Page 55 of Niccolaio Andretti (The Five Syndicates)
“I’m not a liar,” Jax groans, drawing my attention back to him.
I turn to Minka. “He told me that he doesn’t have a partner. He claims he only works alone.” I shift my attention back to Jax and say, “But Minka told me that someone’s been following her. Who am I supposed to believe? You, an F grade, bottom of the barrel, wannabe hitman, or Minka?” I lower my voice to a false whisper, “I’ll give you a hint—I’m more inclined to believe her.”
My voice returns to a normal volume, and when I turn to Minka to ask if she wants to have a go at questioning him, I see something in her eyes that confuses me.
I see guilt.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Not the fastest horse
can catch a word spoken
in anger.
Chinese Proverb
“You lied to me,” Nick says, turning his body away from the sorry shell of a man tied onto the floor beside him.
“What are you talking about?” I laugh out convincingly, like I think what he’s saying is ridiculous.
But inside, I’m staggered, a frantic mess.
I know he’s smart. I knew that from the moment I saw him. It was something I could just tell. No matter what he’s saying or doing, pure intelligence seeps out of his eyes and through his mannerisms.
But still…
How did he figure me out already?
I’ve been here for less than half an hour, and my gig is already up.
“You lied to me,” he repeats, his already callous eyes darkening and something in his voice akin to disbelief.
Maybe he’s even impressed.
Like the fact that I was bold enough to try to trick him and able to do so, even if it was only for a brief amount of time, is the most fascinating thing in the world.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I deny, my mind racing, wondering how I can spin this in my favor.
I’ve been in a lot of bad spots over the years, but I’ve never been homeless. I’ve been lucky to have a full scholarship at Wilton that paid for tuition along with room and board, but now I have to get back to the real world.
Where I can be booted onto the street, and literally no one but Mina would care.
Least of all the indifferent man before me.
He takes a step forward, and I stand still for a moment, enjoying our proximity before I instinctively take a step back, fully aware that I should have done so in the first place. From behind him, Jax watches us, still whimpering intermittently.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he says. “I’m impressed. And curious.” He pauses and opens his mouth to say something, but when the doorbell rings, his open mouth shifts into a frown. His eyes flash in annoyance, presumably at the interruption and hopefully not at me. “That’s probably the deliveryman for the groceries. We’ll finish this later,” he says and heads toward the staircase without a goodbye or an invitation to follow him.
I follow him up anyway, not wanting to be alone down here with Jax. It smells absolutely disgusting in the basement. Like someone dumped a few dozen bottles of Febreeze down a sewer and thought it’d take care of the stench.
It didn’t.
I trail behind Nick and follow him into the foyer, because it’d be weird being alone in a room in his house. Even though I should get used to it if I’m going to be staying here for however long it takes for me to get back on my feet.
Once we reach the door, Nick presses a button on a panel beside it, and the screen shows a man outside. His head is down, and since the angle is from above, we can’t see any part of his face past his baseball cap, which has the logo of the grocery store on it. His muscular arms are holding a large box, and in it are several bags full of food items.
Nick presses a button, and the inner door slides open, followed by the outer door. When the doors open, the guy lifts his head and studies me for a split second before turning to Nick. The box in his hand drops, revealing the gun in his right hand, a silencer attached to the end.
