BOUND BY DECEIT

CHAPTER THREE

SLOANE’S POV

The cold gun pressed against my temple, cold steel biting into my skin. My pulse hammered against my skin, but I refused to flinch. Fear was a weapon, and I wouldn’t hand it over, not to Luca Marino.

His fingers rested lightly on the trigger, his dark gaze locked into me with unrelenting focus. The room plunges into an unreadable silence, thick with something sharp and dangerous.

“You’re awfully calm for someone with a gun to their face,” Luca murmured, his voice low and maxed.

I lift my chin, forcing a smirk. “If you were planning on shooting me, you’d have done it already without leaving a trace.”

Across the room, Damian let out a sharp breath. But Luca never took his eyes off of me, holding the gun in his hand with a tight grip.

I know I am treading on thin ice. One wrong move, one misstep, and I’ll end up 6 ft below the ground before I could finish what I started.

“I don’t like unanswered questions,” Luca finally said, dragging the barrel of the gun down my cheek before pulling away. “And you, Emily, if that’s even your real name, are one big f*****g question mark.”

I shrugged, shifting against the ropes that's cutting into my wrist. I wince “I told you. I bartend at your club. I don’t know why you brought me here. I’m sure as hell have no idea why you’re also pointing a gun at me.”

Luca’s lips curled, not quite a smirk, not quite amusement. “Wrong answer Emily.”

Without warning he stretched his hand, grabbing the chair and yanking it forward. This movement makes my knee bump against his, trapping me in his space. He crouched forward, bringing himself eye level with me. Close enough that I could see the fleck of green in his eyes. His facial expression looked inhuman and calculating.

“You think you’re smart?,” he murmured “You think you can play this game better than me?” He leaned in, his mint breath warm against my skin. “But let me tell you something, Emily.” A pause. A heart beating silence. “No one plays me. And live.”

My heartbeat spiked, but I forced myself to stay still. “That’s supposed to scare me?”

Luca exhales a chuckle, amusement flicking in his eyes. “No. It’s supposed to remind you that your life is in my hands. And right now? I’m debating whether or not it’s worth keeping.”

I swallow, my throat dry. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep up the act before my cover blows up and he sees straight through me.

As if sensing what was going through my head, Luca tilted his head slightly. “Damian.”

Damian straightened from his seat. “Yeah?”

“Bring me the file.”

My stomach twisted. What file?

I didn’t move as Damian left the room, my mind racing. If Luca had a file on me this soon, it only meant one thing, he did some serious digging into my past and found something.

Silence stretched through the room, with me trying to slow my hard breathing. Minutes later, Damian returned, tossing a thin folder onto the table beside Luca. He picks it up, flipping it open. His expression remained unreadable, but the air in the room shifted.

“Sloane Ivanovo, ” he read slowly, dragging out the syllables. “That’s your real name right?”

My blood ran cold. No. That can’t be. This game can’t be over before it starts.

Lucas’ gaze flicked down to where I was seated. And for the first time, there was no amusement, no playfulness, just cold-blooded rage.

“You know,” he mused, tapping a finger against the file. “It was strange. A woman like you, working at my club. No past. No history. Just a f*****g complete ghost.” He leaned back slightly, his eyes never leaving mine. “But a Russian ghost? That’s a different story.”

I forced myself to stay silent.

Luca snapped the file shut, his jaw tightening. “You know what Sloane? I don’t like Russian,” he said, his voice dropping to something almost lethal. “And I sure as hell don’t trust them.”

He stood abruptly, pacing in slow, deliberate steps. “So Sloane, tell me, what is a Russian rat with no past doing at my club?”

I lift my gaze to his. “I already told you what I came for, to bartend. And stop calling me Sloane my name is Emily!”

The next second, Luca’s hand was around my throat, not squeezing, just holding. His thumb brushing against the rapid pulse at the back of my neck as a smirk returns to his face, but it was sharper now.

“Your heart’s racing,” he murmured. “Lie to me again and I’ll find out what makes it speed.”

I clenched my jaw, making a mental note not to react and show fear. I can’t let him break me so easily. Not yet.

Luca holds me there for a moment before finally releasing me. He steps back, exhaling slowly. “Let’s try this again. What were you doing in my office?”

I licked my lips, mind working fast. “Looking for money.”

Luca let out a dark chuckle. “Money?”

I nod. “You have stacks of it lying around, I figured I’d take some.”

Damian scoffed. “And risk getting killed?”

I shot him a deadly glare. “You think bartending pays well?”

Luca kept his eyes on me. Watching me. Considering? I could see the gears turning in his head, his sharp gaze dissecting every word I say.

“You… young lady, are either unbelievably bold,” he murmured, “or unbelievably stupid.”

I smirked. “Maybe a balance of both.”

Luca exhaled, shaking his head. “I think this place looks too comfortable, tie her back to the chair.”

Damian stepped forward, cinching the ropes tighter around my wrists.

My face immediately dropped. “Where the hell are you taking me?” I asked.

Luca’s smile was cold, devoid of amusement. “Somewhere a little less comfortable.”

A knot twisted in my gut for the hundredth time today.

He leans in, his breath ghosting over my skin. “You want to play games by lying to me? Fine. But I’ll break you, while enjoying every second of it.”

His words sent a shiver down my spine, but I push my lips forward with a smirk sprawled across my face. “You can try.”

Luca chuckles darkly. “Oh, I will. But best believe I’ll break you.”

Luca whistles, and immediately, the door swings open, as two of his men step in.

I braced myself as they untied me from the chair, only to be dragged out of the room.