawling yard, stone pathways making it possible for me to walk in heels without my shoes sinking into the grass.

The gardens are a brilliant display of colorful flowers and topiary bushes, white lights strung through the bows of the trees above our heads.

Beyond the main gardens, a nature preserve can be seen in the distance, and a shiver courses down my spine to remember the night I’d watched as Ta

Curious, I can’t keep from asking, “Do you all still torment helpless people in the woods, or was that just a way of entertaining yourselves in college?”

Ta

“We haven’t chased anyone through the woods since Yale, but it was an entertainment since high school, actually. Not just college. And nobody was hurt.”

I scoff.

“Not physically maybe. But you terrified the one person I saw you chase down. What did you guys do to him anyway?”

Gabriel never would reveal exactly what happened in those woods, and I hate to admit, I’m still wondering about the specific details all these years later.

After leaving Yale, I’d had nightmares of being the victim ru

“Does it matter?” He asks, rather than finally admitting what they’d done.

“We don’t chase people through the woods anymore.”

“So, you gave up on the gauntlets? What do you do to people now when they refuse to pay your price?”

His lips pull into a familiar smirk.

“Are you asking me that because you’re thinking of refusing what I want from you?”

I shrug and smile politely at an older couple that pass us.

“Not sure. Why don’t you just tell me what you want, and I’ll let you know?”

“All good things come to those who wait,” he muses, his gaze owning mine as the words roll over his full lips.

Rolling my eyes, I look away, unable to keep my body from reacting to the way he looks at me like he’s starving, and I’m a gourmet meal.

“Yet, it’s not a good thing I’m waiting for. It’s never good with you.”

More soft laughter.

“I can provide you with a list of names of other women who would disagree with your assessment.”

I shake my head. This man is talented in always directing a conversation back around to sex.

“So, you gave up the gauntlets?”

Ta

“I never said we stopped ru

Confused, I cock a brow, but before I can ask him to elaborate, Ta

Following the direction of his gaze, I watch an older man approach us with green eyes I think I recognize, dark brown hair that is peppered with grey and a body that belies the fact he rarely misses a meal.

His suit is impeccable, and one can’t miss the flash of a Rolex on his wrist that must have cost at least fifty thousand dollars.

While I stare, the man steps up to within a few feet of us, his green eyes flicking my direction, his mouth tilting down at one corner before he dismisses me entirely to lock eyes with Ta

“It’s good to see you’re able to attend today, Ta

Tension passes between the two men, so much that it causes my muscles to stiffen. Tugging away from Ta

His voice is pure venom when he answers, “Gabriel told me you called.”

“And yet you didn’t call me back,” the man says with equal toxicity.

Who the hell is this guy, and why is he so familiar? I study his features while the two men are ignoring me for their little showdown, the man’s features similar to someone else I know.

What interests me the most is Ta

For that alone, I think I can like the guy. Never before have I seen someone have an effect on Ta

Thinking it might be good to know this man, I step around Ta

If anything, he might be able to give me some information to use against the asshole currently holding me hostage - information I can use to get out of whatever ridiculous price he’ll ask of me.

It’s worth a shot.

“Hi, I’m Luca Hughes. I don’t think we’ve met.”

Although I’m being perfectly pleasant, the man’s eyes drag my direction as if I’d just commented on his poor excuse for a combover and the deep sagging skin dangling from his third chin.

His gaze is cutting, a narrowed stare that whispers a message without the need for him to part his thick lips and bother with the breath it would take to speak the words.

It’s obvious this man thinks very little of me. And whether it’s because he’s currently hate-staring Ta

However, he’s now rubbed me the wrong way, and I’m not about to shrink back and give ground.

My hand hangs awkwardly between us, his gaze dipping down to look at it like it’s a poison-tipped spear poised to poke him in his generous, round belly.

Ta