No Deal
1895 Words
HER
The voice… It was familiar. Cold and…
Sera turned around immediately. And there… Her suspicions were right.
She stopped breathing when she came face to face with those cold eyes glaring at her with a nonchalant, bored expression.
He was here.
She was staring face to face with the devil’s companion, Cassian Vale. And he had a gun to her head.
Dying at the hands of the same man who owned everything she wanted to burn was ironic, and Sera was facing that irony firsthand. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t. Because even though she tried, there was something about the presence of the man in front of her that suggested any wrong move would leave her dead.
Sera was lost in her mind. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t be here.
“Who. Are. You?” Cassian snapped. His voice felt like a bucket of cold water splashed over her.
Now she was angry. Fuming. So she refused to answer. Sera just stared at the man in front of her. He was still wearing the dark suit he had on at the wedding.
“Are you dumb or deaf?” Sera’s brows furrowed at his tone. Who the hell did he think he was?
His face remained expressionless as he towered over her, his gun still pressed to her head. The fact that she was still kneeling upset her even more, so she said, “That has nothing to do with you.”
His dark blue eyes remained stoic, but a muscle in his jaw ticked once. It was so fast Sera thought she imagined it.
“It has everything to do with me, because you’re in my f*cking warehouse with a lighter in your hands. I asked you once, and I’ll ask you again, who the hell are you?” Their eyes stayed locked, and Sera frowned. Years of pent-up anger for the syndicate rose to the surface, and her frown deepened. This man might have nothing to do with her hatred for his late brother, but they shared the same blood. And that disgusted her.
Suddenly, he pulled the gun from her head and racked the slide, ready to shoot. It happened so fast, and somewhere between Sera watching his fingers wrap around the trigger and him trying to pull it, she rushed up and shoved him back. She had trained a little before, so she knew her push wasn’t weak. But he didn’t move. Not even an inch.
“Humor me, please. What are you going to do, fight me?” He wasn’t asking. It was a mocking statement.
Sera tightened her fists. She wasn’t afraid of death, but the thought of dying at the hands of the head of the syndicate without a fight was unbearable. She was anything but weak. “Well, we could find out.”
“I don’t give an inkling of a s**t to find out.”
“Then don’t ask me stupid questions.”
He c****d his head to the side, his eyes darkening. “What did you just say?”
Sera raised her head defiantly. “I said don’t ask me stupid questions. Did I stutter?”
“Never. Speak. To. Me. Like. That.”
“I just did.”
“If you weren’t a woman, I’d have snapped your head to the side, then cut your tongue out and burned it with that lighter in your hand. Be careful.”
The intensity with which he said it made Sera believe he wasn’t joking. He was dead serious.
But Sera didn’t care. “Oh, please. Does that make a difference to a psychopath like you?”
His mouth twitched. “It does. Otherwise, I’d have tortured the breath out of you.”
He took a step closer, and Sera took one back. “I’d have relished breaking every single bone in your body. Thank everything you’re worth that you came into this world as a woman, because…” He paused. “You don’t want to know.”
Sera believed him. He was the devil, and she had seen how bloody he could be at the reception. The man had killed his own distant cousin on her wedding day.
He tapped a finger against the gun, checked his wristwatch, then spoke as if she were wasting his time. “Who the hell are you, and who put you up to this?”
Sera folded her arms and looked him square in the eye. “Why should I tell you? You’d kill me anyway, so what difference does it make?”
He c****d his head again. “You’re right. I’ll kill you anyway. But I’m sure you don’t want to die with a bullet in every part of your body that aches before you beg for death.”
“You don’t scare me.”
Cassian touched his jaw, pretending to be lost in thought, his tattooed hand coming into view. “Oh, I don’t care what scares you. What I want to do is hurt you. And that’s not something you can control.”
“If that makes you feel like a king, then happy f*cking birthday.”
“Good try. But you see, you’re basically a dead woman walking right now. And you know whose words don’t mean s**t? The words of a dead woman walking. I didn’t come here to converse with you. I came here to kill you.”
Cassian pointed his gun again, and when Sera saw how cold his eyes had become, how bored he looked… She knew. It was over.
He wasn’t bluffing. He was going to kill her. Not a chance.
Sera sprinted toward the stairs, her heart pounding as she climbed the hard steps. Denisk had once told her that Cassian never missed a target. She needed to get away from him. By the time she reached the top, she was a panting mess. The stairs felt endless.
Sera tried to find a room to hide in, but all the doors were locked. And he was already there.
She hadn’t even heard him coming. Before he could grab her, Sera shoved him, but he caught her hand. His grip was cold, rough, and tight as he held her in place.
His eyes flashed with anger. “Don’t waste my time. You don’t want to talk? I don’t give a s**t. But you know what I’m not going to do with you? Play hide and seek.”
His words felt like a dagger pressed into Sera’s chest. She hated the fact that after everything one brother had done to her, she was now at the mercy of another.
No way. Sera twisted and pushed against him, trying desperately to put space between them. Between his unmoving strength and her struggle, her hoodie ripped, jerking her free, and throwing her off balance.
She fell back with a scream, tumbling over the railing. The only thing stopping her from falling was her hand gripping the edge of the cold metal. She did this to herself.
Cassian walked toward her, his expression indifferent as he stared down at her struggle to stay alive. “What stopped you? Weren’t you so eager to struggle earlier?”
She hated him. Everything about him. “F*CK YOU!”
He remained indifferent, his hands still on his gun. “Who are you?”
“Just shoot me and save yourself the time, because I’m not telling you anything!...”
No. No. No. No. Her breath hitched, panic clawing up her throat. This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t just the pain from the metal biting into her hand that grounded her. It was the sound of her phone ringing.
She didn’t need to check who it was. It was Abbon. She hadn’t sent him her location, and he had made it clear he would come looking for her otherwise. This wasn’t good.
Cassian studied her expression, tilting his head slightly. “I knew you’d have an accomplice. That makes me feel great. And I know for certain it’s a man. Finally, someone to take the full extent of my rage. Pick up the damn phone.”
Sera tensed. Her world felt like it was collapsing. This was why she wanted to do this alone. This.
Cassian could not know she had anything to do with Denisk or anyone connected to him. It was history repeating itself. Denisk had spent his whole life rebuilding what was lost after his father was disgraced for betraying the Bratva in Russia.
She would rather die than let that happen to his son. The phone rang again.
Sera forced her voice steady. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m holding on for dear life…”
Cassian raised his hand, his expression hardening. “Don’t give me that nonsense. Minutes ago, you were ready to die. Nothing should change now. So take one hand off and get the phone.”
“Pull me up, and I’ll give it to you,” Sera said, locking eyes with him.
He stared at her for what felt like forever. “You think this is some kind of human rights negotiation? Give me the damn phone.”
Sera scoffed. “I won’t. I’ll never make a deal with the devil.”
The pain in her hand worsened. It wouldn’t be long before her grip gave out. And the man above her would happily watch her fall.
“Give me the phone, and I’ll pull you up.”
Sera snickered. Not a chance.
Cassian crouched down until he was within reach. “I don’t need you to give me the phone. I could kill you and take it. Or you could fall and die, and I’d take it anyway. You’re not useful to me in the slightest. So why do you think you can act like a brat?”
His words stung, but they cleared her mind. He was right. She would die anyway.
So better to die knowing Denisk and his children would be safe.
Sera nodded. “You’re right. I’ll give you the phone. But hold one hand while I take it out with the other. I’m not trying to die.”
Cassian’s gaze sharpened with suspicion, but he grabbed one of her hands anyway. His grip was cold, sending a sharp jolt up her arm.
With her free hand, Sera pulled out the phone. Then, just as she raised it like she was about to hand it over… She threw it. They both watched as it flew upward, then dropped… and shattered against the concrete floor below.
Relief flooded her chest. Now she could die in peace. She looked up and met his cold eyes. He had been watching her all along.
Sera forced a smile. “I told you… I’d never make a deal with the devil.” Then she blinked.
A mistake. He could let go. But, she was ready.
Suddenly, she was yanked upward. In one swift motion, he pulled her over the railing and onto the floor. Sera yelped as her feet hit the ground. Before she could react, he closed the distance between them, tilting his head.
“Now, you’ve pissed me off.” His grip tightened painfully around her hands as he leaned in, his voice cold against her ear. “And when I’m done with you…” His hold tightened further.
“You’ll wish I let you die.”
- Writer
