SERAPHINE
My breath comes in shallow pants and I dart my gaze from side to side, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. Leroi shot Miko. Why?
I quiet my mind long enough to hear Leroi explain his reasons to Roman Montesano. Maybe Leroi wasn’t working with Samson, but he must have taken me out of the basement on the orders of Anton.
My jaw clenches.
Dad only paid Anton for six months of training, after that, the twins became my handlers. After Dad dismissed Anton from training me, Anton must have worked out a way to break through the basement’s security. He couldn’t extract me himself because he knew I wouldn’t leave with him.
That’s why Anton chose a fresh face. A handsome face. A face I would find appealing.
Roman leaves, and Leroi begins to unfasten the straps of the operating table with urgent movements, his breathing harsh and labored. Now that he’s trained me to accept sexual pleasure, he’s anxious to deliver me to his father figure.
My heart pounds so hard that the bones of my ribcage tremble. I only have one chance of freedom, and I won’t let it go to waste.
The moment he leans close enough to unbuckle the restraint around my neck, I grab hold of his lapel and press the scalpel to his throat.
“Seraphine.” Leroi hisses through his teeth.
“Don’t move,” I say.
He raises both palms.
I ease myself up and slide the blade of the scalpel toward the thick vein running down the side of his neck. Leroi’s breathing quickens, but he makes no move to escape.
“You’re not taking me back to Anton,” I say, my voice low.
“He’s dead,” Leroi says between panting breaths.
I press the scalpel deeper into his flesh and nick his skin. A bead of blood gathers on the dirty blade before it rolls down Leroi’s neck.
“Don’t lie to me,” I say. “I overheard the doorman say your father was on his way up.”
Leroi swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. He’s calculating whether he can step away without his throat slit. I press the scalpel a little harder, and he shudders.
“Why do you think I rushed upstairs so quickly and left you behind in the room? It was to keep you hidden from Anton.”
Clashing thoughts and emotions swirl through my mind, making a mess of confusion. I shake off the doubts and stay focused on Leroi and his half-truths.
“But you were working for him all this time.”
“No,” he snarls. “Anton retired over five years ago. He left his firm to me.”
“That doesn’t mean a thing. I saw the fishing photos.”
He closes his eyes, every muscle in his face tightening. “It’s been months since I took Miko to Anton’s lake house, but that doesn’t mean we were working together.”
“Why did you lie about not knowing him?”
“I…” He sighs. “I should have said something, but I didn’t want to overload you with the truth. Seraphine, you’ve got to believe me when I tell you that I wanted to keep you away from Anton.”
“Why are you lying about him being dead?”
“I shot him upstairs and wanted to present you with his head.” He swallows. “It’s waiting for you in the refrigerator.”
My eyes narrow. Would he really decapitate his father figure?
“Finding you in Capello’s basement was a coincidence. The next day, Anton called to say that the girl he’d trained to be an assassin was missing, and I thought I could keep you hidden.”
“So you could train me to work for you?”
He clenches his teeth. “Because you were innocent. Because you didn’t deserve to be corrupted by those sick bastards. Because I wanted to keep you safe.”
There’s a harshness to his voice that betrays his emotions, and the way he stares down at me with glistening eyes says he means every word. I shake off that thought. Leroi has already proven himself to be a liar. At least by omission.
“You killed Miko,” I say.
“He shot at you, brought you to your abuser.” His gaze darts toward the exit, where Roman just left. “You’d be dead if he’d finished what he was about to say.”
Tears sting the backs of my eyes. The bitterness in his voice makes me pause, because Leroi hardly ever shows so much emotion.
Maybe he’s telling the truth?
My throat thickens, and it’s my turn to swallow. He’s trying to throw me off. Make me think I’m confused. At any moment, he’s going to find an opening, and I’ll be the one with a blade to my throat.
Or a pistol to my head.
“Why haven’t you reached for your gun?” I ask.
His jaw tightens. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve killed two of the most important people in my life for you. For your protection,” he says through gritted teeth. “Isn’t it obvious, Seraphine?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“Because I love you,” he adds.
The words hit like a punch to the throat, and I gasp for breath. Leroi can’t mean it. He’s just saying whatever is necessary to save me from cutting open his veins.
“And you love me, too,” he says.
“You’re wrong,” I snap.
“Every man who has ever touched you is either dead or disfigured,” he says. “Yet I’m still here with only a stab wound. You purposely missed my vital organs. That’s your way of showing me love, angel.”
“That’s stupid.”
He chuckles. “Is it? You’re holding this scalpel to my throat and not cutting it. That’s your way of saying you want us to be together.”
I huff a laugh. “You’re delusional.”
“I love you, Seraphine, and you know it. I don’t kill people for free, but I’ve murdered more than I can count just to keep you safe.”
“Four kills is nothing. I’ve murdered over twice as many.”
The corner of his lips lifts into a smirk. “Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart. I owed Anton my life, yet I killed him because he hurt you. I loved Miko like a little brother, but I was ready to put a bullet through his head for trying to reinsert that chip.”
“What about the man in the nightclub?” I ask, my voice wavering.
“He touched what was mine,” Leroi says with a snarl. “And the bum in the gas station deserved what he got for showing you disrespect.”
My breath shallows and my heart beats so hard I can barely sift through my thoughts. His words are unsettling. He’s using facts to prove his point and make me give into his charm.
“That doesn’t explain what you were doing with Mom,” I rasp.
He exhales a long breath. “Anton told me she was alive. There was even an address on his phone. After the assassins blew up the apartment, I decided to track her down and see for myself.”
“Wait.” My fingers tighten around the scalpel. “Someone tried to kill you?”
“Samson put a hit out on me. Rosalind must have shared the location of my apartment with her employer because two of them came to the door while I was cleaning up Anton’s blood.”
The way he says it is so convincing, and he has so much evidence to back up his lies. I saw Rosalind twice, heard her little sister come to the door to ask if she was in the apartment, and then there was that meeting in Alderney Hill to discuss the assassins.
Leroi’s too skilled at lying because everything sounds like the truth.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Mom?” I ask.
“By the time I found out, you and Miko had already left to find Gabriel. Besides, I didn’t want to raise your hopes in case what Anton told me was bullshit.”
“But you were hugging her.”
“No,” he rasps. “I was trying to stop her from running away. All this time, Gabriel has thought you were dead. He yelled at her to tell the truth.”
I flinch, the word hitting like a slap. Leroi is trying to shift my anger to Mom by saying she knew Dad kept me in his basement.
“Don’t change the subject,” I snarl. “We’re talking about you and your lies.”
Leroi closes his eyes and inhales a deep, calming breath the way he does when he’s meditating or trying not to be impatient. The only thing missing is him rubbing a finger on the bridge of his nose. “If you’re so determined to see me as the villain, then kill me.”
“What?” I whisper.
He opens his eyes again, his gaze boring so deeply into my soul that I draw back. “Don’t think I haven’t seen the pictures you drew of me in that little sketchbook. You used up so much red ink, I had to buy you replacement pens. If you’re so desperate to spill my blood, then do it.”
I try to pull my hand away, but he snatches my wrist.
“Say you don’t love me, Seraphine.”
He leans into the blade, letting it cut into his skin. Blood pours freely from the wound, trickles down the scalpel’s handle, and onto my fingers.
“What are you doing?” I jerk my hand away, but Leroi’s grip holds it in place.
“If you don’t love me, then finish me.”
Tears blur my vision. I blink them away, but they’re only replaced by more. I don’t want Leroi dead. Who would I cuddle up to if he dies? Who would supply me with chocolate fountains and mind-blowing orgasms? Who would make me breakfast and chase away my nightmares?
My fingers loosen around the scalpel, and it falls to the floor with a clang.
“Don’t die.” I fling my arms around his neck. “I couldn’t stand it if you were gone.”
Leroi pulls me into a hug. “I’m not going anywhere, angel. But you’ll need to let go of me if you don’t want Samson Capello to crawl out the door.”
