Submitting To The Devil - The Devil's Snare - Book 2

Chaoter Forty One

Bianca

So we're in hiding, great, except for the fact that there's no food or much water and only one bedroom come living area, leaving us with the only option but to share space with one another.

That first hour was filled with tense silence. We sat in a circle, staring at one another as we judged each other.

I guess none of us had a clue of what to say, leaving the only sounds coming from Alexandra as she hissed annoyance at being tied to another chair while simultaneously trying to release herself. She couldn't, of course. Sven ensured she wasn't able to breathe, let alone escape.

Soon, though, the trivia of being trapped down here had me wandering around the space as I paced back and forth in an attempt to kill my anxiety.

And my movement had first Sven agitated and then Alexandra.

"You'll have to surface at some point; they'll be waiting," she tells me. Or at least she looks to me as she speaks. It's as if she's solely talking to me, yet she never actually addressed me.

Anxiety rolls through me in tenfold.

Is he waiting for me?

"Ignore her; she's just looking to spark fear in you," Sven tells me.

It's the first time he's spoken directly to me, and I guess that has my attention, but not in a good way. It only makes me second-guess his intentions. Is he working with her?

Are we sitting ducks awaiting for the arrival of him?

"Я имею в виду никакого вреда," he whispers in his native tongue as if I could understand him fluently.

I know some Russian, but I'm not fluent, so I desperately search through all my lessons as a child and try to piece together what he's telling me. Yet I can't quite figure it all out because it's been that long since I was taught the basics, and he offers no further statement to hint at what he's telling me.

Except for, of course, he takes a step back and holds his hands before him.

Does he mean to tell me he's not here to harm me?

Do I believe him?

"Bee?" Niko calls me. He's holding a can of water; I can tell because they are the same long-life water cans my father also used to keep in his safe houses.

I'm parched, and my mouth waters instantly, so I move to take a drink, and that settles my nerves, or Niko does.

"Sven and I need to talk, but I'd preferforit not to be in her earshot. Could you watch her? Do you feel up to it?" He whispers to me as he steps up to hold me. His hands circle my waist, and he pulls me against him. I melt into his touch, laying my chin in the crook of his neck. Sniffing, I inhale his scent. He still has that unique smell of the sun and the ocean water, reminding me of the days I quite literally took for granted.

Even with his reassuring touch, I feel less than happy to be left alone with Alexandra again.

"Niko—."

"I need to gather information, baby. I have to protect you with everything I have."

"It's too dangerous," I whine, knowing he needs to do this but not wanting him to be in any danger.

"We have no choice; this place is not equipped to keep us for long," he points out the obvious.

"Where are you going to go?" I whisper against his skin. He swallows, and his heartbeat pulses against my lips.

"We're going outside," he tells me quietly, almost as if he's speaking numbly. It's as if he knows I'm going to object, yethe's not going tochange his mind.

"You won't change your mind, will you?"

"We have no choice. I need to make a plan, and I need information before we make any decisions."

"Then you should know she was here with Benji. I don't know why, but he was here for her," I reveal, reaching inside my bra to bring the piece of paper out. I slip it into his hand, and he frowns.

"You won't be long?" I ask.

"I'll be as quick as I can, Bee."

With that, he kissed me tenderly before passing me one of his guns, and then he encouraged me back to the sofa, which was the most uncomfortable chair I had ever sat on in my life.

And then he and Sven left through the door we entered through.

I watched Alexandra with keen interest as she shook herself and the chair she sat on when the door showed her the route to freedom.

"Are you in a relationship with him?" I asked, filling the silence as the minutes stretched by.

"Benji?" She questions back.

"Yeah."

"God, no. Why would I be—. Oh, you don't know," she frowns.

"Know what?"

"He's my brother, I wouldn't be fucking my brother."

"But he only had sons," I murmur in disbelief.

"I'm a bastard child, kept secret because I was the product of an affair. You know how it is: keep us a secret, and we don't exist. Yet we're used like spare mercenaries to get what our father wants to prove we mean utterly nothing to them."

Her revelation sits uncomfortably in my subconscious, yet there's so much truth that it hurts.

Father used Emma just like that once he was tipped off that my mother had had an affair. And he was willing to kill her, to give me my birthright to suit him over my needs.

For a long while, I wanted that; I wanted to be Emma. I wanted Luca and the protection he could offer. I wanted to be wanted like he wanted Emma.

But now, I want a life that is far from mirroring that horror show.

"So why are you here?" I find myself asking despite not really caring. But it feels right to ask that. To find out the inevitable.

"To get you, of course," she grins with so much malice I could have died a thousand deaths.

"You could say I escaped; let me return home to Luca's safety. I could tip off Mitchel, and he'd come for you. Do you really want me marched to my death, Alexandra?"

"I'd rather it be yours than mine. And Mitchel would only come to kill me. He found out the truth; he sent me back, claiming his abandonment as mercy. Why do you think I'm on this mission to prove my loyalty to my father's name."

"We can help, Luca would help."

"I hate to tell you, but Luca's worse than my father. He'd skin me alive whilst broadcasting it to the rest of the world."

"He's not like that."

"Who says, sweet little Emma, that can't do no wrong? I bet things happen behind closed doors, which makes her frightened to speak up. I should know, Mitchel was exactly the same," she hisses.

"Not all men are like that," I argue, thinking of Niko and how gentle he always is with me.

But this only has her screeching at me, shaking herself in the hopes of escape. She's angry and adamant that I'm the key to her success.

"You'll find out soon," she huffs, pulling at her arm restraints. "He'll beat you too. Rape you, all sorts," she hints at Niko.

"You're wrong," I tell her.

"And you're naive," she screams angrily. I flinch back, shocked at her outburst. I realise now that she's harbouring so much anger that she's a live bomb ticking down to detonation.

Will this cause us more problems than we're capable of fixing?