Fire (Deceit and Desire Book 2) Read online

She hadn’t been back in here.

  I knew it, down to my bones.

  So, where is she?

  But I already knew.

  Feeling sick, I sank down on the bed and stared straight ahead, seeing absolutely nothing. I should have taken Nicco and Catherine up on their offer, I realized.

  Somehow, my father or the clan had already caught up with us.

  “Joelle called me,” Trice whispered as I let myself in. “He must have been listening. I’m so sorry, Suri.”

  I caught her in a hug, squeezing her tight. “It’s okay.” Pulling back, I met her eyes. “She’s here, isn’t she?”

  Trice met my eyes and nodded miserably. “He just got back a little while ago.” She bit her lip, looking nervous. After a quick glance over her shoulder, she asked, “Did you do a job outside the clan, Suri?”

  I stiffened. “What?”

  “Did you?” she demanded. “Because I think you did…and your papa knows.”

  My gut shrank down and dropped to somewhere near the level of the floor as she pulled away, watching me. There was no judgment in her eyes, but we both knew the truth. This wasn’t good. If Papa knew…

  Swallowing back the bitter taste of bile, I asked, “Where is he?”

  “In the back.” She angled her head toward the kitchen.

  I nodded. Reaching up, I touched her cheek. “I wanted all of us to get out, Trice.”

  “I know.” Her face softened, and she covered my hand with hers. “But I think we’re all stuck, sweetie. This is just what we are.”

  I gritted my teeth. Like hell.

  Papa sat in the back with his feet kicked up on the kitchen table that Trice, Joelle, and I worked so hard to keep clean. A faint sneer curled his lips as I came into the room and he looked me up and down, taking in the jeans and the threadbare t-shirt I’d pulled on.

  “Well, well, well,” he drawled. “Look at you.”

  The sneer in his voice was obvious, and it only added to the noise in my head. I wanted to knock his feet off the table and scream at him. Hell, screw that. I didn’t want to scream at him. I wanted to attack him, to hurt him. I wanted to destroy him.

  But I was trapped.

  Right now, I was trapped.

  I had to find a way to make Joelle safe all over again, and until I did, I was trapped.

  “Where is Joelle?” I demanded.

  He sneered at me. “She’s not here.”

  Closing the distance in between us, I asked, “Where is she?”

  Papa got up, swinging his feet off the table and rising so fast, the chair beneath him shook. “Someplace where you and your meddling little ass can’t interfere,” he snapped. “Do you know what kind of trouble you could have caused us, Suria? Do you?”

  “Do you think I care?” I shouted. “You’re trying to marry away a child!”

  “She’s not a child, and she will do her duty to the clan, the same way you will!” He pointed a finger at me, clearly expecting me to toe the line.

  But I was tired of toeing the line.

  “I’ve done my fucking duty!” I shouted back. “As for Joelle, her duty shouldn’t be her damn life! Do you want her to end up dead the way my mama did? Is that what you want?”

  “Your mama was weak!”

  Closing my hand into a fist, I stared him down. “Don’t you say that.”

  “She was.” His lip curled. “She was weak and pathetic and pitiful. Joelle is not. She will do her duty. And you…” He pointed at me once more. “You will stop being so much trouble…or…” His face went cold. “If you continue to cause trouble, I will go to Vano. I will tell him that you tried to run a job outside the clan.”

  My gut twisted with cold and fear.

  That was the one thing I didn’t want to happen. “You wouldn’t,” I said, full of bravado and determination. Tossing my hair back, I added, “Do you think he will believe you knew nothing of it?”

  “But I didn’t know anything about it.” He smiled at me. “Do you know…the son of the woman you conned? He’s been coming by here and causing trouble. He specifically mentioned you. If I tell that to Vano, if I tell him that you ran with your sister, you think he will believe a word out of your lying mouth?”

  I barely heard anything past the son of the woman…Kian.

  He meant Kian.

  Kian had been by here.

  Feeling sick, I stared at Papa. He must have taken the look on my face to mean something, because he started to smile.

  But the look on my face didn’t mean what he thought it meant. Of course, I had no idea what the look on my face did mean.

  Kian.

  Kian had been by here.

  Tears burned my eyes.

  Pain sucker-punched me.

  “You will learn to behave, Suria,” Papa said, nodding.

  Turning away from him, I pressed my hands to my burning cheeks.

  Kian had been here.

  “You will give me the money from this…job, and from here on out, you will do what I tell you to do. You do that, and we will pretend none of this ever happened.” He gave me a beatific smile, looking almost benevolent as he circled around to stand in front of me.

  Feeling sick, I shook my head and pushed past him.

  I couldn’t pretend none of this had ever happened. I didn’t want to pretend none of it had ever happened.

  Yet, at the same time, I felt more trapped now than I’d felt before this entire mess started.

  And worse, I’d managed to trap my sister with me.

  What in the hell was I supposed to do now?

  Six

  Suria

  It had been hours since I’d discovered Joelle missing from the hotel. Hours since I’d started on the drive back to LA.

  I’d left the house in a fit of fury, but I hadn’t driven off. I had the keys to the car to keep Papa from doing something with it, and I kept circling the block, keeping an eye on my means of escape – and on everything that was still packed inside it.

  If some miracle plan occurred to me, I was going to be inside that car, and nothing on earth would stop me. Not Papa, not Vano, not anything.

  But so far, no miracle plan had occurred.

  So far, only one somewhat cohesive idea had come to me, and it wasn’t the best.

  “What in the hell am I going to do?”

  There was nobody to answer me, but that was a good thing. I’d walked out of the house, and it was late. I had no idea what time it was and no desire to take the simple action of pulling my phone from my pocket to check.

  I knew it was late enough that the neighborhood around me had gone to sleep, hardly any cars driving up and down the road which put the time somewhere after midnight at least.

  I’d probably been out wandering the streets for over an hour.

  I didn’t know what to do, but it was looking more and more like I was just about out of options. That only meant one thing.

  Well, two things. I could give Papa the money and let Joelle get married to that bastard Ephraim, but that wasn’t a viable option.

  No, the only real option in my mind was the one that I’d been trying to avoid.

  Going to the police.

  I didn’t know what other choice I had.

  No doubt Papa was keeping my sister under lock and key now. He wouldn’t let her go to school or anything – that might be the way in if she didn’t show up for a few days. Contact the school and see if I couldn’t talk to a guidance counselor, who would then contact the cops.

  But that would mean waiting, and I didn’t know if I had the time to wait.

  “Damn you, Papa.”

  I’d let him have the money and be done with it if he’d just leave me and Joelle alone. I could take her away, and somehow, we’d find a way to make it on our own. I had no idea how, but we’d manage. After all, Catherine had done it with Nicco.

  Catherine.

  Nicco.

  Why hadn’t I given them a chance?

  “Maybe I should call them,” I wh
ispered. My foot hit a rock, and as it skittered down the sidewalk, I fought back a shiver. It wasn’t cold out, but in that moment, I couldn’t help but realize how terribly alone I was. Not just out here, as I paced the sidewalk, but in reality. I had to fix this horrible mess of a problem, and I knew that Papa would be waiting for me to do something.

  He wouldn’t believe that I’d sit quietly by now, not after we’d already tried to run away.

  I came to the end of the block and stood there, staring at the house where I’d conned people out of money and where Papa had sold my sister into a life where she’d be treated as little more than property and a broodmare. I hated this. I hated my life and hated my helplessness.

  “So, what are you going to do about it?”

  A car sat across the street from where I stood. It hadn’t been there the last time I’d come around the block, had it? Nervous, I shot it a furtive glance

  Turning on my heel, I started back in the opposite direction, moving at a quicker pace than before.

  I glanced back and picked up my speed. I didn’t know if the car belonged to somebody in the area or not, but it made me nervous. Maybe it was because I was so stressed from everything going on, but for some reason, the tinted windows of the vehicle seemed like eyes, staring out at me in the night.

  “You’re going a little crazy,” I told myself. “Sleep deprivation. Stress. Worry.”

  All of the above.

  My belly rumbled, and I added hunger to the list.

  I wasn’t even hungry per se, but my body wanted fuel. It wanted a drink and about ten hours horizontal, but despite my gritty eyes and my rumbling belly, I wasn’t going anywhere until I figured out a plan.

  There had to be an option.

  But no matter how many times I circled around the various possibilities in my mind, I kept coming back to just one.

  Going to the cops.

  Sure, I was looking at trouble myself, but it would save Joelle. And if I returned the money, I probably wouldn’t be in that much trouble. And if Joelle was safe, wasn’t that worth any trouble I might find myself in?

  Besides, once I got my sister safe, what was the family likely to do?

  I might find myself thrown out of the clan, but for me, that would be a blessing.

  And if I returned the money…

  What would Kian think if I showed up at his business and returned the money I’d taken from his mother? Would he appreciate it? Would he tell me to get the hell out? Would he call the police?

  Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing.

  If the police were pulled in, I could explain the trouble Joelle was in, and they’d have to do something, wouldn’t they?

  Although what if they couldn’t find her?

  Would they give up if Papa lied to them?

  Would they believe him?

  No. I couldn’t risk doing anything like that until I knew Joelle was safe. The money would be after I took care of my sister. So, the police…then the money. That meant I had to figure out where my sister was.

  Would Vano be keeping her?

  The idea turned my stomach a little, and I had to brace myself, force myself to think through a possible plan, because it was very likely Joelle was with Vano. Papa couldn’t have just sent her anywhere. It wasn’t…seemly for a young, unmarried female to stay with just anybody in the clan. But Vano was married and had girls about Trice’s age. It wouldn’t be much of an issue there. And it could be considered that Vano was protecting her.

  From me. The idea was laughable.

  They were going to marry her off to somebody more than twice her age, somebody who was brutal, with an ugly temper and they were hiding her from me, the only person who was determined to protect her.

  And I couldn’t get her out by myself. It was painfully clear to me.

  I’d failed the first time by not getting far enough away, by not making sure that Joelle understood how important it was that she didn’t call the house. I should have been more careful. I hadn’t, and now my sister was paying the price.

  It was my turn to step out and pay out.

  “So…the police.” My voice echoed loudly in the night as I came to a halt at the far end of the block, staring up at the street light. It surrounded me in a pool of yellowish light. Slowly, I turned back to stare toward the house where I lived with Papa. “It’s not an ideal plan.”

  No.

  It wasn’t ideal, but maybe it was a plan I could live with.

  Joelle safe.

  I wouldn’t have to keep hiding from my reflection every time I thought about Kian and his mother.

  And if the clan threw me out?

  I would be happy with that. These were people who were okay with forcing children to marry when they didn’t want to, people who were okay with locking children away when those children tried to get away from those marriages.

  If they wanted to throw me out because I wanted something better for my sister, for myself, then that was just fucking fine with me.

  I’d find something better on my own anyway. I’d find something better for my sister, and if Trice would let me, I’d help her find something better too.

  I thought through my limited options.

  Maybe I’d go to Catherine and Nicco. They already said they wanted to help us. Maybe they could help me now. And even if they couldn’t, in two years, Joelle would be an adult. I’d stay in touch with her, and with Trice, somehow. When Joelle was eighteen, the three of us could take off on our own.

  And one thing was certain…Papa would never plan on me going to the cops. Or on me returning the money to Kian and his mother.

  Determination began to take place of uncertainty, and I started to walk once more.

  Seven

  Kian

  I don’t know why, but I couldn’t seem to pull myself away from Suria’s house.

  Suria.

  Sirene.

  Whatever her name was.

  I finally had to leave for a little while toward evening and go deal with some shit at the garage, but the moment I was done, I headed back over to the little run-down house and parked on the cross street where I could just barely see the front of the house.

  There was a different car parked in the driveway, I noticed. It had been there the first time I came out to see Suria and part of me wondered if maybe she’d come back.

  But she wasn’t likely to do that, was she?

  It seemed like she had run.

  The woman on the sidewalk had circled the block twice, head bowed low, wearing a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved t-shirt. Maybe that was why it didn’t click who she was. Not until she stopped under a street lamp at the end of the block and tipped her head back, staring up at the sky as if searching for something.

  Son of a bitch.

  Suria.

  Unable to stay in the car, I got out just as she started to turn around.

  She tensed at the sound of the door shutting, going still.

  The sight of her eyes going wide as I approached made me feel a little petty – had I scared her? Why didn’t that bother me?

  Oh, yeah. She’d scammed my mom for thousands of dollars.

  Relief flashed through her eyes as I drew closer, and I didn’t like that. At all.

  I didn’t want Suria to be relieved at seeing me.

  “Expecting somebody else?” I asked softly, coming to a stop in front of her.

  She glanced toward my car, her mouth still open. She snapped her jaw shut as she swung her head, telling me no. “I wasn’t expecting anybody,” she said, her voice quiet. “What are you doing here?”

  “Oh, I was just feeling restless, decided to go for a drive. Thought maybe I’d see if I could get my future told.” I gave her a caustic smile. “What’s the going rate? Ten grand? More?”

  She flinched.

  That pissed me off.

  “What’s wrong? Didn’t expect to get caught?” I took another step toward her.

  She eyed me narrowly, caution written all over he
r face.

  It was too late for caution, though. She should have shown some caution when she was thinking about scamming my family.

  “What, don’t you have anything to say…Sirene?”

  To my surprise, she lifted her chin and met my gaze squarely. “What do you want me to say, Kian?”

  “How about the truth?” I demanded. At some point, I’d taken another step, and now there was no room left between us. Glaring down at her, the scent of her filling my head and teasing feelings I didn’t want to have, I fought the urge to grab her and haul her against me…or maybe shake her. “Why don’t you try telling the fucking truth? Or do you know what that is?”

  She lifted an eyebrow at me. “I’m not sure you want to hear the truth, Kian. It’s not a pretty story.”

  “You conned my mother,” I snapped. “You used her dead brother to do it. Trust me, I already know it’s not pretty.”

  She swallowed so hard, I heard the click in her throat. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” she said, her voice weak. “I did what I had to do. Maybe if you were me, you’d understand.”

  “I don’t want to be you,” I fired at her. “I don’t want to understand what would drive somebody to manipulate somebody who was hurt and grieving. What makes you think that’s okay, Suria? Sirene…I don’t even know what to fucking call you!”

  “My name is Suria.” She lifted her chin as she met my eyes. “And I never thought it was okay. But I did what I had to do.”

  “Yeah?” Without thinking, I shot my hand up and grabbed that proud, arrogant chin of hers, forcing her head back when she would have looked away. “Why don’t you tell me just why you had to con my mother out of so much money, Suria?”

  “I did it to save my sister.” She said those words in a flat monotone. At the same time, she reached up and grabbed my hand.

  To my surprise, she pressed down on my wrist in a way that made my hand go almost numb, and when I let her go, she stepped away. Arms crossed over her chest, she moved to the edge of the sidewalk, staring out into the night. “Have you ever felt responsible for somebody, Kian? Felt like it was your job to take care of them?”