Page 44 of Reckless Desires

Instead of pressuring her to talk, I sit on the floor in front of her and cross my legs.

“What are you doing?” she asks, her gaze running up and down my body.

“Well, we are both awake, so might as well keep each other company.”

Her eyes dart to my briefs and my cock twitches.

“Can you stop looking at me like I’m a piece of meat?” I say, watching her finally crack a tiny smile.

“Get over yourself.” She rolls her eyes then wipes her cheeks.

“You don’t need to pretend with me, Liliana. You can fall apart as much as you need to, as long as you promise you’re going to get up and put the pieces back together.”

“I’m trying.” She lets out a breath. Her body tenses, and she holds her knees to her chest tighter and drops her gaze to the floor. “It was nothing compared to how the other girls were treated.”

I can see the worry in her eyes. The “What if I am the kind of woman who breaks? What if I’m the kind of woman who can’t put herself back together again? Then what? What happens then? I just have these nightmares for the rest of my life. I wake up screaming and not knowing where I am.”

“How would you torture him?”

She finally looks back up at me and shrugs, but sounds so sure of herself. “Take his eyes out. Chop each finger off.”

I nod. “So far I like it.”

“You enjoy it,” she says, “killing.”

“I’d say it’s more of the torture. Once they are dead, they are useless.”

“That adds up,” she replies softly. “You’re being nice to me.” There’s suspicion layered in her tone, her eyes narrowing, her mouth pressing into a thin line. “Is it because we slept together?”

“I’m always nice to you unless you give me a reason not to be. Sex has nothing to do with it. Why don’t you try and rest? I’ll sit in a chair till you fall asleep.”

She says nothing for a moment before nodding. Slowly, she gets up and makes her way over to the bed. Getting to my feet, I watch her get into bed, her back toward me.

“They watched,” she confesses as though talking to herself. So I don’t say a word and just listen. “They made me parade around the room naked, touched themselves in front of me, came on me like I was a piece of rag. Sometimes they would let me wipe it off, or other times they’d make the other girls lick it off me. Each time I would protest, they would…” She begins to sob. “They would rape one of the girls in front of me.”

Walking around the bed, I make myself comfortable on the chaise chair by the window across the nightstand. “I’ll make them pay for it, Liliana. I give you my word.”

Her gaze locks on mine, and there’s nothing said between us for a long few minutes. I don’t know if it’s the pounding of her heart that fills the room or the pounding of mine. Blood rushes in my ears as I look down at her lying there in the white tank top and underwear. The collar around her neck fits perfectly there.

“Killian.” Her words are soft but hold a weight. “When did Cameron call you to come find me?”

This is a tricky question, but the fact she’s asking means she is trying to connect the dots, and now that makes me curious. “I think it was a few days after you went missing before he called for my help.”

There’s hurt in her eyes. “How did you find me? How did you know where to look?”

How do I say this without looking like I hang out with those sleezy men or that I was using her as bait. “I happened to be there grabbing a drink. Not to participate.” There’s a pause. “Did you think Cameron didn’t try hard enough?”

“I think it was an inside job,” she blurts out, still holding eye contact.

Propping my elbow on the armrest, each finger taps one by one. “And you ruled me out?”

She nods. “If you wanted me, you’d take me yourself. You wouldn’t cross the ocean and spend half a million dollars.”

“What if I made it look that way?” I want to test just how keen Liliana is.

“It’s possible.” Now she sits up in bed. “But if you wanted Alessio’s attention, you would have gone after the woman carrying his child. Not his mistress.”

I don’t flinch. “I didn’t know you were his mistress.”