Vicious Seduction

27

This dumbass had to learn a lesson. His eyes cut to Lina, then bulged even more. He nodded as best he could, gasping and patting my arm like we were playing a game and he was tapping out. Wrong. In our world, following the rules was a matter of life and death. There was no mercy rule. I kept my grip tight until he went limp from passing out, then eased his body to the floor.

When I turned my attention back to Lina, she stared at me as if seeing me for the first time. Good. I hoped it gave her something to think about when she was tempted to go back to Wellington. “Time for us to go.” I held out my hand and thanked Christ when she placed hers in mine without hesitation. Fear could have motivated her, but I didn’t care. I was just relieved to have her comply without question for once. More than relieved. Her submission was a shot of adrenaline straight into my bloodstream—a high I could easily begin to crave. Feisty Lina was enticing. Captivating. The more pliant, yielding side of her could bring a man to his knees. I hoped I never saw it again. OceanofPDF.com CHAPTER 18 LINA Was Oran telling the truth? Had he really joined Olympus just to get close to Lawrence? As we drove back to my place, I watched the buildings pass by, but nothing I saw registered. I was too confounded by the fact that all my instincts told me Oran had been honest. I hadn’t necessarily expected him to tell me outright that he was looking to join the Society, but I thought he might hint at something more nefarious. Maybe the answer he’d given was only part of the truth. Getting close to Lawrence could be his method for gaining membership to the Society. Maybe he saw them as one and the same. But if that were the case, stealing me away from Lawrence would hardly help his cause. I wasn’t sure what to think. A part of me wanted to believe there was a chance he was different from the others, but just because he wasn’t involved in the Society didn’t make him safe. He was still an associate of Lawrence’s. A criminal. Just look at what he’d done when his own cousin had upset him. If I’d had any question about his family being in organized crime, that had swiftly been put to rest. Not a single person had batted an eye at the outburst. My mother had insinuated Oran knew more than he let on. Could he have been involved in Amelie’s disappearance? Without an answer, I would have to stay on guard, which normally came naturally to me after years of necessity. Yet somehow, whenever I was near him, I seemed to forget every hard-fought lesson I’d ever learned. Watching him with his family made things even more confusing. Everyone seemed so … genuine. It felt foreign. Like I’d stepped into an alternate dimension where people cared about one another and valued their time together. In my experience, that wasn’t how family worked. Family were the people you were shackled to by blood. As we stepped onto the sidewalk in front of my building, I gave voice to my thoughts. “You’re a lucky man. You have an incredible family.” Even if they did kill people. “You’re not close to yours.” It was an observation rather than a question, but I answered as if it were. “No.” “None of them?” An ache radiated from the sinkhole that had slowly devoured my heart over the past few months. “Not as close as I should have been.” The words felt so heavy, I was surprised they carried at all. Sensing he’d struck on a sensitive subject, Oran didn’t push for more. I wondered why. He’d made no promise to be kind or even tolerable during our time together. If he wanted answers, he could force them from me. I wasn’t some Navy SEAL badass trained to withstand interrogations. Given the right circumstances, I’d fold like a cheap lawn chair. Maybe acting like a gentleman and showing me his family was all a manipulation. Maybe he was trying to get me to drop my defenses. But to what end? I had no clue, but regardless, his tactics were working. I didn’t want to admit it, but I felt at ease with him in a way I hadn’t expected. Like I didn’t have to put on a show or behave a certain way. And when he has you where he wants you, what then? I sighed heavily as I stepped onto the elevator. Oran pressed the button for my floor. “I need you to stay away from Lawrence. No contact whatsoever. Understood?” “What are you going to do if I don’t?” My thoughts triggered my defenses, and his command only worsened things. “Lock you in my apartment.” “You wouldn’t,” I scoffed. “You couldn’t. People would look for me.” He used the side of his fist to press the red emergency button, forcing the elevator to come to a jarring halt. Oran prowled across the small space and placed his hands against the metal wall on either side of my body. “Tell me I can’t do something one more time, and you’ll see just how capable I am of many, many things.” He wasn’t joking. Not even a little. In fact, I got the sense he was almost begging me to give him a reason to follow through. If I gave him the slightest provocation, he’d have me chained to his bed, proving just how adept those fingers of his were. God, why was I so tempted? He brought his lips to my ear. My lungs quit working. “Do it, Lina. I can see how badly you want to test me. Just give me one … little … reason.” His whispered words flooded my core with such intense desire that I had to press my thighs together to alleviate the ache. What about this man was so damn irresistible? I should have been repulsed. I should have told him off, then kneed him in the junk for good measure. Instead, my treacherous tongue trailed over my bottom lip as I grappled for control. “Okay,” I forced past my throat. “Message received.” He waited several more seconds for emphasis before slowly pulling away and putting the elevator back into motion. I could feel his eyes devouring me but couldn’t convince myself to meet his stare. If he saw how close I was to throwing caution to the wind, we wouldn’t have left that elevator. I practically ran through the elevator doors when they opened and burst into my apartment. Jessa was home. I wasn’t sure what to do, but when Oran didn’t turn to leave, I hesitantly allowed him inside. “Hey, Jessa. This is Oran.” “Hey! It’s great to finally meet you.” She stood from the comfy chair and shook his hand. I wasn’t sure what was worse—for Oran to think I’d been talking about him or for him to realize Jess had him confused for Lawrence.