CHAPTER THIRTEEN

AMBER

I STAYED IN the library long after Emmett left. His kiss still lingered on my forehead. What it meant left me feeling confused towards him. I had to remind myself that he was my best friend’s brother. He was also weird, and maybe even a killer. Catching feelings for him right now wasn’t healthy.

“Miss Green.” I rolled my eyes at the title. Having Michael here made me feel a little bit safer, though.

“Michael, if we are going to spend time together, you have to call me Amber. Okay?”

He eyed me and grinned, only one side of his mouth rising. “Sure thing, Amber.” I didn’t like how he looked at me, and after Simon, my alarm bells were ringing.

“You understood that you have to protect me at all costs?” I remind him.

His grin vanished, and he shrugged. “Yeah, I know.”

“Because you, being so close to Emmett, understand what I mean to him. The real truth?” I added and nodded, like he knew what I was talking about. But he didn’t want to look silly, so when he spoke, I could see his confusion. Of course, he didn’t know I was lying through my teeth. I had no idea what I meant to Emmett. What I did know was that he knew how much I meant to Grace.

“Yeah, yeah of course I know.” He pulled at the collar of his jacket and shrugged. “I’ve got this.” He was all business now.

“Good.” Maybe this would be easy. I wanted to demand his phone, but that would be pushing the boat out just a tad too far, so I gave him a sweet smile and his grin returned. “Thanks, Michael. You’re the best.”

“Sure thing,” he responded, still grinning. I just hoped this didn’t come back to bite me in the ass.

Everywhere I went, Michael walked behind me. It started to get old quick, but my life was on the line, after all. I hadn’t seen Matthew or Kirk since Emmett’s departure. The only faces I recognized now were Mandy and JP, who had cozied up, and I wasn’t in the humor to be around lovers. If I was a book girl, I could have read myself into oblivion, but I read only when really relaxed.

So, I wandered the huge house. Everything screamed money and smelled old, not in the musty sense, but the money sense. I found myself on the wing where Emmett slept. I had only ever been in there the day after he had brought me home from being captured.  This area was off-limits. Five doors lined the hall, all closed. One was his bedroom. The other four, my mind conjured up torture chambers and rooms filled with secrets. I glanced at Michael who looked uneasy, but didn’t say anything.

I opened a door into a sitting room, the interior like the rest of this mansion. Sterile–void of a personality. The tables either side of the high-back couch held lamps, no magazines, no pictures, or ornaments. Over the fireplace sat a large mirror. Nothing decorated the top of the fireplace. I ran my finger along the ledge and it came away spotless. The cushions on the couch sat all perfectly apart. It annoyed me, but it was Emmett. I messed them up and smiled. That felt better.

“I don’t think we should be in here,” Michael sounded nervous.

“Relax, Emmett brings me in here all the time,” I lied. Michael didn't swallow it. He gave me a doubtful look. “Ring him then,” I said at his hesitation, and he shrugged again.

“That’s not necessary.” His shrug was his tell-tale sign that he wasn’t sure what to do, but he didn’t want to look foolish, so he was going along with it. I sat on a large Queen Ann and looked around the perfect room. I couldn’t live like this; it all felt too structured. I moved on to the next room, Michael on my heels. I swear, I think he was sweating at every door I opened. I was enjoying this far too much. The next room was a gym. State-of-the-art machines, a wall of mirrors, all spotless, perfect and pristine. So, I deliberately left a few handprints on the mirrors as petty revenge. A shocked Michael looked at the handprint like it was a bomb, and I patted him on the back.

“Relax I told you, it’s fine for me to be here.” I opened the next door. This room surprised me. White walls, red carpet. No windows, no furniture. I walked around the room, running my hands along the wall. My eyes scanned the floor. Nothing. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but it was just weird.

“I think we should go join everyone else.” Michael hadn’t entered the room; he stood in the doorway looking all nervous. I left the empty room and tried door number five, but it was locked. It must have been his office. “Miss Green.” Michael sounded impatient now; I was pushing too hard, so I smiled at him.

“Yeah, let’s join everyone else.” He grinned now, the relief visible in his brown eyes.

 

EMMETT

 

Kirill clapped his hands before rubbing them together. “Mr. Harrington, I didn’t think you would deliver…” Liam’s body had started to smell, and I wanted nothing more than to zip up the body bag and take him back away from here. He didn’t deserve this. “…but you did,” he added when I didn’t speak. Two of his men moved towards Liam. I didn’t move.

“You just wanted the proof, the body goes home with me,” I said, and Kirill laughed while shaking a fat finger at me, one I wanted to break.

“Now now, Mr. Harrington. This is my country. You don’t make demands here.” They zipped up the body bag, Liam’s blue face gone. Kirk would never forgive me for this, but there wasn’t much I could do. When I stood still, Kirill slapped me on the back. “That’s a good boy.” He moved me away from the plane that we had gathered around and to a waiting car. I hadn’t planned on staying.

I got into the car, the heat biting. I removed my gloves and stretched out my fingers. “I have important business at home, Mr. Kirill.” He opened a silver box, removing a cigar and lighter. I had to sit still and wait as he lit it and took several puffs.

“Is this not important, Mr. Harrington? Hmm.”

“Yes of course,” I spoke carefully, and he smiled while taking another long puff of his cigar.

“This is why I like you. You show me nothing. No fear, no emotion. Nothing. Yet you say and do all the right things…” he smiled now. “…like a robot.” He laughed at his own joke. When I didn’t react, he pointed the cigar at me, waving smoke around the car, which filled up quickly. “See? Nothing.” His smile vanished, and he moved closer, the hot cigar close to my face. “I wonder, do you feel pain, Mr. Harrington?”

Now I smiled at him, “I’m a man, Kirill.”

The cigar moved closer to me. “Yes, a man, but one with remarkable control.” He moved away, and my relief had my stomach settling, but I didn’t shift in my chair like I wanted to, or release a large breath. I let it out slowly, controlled it. I had learned a long time ago that these men lived on the fear of others. It was something I wouldn’t give them.

“The delivery will arrive in three days,” he handed me a piece of paper that I took. “The address.” I briefly looked at it, it was a dock not far from my compound. It was on my turf. “The Black Bloods will meet you at the port. I want you to finalize the delivery."

“I have never dealt with them; they won’t trust me.” My composure slipped as irritation coated my words. The Black Bloods were a notorious Motorcycle club. They had their turf, I had mine, and we generally tried to avoid each other. I really didn’t want to get involved with them.

“Then I would advise you to get friendly with them beforehand. They will be very surprised to be meeting an American, and one who is so powerful.” He took another puff, making my eyes sting, but I could still see his fat, smiling face.

“I have no power, Mr. Kirill. You must know that.” I said calmly. Maybe he wanted me dead.

“Your name, Mr. Harrington, carries the power, and they do not know you have cut ties with your father. For your safety, I would keep it that way.” I didn’t speak, and the monster in me screamed and rattled its cage to get out. It wanted to hurt Kirill. I kept calm. “I will be in touch.” I moved quickly with the smoke out of the car into fresh air and walked to the plane without looking back. The pilot, on seeing me, started the engine as I climbed the steps and boarded the plane that would take me back to America and a mess I wasn’t sure I could contain.