Deceit (The Vindicated Series Book 1)

by Addison Jane

  I clear my throat. “I’m going to go to the ladies’ room.”

  “You want company?” Molly asks, moving to stand.

  I shake my head. “No, I’ll only be a second.”

  She gives me a reassuring smile, and I slip out of the booth, heading straight for the bathroom. I don’t actually need to go, but inside I take a moment to compose myself. My brain isn’t sure why I can’t let things go with Kace. I barely even know the damn guy.

  What the hell is this strange obsession I have with him?

  Maybe it’s because my body feels alive when I’m around him, or is it the feeling of his touch and how it excites me. Or possibly it’s just because I can’t seem to figure him out. I don’t like the unknown. I’m too curious, too inquisitive. He’s a mystery and one that I ache to solve. The darkness I see in him draws me closer, but at the same time scares the ever loving crap out of me. It’s like I’m being pulled in two directions, my body aching to be closer to him, but my mind telling me to run.

  I blow out a sharp breath. “Get it together, Lily. He’s just a guy,” I whisper while taking a moment to study myself in the mirror before I lift my chin high in an act of confidence and walk out the door. What I’m not expecting is to see Phil waiting for me outside, leaning casually against the wall.

  I look around, the hallway’s deserted. “Oh, hey.”

  He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Hey.”

  Nerves flood through my body like a tidal wave, alerting me that something isn’t right. “Shall we go get another drink?” I ask, moving toward the beat of the music.

  He cuts me off, his hand grasping my wrist in a tight lock. I try to pull away, but he only moves in closer, forcing me back against the wall.

  “I really should check on Molly, she can get a little crazy sometimes.” I laugh awkwardly, trying to play off the tension, and pretend I’m not intimidated by his advances. My nose catches a whiff of the sweat coming from him, it isn’t nice, and it makes me feel kind of sick.

  “Molly went off with Karl. They’ve probably gone home,” he answers, pressing his body against mine and making me want to vomit. The move flares my annoyance, and I struggle to push him back. He doesn’t budge, his body firm and solid.

  “No way. Molly would never leave without me. You’re lying,” I snap.

  He moves in, pressing his body odor against me entirely and making me want to gag. “I want you! Let’s have some fun.” His breath reeks of beer. He’s drunk off his face, something I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe I was just desperate to find that nice guy, after Kace’s harsh words.

  “Get off me, now,” I tell him sternly, pushing at his chest with my free hand.

  He ignores me, he’s strong for a fucking douche bag.

  “Get off!” I yell, and without warning he’s jolted backward, stumbling back against the opposite wall. I gasp, my eyes finding Kace. He looks me over before switching his gaze to Phil. He storms at him, grabbing the neck of his shirt and plowing his other fist into the creep’s face. I watch in shock as he falls to the ground with a hard thump.

  My heart’s racing, but Kace doesn’t allow me any time to catch my breath before he grabs my hand and pulls me down the corridor, heading for the front of the club. I follow in a daze, my mind unsure of what’s going on.

  We weave through people, and suddenly I click. “Molly! I need to find her.”

  Kace stops and like she’s heard her name, she materializes through a group of people, cradling her hand.

  “That fucker!” she exclaims. “Tried to get some in the middle of the dance floor, so I decked him.”

  I can’t help but smile.

  “But I think I’ve made a scene…” she continues, looking over her shoulder, “…I think we should leave.”

  Kace takes that and runs with it as he drags us toward the exit. The cold air hits my hot skin as we break out onto the street. But he doesn’t stop, moving down the sidewalk away from the crowd waiting to get into the club.

  “Kace… stop!” I demand.

  He freezes, swinging around as he releases my hand. “I told you… you shouldn’t be here,” he growls in frustration and anger. “You need to go… now. This place is no good for you.”

  I stamp my foot on the ground as I step into his space. “I’ve been here before. Who are you to say where I should go and what isn’t good for me? You don’t even know me.”

  He doesn’t back down, holding his ground as he stares down at me. “I know more than you think,” he growls, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “Lily, come on,” Molly urges from behind me, but I ignore her.

  “You promised…” I accuse. “You promised you’d tell me. And now I find out you’re working for the damn Mafia.”

  “It’s none of your business,” he snaps.

  I reach out, my fingers wrapping around his upper arm and squeezing. “This made it my business.” He doesn’t even flinch, even though I know I have my fingers pressed against a very raw wound.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Molly demands, stepping up beside me, her eyes moving between the two of us, expecting someone to answer.

  Kace shrugs me off, his face softening a little. “Lily, you need to go. Something’s coming, and you can’t be here.” His voice is low, no longer angry, but almost pleading. “I can’t see you get hurt. Go home.”

  I open my mouth to ask him what, but Molly cuts me off at the pass.

  “That’s all I need to hear,” she says, her arm wrapping around me. “You can argue with him all you like when he gets back to the apartment, but for now… we are leaving.” She guides me toward the curb, and I let her, the whole time watching him. I don’t want to leave him. I know he feels that, for some reason, it’s dangerous for me to be here. But that means it’s dangerous for him too, and I don’t like that at all.

  I hate it.

  Kace stays until Molly manages to flag down a cab, I can see the apprehension in his body. He sways toward me as if he wants to come over, but there’s something holding him at a distance. Molly pulls the cab door open and climbs in.

  Just as my body is halfway in the door, I hear car tires screeching and people screaming. I spin my body, checking for Kace, but he’s already sprinting at full speed back down the street, into the commotion.

  Two cars bump over the curb outside the club, barely missing the line of people who have to dive out of the way. It’s only a second before men in dark suits throw themselves out and run for the entrance, guns in their hands. One of them I recognize instantly as the Italian man Kace was threatening at the zoo.

  What the hell?

  “Kace!” I scream as he disappears into the panicking crowd. I try to climb back out, but Molly’s hands grip my shoulders and drag me inside the cab, my body crashing back onto the seat before she reaches over and pulls the door shut.

  “Go, go, go!” she cries out to the cab driver who doesn’t waste a second in forcing his foot on the accelerator to the floor, the car taking off with a slight slide of the back end.

  I scurry to right my body, peering out the back window and hoping to catch a glimpse of Kace, to tell me he’s okay.

  “Holy shit! Was that the fucking Mafia?” Molly asks, breathless.

  There’s so many people, I can’t see anything. And as soon as we’re turning onto another street, the club is completely gone from view.

  “Oh my gosh, are they following us? Do we have a tail?” she rushes out, looking at me with wide eyes. She’s scared, an emotion that’s rare from her.

  I take a deep breath. “Don’t be stupid. We’re fine. There’s no tail, they didn’t even see us.”

  Her head bobs up and down, acknowledging that we’re probably the last people on a Mafia’s hit list.

  Kace though—that’s another story.

  One I’m going to get answers to, one way or another.

  When we reach home, Molly is uncharacteristically quiet. I can tell she’s scared, and I want to talk to her about
what happened, but my mind is focused on Kace, and I can’t help but wonder if he is okay. I just need to know that he’s all right.

  I need a distraction from the chaos that’s wracking my brain so I pick up the television remote, looking to Molly, who half smiles obviously needing the distraction as well. I press the on button as we both take an end of the sofa, lying down in exhaustion even though it’s only eleven p.m.

  A knocking sound wakes me from my sleep, and as I sit up my back is aching from the position I was in on the couch. Molly’s sitting up opposite me, rubbing her eyes.

  The knocking comes again. Three sharp blows against my door, so I jump up and head over.

  “What if it’s them?” Molly whispers. “What if they’ve found us?”

  I peek through the small peep hole, making out Kace’s figure standing outside the door. My body slumps. “It’s just Kace,” I tell her before flicking the lock.

  I open it a little and slip through the gap, pulling it closed behind me. He’s staring at the floor, but he steps back, allowing me some room. When he looks up, I see the gash over his eye and a smear of blood across his cheek from where his lip has been split open.

  I inhale a sharp breath, my hand automatically reaching out for his face, wanting to examine him and make sure he’s okay. He moves his head before my hand can touch him, his eyes moving to the side so he can see me.

  “It’s fine,” he says as though he can read my thoughts.

  “Doesn’t look fine,” I whisper, withdrawing my arm and wrapping it around my body.

  He scans the hallway before returning his intense gaze to me. “Just wanted to make sure you girls got home okay.”

  “Is there a reason we might not have?” I ask nervously, biting my lip.

  It draws his attention, and I see his jaw clench tightly. “No,” he answers.

  “What happened? What’s going on?”

  He shakes his head. “The less you know, the better.”

  “No,” I snap. “That’s not how this works. I need to know. I don’t like not knowing because it means I can’t prepare. Please just—”

  The crush of his mouth against mine stuns me momentarily before I melt into his arms. Something stirs in me. An energy, a surge, something I haven’t felt before. It’s like a spark of electricity ignites a fire inside of me. A passion that only Kace can pull from me, and it sends a shiver down my spine. The kiss is intense even though it’s not madly passionate, but the chemistry is off the charts sizzling while his arms cradle me against his body, one hand winding up my waist and over my shoulder. He rests it against the side of my neck, his thumb tracing along my jaw.

  I grasp his shirt, twisting my fingers in the fabric and pulling our bodies flush. His hard body pressed against mine, only making my body temperature rise as my skin prickles in goose bumps as his lips caress mine so tenderly.

  It’s sweet and sensual, but at the same time, it’s like he’s commanding my body, controlling my movements. Passion stirs in my stomach, wanting more, needing him to give me more but knowing he’s holding back.

  He pulls back, disappointment settling over me like I’ve been hit with an icy blast. His breathing is heavy, brushing over my lips as he holds his mouth only an inch away, tempting and teasing me.

  “Hated seeing that guy touch you,” he whispers, his voice deep and scratchy.

  I don’t have an answer for that. My heart still beating rapidly.

  “Go back to bed, Lily.”

  His words shake me back to reality, and I take a step away from him. “You can’t do that, and expect me to forget everything that’s happened tonight.”

  He sighs deeply, his head dropping down. He shakes it before looking back up at me. “I know it’s confusing you, and I hate that. But believe me when I say sometimes being in the dark is just… better.” He takes a step forward and brushes his lips against my cheek in a soft kiss, exciting my body once again. “Sleep well.”

  Then he’s gone, walking down the hallway.

  “Kace,” I call after him, but he doesn’t turn around. Instead, he opens the door to his apartment stepping inside, and I’m left standing in the hallway alone and confused.

  Why did I do that? Kissing Lily was everything and nothing like I thought it would be. Her lips so supple and soft, just like I’d imagined. But the spark, the energy, the raw emotion I felt when our lips touched—that, I didn’t expect. Sure I know something is stirring inside me, but that sort of thing can’t happen. It’s too dangerous—for me, and especially for her. So I walked away before anything further could happen because I’m not sure what it felt like for Lily, but for me that kiss was intense, and I wanted more. I wanted to taste every inch of her, kiss every section of her silky skin, but I can’t do that. It would be a bad move, even though my head is spinning.

  As I pace the floor of my apartment trying to force myself to not walk back to her, I take deep breaths. My muscles ache from the scuffle at Club Menace with Roberto and his men.

  Ringing pulls me from my racing thoughts as I pull my phone from my pocket to see Luca’s name lighting up my screen. “Shit!” Taking in a long breath, I grit my teeth and answer the phone. “Luca, I tried to—”

  “Where the fuck were you? What the hell is going on with you and this chick? You’ve never let pussy distract you before?” he interrupts me with one question after the other, his words sending a furious rage through me.

  “Hey! She’s not fucking pussy!” To me, she’s more like a beacon of light helping me escape my darkness. She’s my lighthouse when I’m lost at sea, guiding me with her brilliance along the right path through the dark. She’s the hope that will push me through. I’m so deep in the dark it scares me. I’m a killer—one that darkens your soul. It doesn’t matter the reasons behind the kill, death still brings darkness. And I’ve been in the dark for so long now, seeing her radiance only makes me more determined to follow her into the light.

  “Jesus man, do you hear yourself? If you weren’t distracted by her, Roberto would still be alive. Boss isn’t going to be happy. You know that, right?”

  My mind wanders back to just an hour ago.

  I raced off back toward to club as I heard the cab drive off with Lily and Molly inside, but I was too late. The Milanese Mafia were there, guns drawn and making their way into the fucking club.

  I’d let my guard down, I’d left my post, and now Roberto was going to suffer because of my failures.

  I ran as fast as I could to get to him, but as I entered the VIP area, gun shots were already being discharged. The crowd was disbursing and my instincts kicked in, I raced to the first guy I saw, his arm outstretched with a pistol in hand. I slammed my palm into his arm forcing his gun to drop to the floor as he turned to face me. My fist came up punching him right in the jaw, my knuckles crunched and ached as his head flew back, blood pooling from his mouth as I watched a tooth fly from his lips.

  Screams echoed through the club as the patrons furiously tried to escape, spilling out into the street, while other members of the Seven came in and started to disarm the Milanese men. It was a hand-to-hand battle, as I dodged out of the way of the guy’s knee coming up between my legs. Shifting to the side, I grabbed his head in a headlock and turned to the side forcing off his airway. His hands flailed about through the air as one of his men stormed toward me, aiming his fist ready to punch my face. But as he threw his fist out, I ducked out of the way, taking his friend with me then leaned up kicking him right in the ribs. He dropped forward, and I dived down onto one knee breaking the guy in the headlock’s neck. He fell to the floor while I pulled out my gun from its hiding place at my ankle, brought it up and shot the other man directly in the chest. Blood bubbled out as he gurgled and tumbled forward onto me, then to the floor.

  Standing up, I spun around to see Tanner being held and about to be punched in the stomach, so I raced over and whacked the guy in the face with my fist. He turned to me, his fists clenched at his sides and fitted with brass knuckles. He swun
g at me, as another guy to my left grabbed my attention while he raced toward me. The brass knuckles hit my lip splitting it before I had time to react, forcing me to stumble slightly.

  I shook my head and turned just in time to watch the running man leaping for me. As I ducked down he jumped, springing over me onto knuckle guy, forcing them both to the floor. My fist came up punching the guy holding Tanner in the cheek, which caused him to release his stranglehold. Then Tanner pulled out a pistol and shot all of them without a second glance.

  I nodded as we separated, and continued on to find Roberto.

  He can’t be dead.

  I needed information from him—vital information, and if he was wiped out it could ruin our future plans.

  Looking over, I spotted the head of the Milanese Mafia. He had Roberto pinned against the bar. Gritting my teeth, I rushed forward, but without warning two sets of arms grabbed me in a vise lock around my chest and began pulling me toward the exit. I fought and struggled, but the men were bigger than me, and even though I was battling with them as much as I could, Roberto faded into the distance while I was being dragged outside of the club.

  One of them socked me in the eyebrow, and I was stunned to the spot for a second as I shook my head. The other guy released his hold, and I rested my hands on my knees trying to gather my bearings.

  Looking up, I noticed a crowd of people crowding out of the club. People were everywhere as more gunfire echoed through the busy city streets. The flashes of light filtered through the windows and lit up the darkened night sky.

  My feet felt heavy as I rushed back through the swarm of people trying to push my way back to Roberto.

  Suddenly, a loud explosion resonated through the club. A shockwave knocked me off my feet as the sky lit up in a haze of yellows and reds, flickering through the fog of thick black smoke. Screams filtered through the streets as people ran in a mad dash to get away from the blast.

  My ears rang from the epic boom, and I was slightly disorientated. Looking up, I saw that Club Menace was now completely engulfed in fire, and it was obvious that some sort of explosive device had gone off. My heart raced, and my breaths came in short, sharp bursts hoping that the members of the Seven were out in time.