Burn for Me, Devil Rider

Chapter 4 The Task

Reagan Pov...

The only reasonable thing I should have done is to throw her out or worse, to kill her!

Nyla Cruz...

Her name clawed at my mind like a damn curse I couldn't shake off no matter what. The only daughter of the family, I was accused of destroying.

The girl who was supposed to be dead and yet she stood in front of me alive, breathing and most unshaken. Watching me like she wasn't the one standing in a room full of armed men.

I should have ended right here. One command. One bullet and one less problem, yet I didn't move or even order my men. I didn't end it because something about her story doesn't sit right.

"Throw her out now!" Dominic barked instead and his voice cut through the silence like a blade.

My men shifted immediately, weapons were hidden and hands were ready, waiting for my command. This is my territory, my world, my rules and my call, yet I said. "No!"

The word came out of my mouth before I could even process. The room fell quiet, with a heavier atmosphere and confusion. Even Dominic froze and looked at me, couldn't get what I just said.

It was a wrong call.

"W-What did you just say?" Dominic asked, not trusting her ears.

My eyes were still locked on Nyla, who didn't budge even though we were talking about death. Her action proves something else that I can't decipher yet.

But one thing is for sure, she is not afraid! I've never seen someone who enters a lion's den unshaken, like she was just surrounded by props.

"I said no!" I repeated but this time quieter yet sharper. The quick, confused look on her face didn't sit with me and the uncertainty knocked me off again.

"Reagan!" Dominic warned.

I finally looked at him. His jaw tightened, and his eyes were dark and barely controlled.

"You're too quick to shut her off." I said firmly.

He didn't blink. "Because there's nothing to discuss Reagan." He shot back.

"She already admitted who she is and it's clear why she is here. That's enough reason!" He added looking at her deadly. It's a fact but I'm not convinced.

"She just confirmed her name, but not a crime." I corrected stepping forward. That shifting didn't sit with him and I didn't miss his hands twitching at his side.

He didn't like how the conversation was going, looking at her with rage and if I were not here, her head would roll.

"I didn't come here to beg!" Her voice cut through us. I'm almost stunned looking at her. She wears the perfect mask of being fearless. Too perfect and too controlled.

Interesting!

"I don't expect you would." I said stepping closer. "So tell me what exactly brings you to this place?"

Her lips tightened, searching for the right word but not fear. "You will never like the response to that!" She said. A smirk tugged my lips, amused.

"Try me then! Because there's nothing I can't take." Challenging how far she can take it.

Her gaze sharpened like a blade cutting through me. "I came for justice!" She drops, not scared that those words will tear her apart. I almost laughed.

"Justice..." I echoed amused.

She didn't flinch but locked gaze with me fearless as always since she came in. "For my family!" She said, gritting her teeth. The hatred, the burning anger was raw and visible.

Yet something inside me didn’t move and couldn't react. I didn't recognize or remember anything and that's a f*****g problem.

At my command, every deal, every order and every drop of blood spilled under my command. I don't forget, don't miss any details and most never lose ends.

So why…

Why does her story feel like it belongs to someone else rather than mine?

That gap is tormenting and inside me is telling something that I need to seek. But what? Where?

"Get everyone out!" I ordered suddenly. I don't want to make a reckless move. What if she is not a threat but a missing piece?

No one moved while I looked at her.

"Now!!" This time, my voice dropped cold enough to freeze bone.

And it did! Feet shuffled and chairs scraped as everyone rushed to leave until just the three of us were left. The door shut with a dull click, then silence followed so thick and suffocating.

I stepped closer to her. Close enough to see the slight tension in her jaw. "Say it again?"

She frowned. "What?"

"Your name!" I said enough to shatter the silence. She looked at me suspiciously but said anyway. "Nyla Cruz." Just as her name passed her lips again, it shot something different inside me.

"Are you sure I killed them?" I asked.

Her lips quivered. "I-I saw men..." She paused, looking at her glass and gripping it tightly. Her reaction showed how much she resented me but if I was behind that order, then she must be dead.

"Did you see me?" She looked at me with immeasurable hatred. If those looks could kill, then she might put an end to her revenge.

This time her eyes were full of rage responding. "You were there!" She growled, her eyes were bloodshot, veins almost popping on her forehead and her knuckles turned white.

"Then tell me what I did?" Her hands clenched tightly around the glass she was holding.

"You watched them burn alive and helpless." With each word she spoke carried every weight of anger and revenge. The room feels cold but I feel blank.

"But I don't remember that!"

"I know what I saw that night!" She snapped.

"You are in shock!"

"No!" She fights back, shifting from where she is ready to pounce on me.

"You saw men but not me!" I corrected.

"You were there!" She insisted.

"Then why are you alive?"

That hit her harder. Her silence stretched and cracked because we both knew the truth. Reagan Vallenti never leaves a damn witness.

Never!

Not children, not women, and not anyone! So if I were really there that night, she would be dead.

"Bring me the records now!” I ordered.

Dominic stiffened behind me and that didn’t escape my eyes. “Reagan...” He said carefully. “This isn’t necessary.”

I turned slightly just enough to see him. "It is."

"Reagan there are files you don’t have access to yet."

"Then unlock them." The long pause cracked noticeably.

"Dominic." I tap his shoulder. He didn't respond, didn't move and averted his gaze. That was the moment it clicked, because in my world, hesitation isn't confusion, not doubt, not caution but guilt.

The air shifted and danger crept down my spine when I fully faced him.

"You told me that very operation under my name was accounted!" I said my voice low but deadly.

"It is!" He replied too quickly.

"Then why doesn't this exist in my memory?' A heavy silence broke just Nyla's breathing was the sound in the room waiting and realizing.

"Reagan you're just letting her manipulate you-"

"Am I?" I cut him off. My voice drops colder, something far more dangerous. "Or am I finally asking the right questions?"

As I step closer, another tension snaps between us.

"Open the records now!" This time it wasn't a request but a threat and Dominic knew it because if there's one thing I won't tolerate is being lied to especially in my empire.

He finally reached for the system but the slight tremor in his hands, flicker of fear and slight hesitation were noticeable. Then realization hits me, whatever I was about to see was far more dangerous than her accusation.