Unhinged

by Natasha Knight

  “I understood what was happening too late. Too late to save my friend. And Remi just stood over him with a look of indifference. This man who had been loyal to him—with whom I’d seen him laugh—Remi killed him. Slowly. Painfully. If I hadn’t been so shocked, I may have killed the commander that night.” I look at Hassan. “I thought I did, but the bullet obviously didn’t hit its mark. Something hit me on the back of the head and when I woke up two weeks later at a military hospital, they said I was lucky to have survived the attack. That Commander Remi and Hastings had been killed by assassins. I was so confused, I didn’t understand. Both Remi and Hastings were decorated as heroes postmortem. And when I asked questions about what I’d seen, I was shut down. It made no sense, and I knew something was wrong. I got it, that something was being covered up. And I was a coward because I remembered Hastings’ body, what it looked like, and I just shut the fuck up.”

  I rub my face again, shake my head, then meet Hassan’s eyes.

  “They kept you down. Drugged,” Hassan injects.

  I didn’t have to ask how he knew. It would be the same source who told him about the blast. Told him to keep me alive. And I already knew who that was, didn’t I?

  “I guess I didn’t kill him that night though, because he’s alive. I saw him the night of the blast. Maliki Remi. A.K.A. Malik the Butcher.”

  “My half-brother.”

  I stop.

  I’m staring at Hassan, the man who saved my life. The gentle man who saved my fucking life. And as much as I expected Malik or one of his men was his contact, this revelation, it floors me.

  “What did you just say?”

  “Malik…Maliki Remi, he’s my half-brother.”

  I’m on him before I can think. Off my chair, the sound of it crashing to the floor behind me background noise as I wrap a hand around Hassan’s throat, taking him down.

  “What did you just fucking say?”

  He’s choking, his eyes are bulging, red. I shake him.

  “What did you fucking say?”

  But he doesn’t answer. Instead, I hear the cocking of a pistol and feel its cold barrel at my throat. He had a gun on him all along.

  It takes me a minute, but I loosen my hold, release him. He uncocks the gun and sits up, rubbing his throat. He’s not aiming the pistol at me anymore, but he is watching me.

  Hassan holds out his free hand, palm up.

  I reach down and help him up. He straightens his chair and sets the gun on the table between us, then pours himself a healthy glass of whiskey. He doesn’t speak until he’s drained it.

  “He’s my blood. It doesn’t mean he has my loyalty.”

  I sit. Drink. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “You didn’t remember before.”

  “Why did you save my life? How did you know about the blast?” I’m thinking. “How did you know Eve had survived? You tell me you’re not loyal to him, but everything points to the opposite.”

  “Getting information and being loyal are two different things. He told me about the blast. Told me to get you out. Keep you alive. Told me some months later about the El-Amin girl. He knew you had a weakness for her, so he used her. You saved her life because of it.”

  “Why? Why did he want me alive?”

  Hassan shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

  “And Ace?” I realize in that moment that my contact is my enemy’s nephew.

  Hassan ages about twenty years before my eyes. “His loyalties are…different.”

  “Fuck. I can’t fucking believe this. He knows exactly where we are, doesn’t he?”

  “Malik? He hasn’t been in touch with me in months. Does Ace know where you are?”

  “No. He knows we’re in Beirut, that’s all. He’s setting up a meeting with me with Beos, the man who—”

  Hassan’s eyebrows knit together. “Beos is dead. He turned up dead several months ago, his body half decomposed.”

  “Ace set me up. He’s been playing me all along.” I stand. “I need to fix this. And I need to know Eve will be safe with you when I go.”

  “You can’t leave her here.”

  “I can’t take her with me. She’s dead the second Malik has me.”

  “Sit down, Zach.”

  “I don’t have time to sit.”

  “There’s more you should know.”

  I feel my forehead crease. How much more can there be?

  He stands up and walks to me, standing inches from me. “You’re not going to hurt my son. You can kill that son of a bitch Malik, but you’re not touching my son.”

  “And you’re going to stop me?”

  “He wasn’t always loyal to Malik. He hated him for a long time. But my half-brother has a way of charming people. Of making people do what he wants. I mean, take me for example.” Hassan shakes his head, looking away as if disgusted with himself. He sits. “I did his bidding with you, didn’t I? Saving your life? I’m a doctor. It’s my oath. But I told you about the girl when Malik wanted me to. He knew you’d go after her. It’s what he wanted, was banking on. I knew it would set Malik’s plan in motion.”

  “What plan?”

  “There’s a reason he hasn’t killed her. A reason apart from baiting you. That was…secondary.”

  “Enlighten me, but make it fast.” Because I want to wrap my hands around Ace’s throat and squeeze until blood pours from his eyes.

  “Her brother.”

  “Her brother?” I assumed Armen died. Assumed they were all dead.

  I realize something then. Hope’s eyes. When she’d opened them, they’d looked almost familiar.

  They’re the same color as Eve’s. As her brother’s.

  “Armen El-Amin is the father of Julia’s baby.” It’s like he’s reading my mind. “Which, to Malik’s twisted mind, makes him family. He doesn’t hurt family. Well, mostly.”

  Now I’m confused. I drop into the chair. “Her brother is alive?”

  “And loyal to Malik, still. You see what’s happened to my family?”

  I look up at Hassan. His eyes are red with unshed tears.

  But I don’t care about his family. Not anymore. That comment he made about family and Malik’s twisted mind, well, I have a feeling that illness runs in their entire fucking family.

  “What about the others? Rafi and Seth?”

  “I know Malik was using them as leverage before. Forcing Armen’s loyalty with a promise of keeping them alive. But I don’t know if they are. Where they are. Nothing.”

  The sound of a door has us both looking toward the stairs. But Hassan only shakes his head and turns back to me. “She knows all of this.” He’s talking about Julia. I know. “Maybe more.”

  “What about Julia? Is she with Armen?”

  He nods. “Thing is, I think he loves her, but he’s Malik’s soldier. His right-hand man. And Ace his left. But Armen, since the baby…he’s different. Just trust me and keep the girl hidden if you want to keep her alive.”

  “What do you mean Ace is his left-hand man?”

  “I mean Armen and Ace are mortal enemies. The only reason they’re both alive is because Malik forbids the killing of either one. He likes having this control. It’s a game to him. Everything is a fucking game to him. He’s sick. Mentally ill.”

  “Why did he keep me alive?”

  He shrugs. “Like I said, he likes playing games.”

  17

  Eve

  I’m drifting off to sleep when the door opens. I know it’s Zach even without the light. He closes it behind him, locks it, then walks to the bed, stripping off his clothes as he comes toward me.

  He draws the covers off me slowly. “I know you’re awake.”

  I stupidly cover myself as I sit up. He goes to the window and opens it, letting in the silvery light of the moon. He turns to me. He’s naked and hard and I see the savage glint he gets in his eye when he’s aroused. In one swift move, he’s on the bed, lying down on top of me, his weight pushing the breath from my lungs. He
kisses me with an urgency that catches me off guard. That makes me want.

  “Were you a good girl?” he asks, flipping us over so he’s on his back and I’m on top of him. “Are you wet for me?”

  I don’t have a chance to answer though because he’s lifting me up, gripping my hips and drawing me to him, to his face.

  “Zach—”

  His response is a growl as he crushes my pussy to his face. His mouth is soft, his stubble scratchy, and when he moans low in his chest, I grip the headboard and arch my back, biting my lip as he takes my clit into his mouth and sucks.

  “Nice and wet,” he says. I can barely make out his words, I’m smothering him, his tongue is on me, licking my pussy, dipping inside me, lips closing around my clit and sucking. I slap a hand across my mouth when I realize the moaning is coming from me. Zach’s grip on my hips is so tight, I think he’ll leave bruises, but I don’t care. Somehow, it feels better this way. The hurt, the pleasure, all mixing up into pure sensation.

  “I’m going to come.”

  When I say the words, he slides a finger into my pussy and closes his mouth over my clit and I let out a scream as I come, as he works his tongue over me, his fingers inside me. When my breathing finally slows, I try to pull off him, needing him to stop touching, stop licking my sensitized clit. But he’s holding me tight and just when I think I can’t take another second, he flips me onto my back and he’s on top of me. I feel precum on my belly and spread my legs wide. He’s kissing me and his face is wet and all I can taste is myself on him.

  He pulls away, stands up.

  “What are you doing?”

  He’s rooting through the duffel bag and a moment later returns, unwraps a condom, rolls it over his dick. He doesn’t speak, but the look in his eyes is predatory as he pushes my legs wide, pressing them down with his hands on my thighs. His eyes lock on mine when he thrusts into me.

  I gasp. He draws back and does it again. And again. When he pulls out, I’m confused. This time though, he stands and grips my ankle, drawing me to the foot of the bed. He flips me over so my legs are hanging off, and he stands between them, hands on my ass, splaying me open, lifting my hips to the angle he wants.

  “Your pussy’s mine, Eve.” His finger dips into my pussy before circling my asshole. He thrusts his cock into my dripping pussy. “It’s always wet for me.” He pumps in and out twice. “Your ass is mine too,” he says, making me tighten everything as he presses two fingers into me, lifting my hips higher, using his fingers like a hook.

  My knees are on the bed and I turn to look back at him. He’s watching his cock disappear in and out of me, and as hot as that is, it’s when his eyes meet mine that I’m done for. And he knows it, because he gives me that lopsided grin just as the first wave of orgasm claims me, making me fist the sheets, making me bury my face in the bed to muffle my cries.

  “You like it hard like this? Like my fingers in your ass while I fuck your dirty little cunt?”

  Fuck. I’m going to come again. I feel myself dripping down my thighs, hear the wet sounds of his cock thrusting in and out of me.

  He’s still hard, still moving inside me when the waves pass and I can see again. He’s still grinning. He pulls his fingers out of my ass and leans down close, flattening me to the bed.

  “You’re a dirty little virgin, aren’t you?”

  He squeezes his hand between my belly and the bed and his fingers close around my clit. I squeeze my eyes shut and nod my head.

  “My filthy little virgin.”

  His thrusts come deeper and I feel him thicken inside me and when he stills, I open my eyes to watch him come and his blue eyes are dark and watching me, like they did before. I can’t get enough of it. Of him. Like this. For all his rough edges, there’s a softness, a vulnerability I see only in moments like this. Only when he’s lost in pleasure. And all I can think is I want more of it. More of him. Hard and soft, and any way I can have him.

  I want him.

  I’m surprised when Zach gets up to shower and I slip on his discarded T-shirt and turn over onto my side, face to the open window, taking in the cool mountain breeze, not quite believing I’m back. I want to be up early tomorrow. With the sun. I remember how beautiful sunrises are here. How otherworldly they make everything look. Soft and beautiful. Almost as good as the sunsets. More beautiful than the human eye, the human heart, can stand.

  The shower switches off and I turn to the closed bathroom door. Zach emerges a few moments later wearing a towel slung low at his hips.

  “You should sleep,” he says, his eyes keen on me.

  “I was waiting for you.” He puts on a pair of boxer briefs, then his jeans and a clean T-shirt and I sit up. “What’s going on? Why are you getting dressed?”

  “Go to sleep, Eve.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  He rifles through the bag, searching for something.

  “What happened?” I ask, getting up out of the bed.

  He finds whatever he’s looking for but tucks it into his pocket before turning to me. He takes a moment to think, gives a brief shake of his head. “It’s fucked up, Eve.” He comes toward me, takes my hands, kisses my mouth.

  “How fucked up?”

  He hesitates.

  “Just tell me.”

  “Malik is Hassan’s half-brother.”

  I drop down onto the edge of the bed. “What?”

  “He says he’s not loyal to Malik, and I believe him. He had no reason to tell me at all.”

  “What does he want then? Why tell you?”

  “I think he wants his family safe.”

  “Does that mean his son—”

  “Ace, unlike Hassan, is loyal to Malik.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “Beos, the man I was supposed to meet with, the one who made your passport, is dead. Has been for months. Which makes me wonder if he set me up so he could set you up.”

  “You mean he sent that man to kill me?”

  “I don’t know if he was there to kill you or kidnap you, Eve. Take you to Malik, maybe.”

  “Why?”

  He sits down beside me.

  “I’ve been remembering who Malik is slowly ever since I woke up from the coma. Bits of pieces of that night coming back. It’s when I have the nightmares. I remember a little more every time.”

  He looks at me, almost ashamed. I don’t blame him for that night. I touch his hand. “Go on.”

  “Every time I have one of those episodes, I remember a little more of what happened. See another scene. It could be my brain fucking with me, but it doesn’t matter because for months, I haven’t been able to get one thing out of my mind. I understood why that day we went to the site. Malik is—or was—Maliki Remi. Commander Maliki Remi. My commanding officer in the military.”

  “What?”

  “He’s supposed to be dead though. I killed him. Or I thought I did.”

  “Are you sure, Zach?”

  “About which part?” He snorts. “Obviously, not about having killed him. But the rest, yes.”

  “What does he want? You dead?”

  Zach shakes his head. “I’d be dead if that’s what he wanted. He knew where I was while I lay unconscious in a coma. Knew when I woke. Orchestrated the day Hassan told me you’d survived. That you’d literally walked away, walked into a brand new life. Led me to believe you were in on it. Malik is the one who made sure Hassan found me, brought me here. Kept me alive.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He looks up at me. “He was a traitor. But before that, he was a friend. A mentor. You don’t know about my past, Eve. My family. And it doesn’t matter anymore, but back then, when I first joined the military, it did. He was the only one who could get me out of my head. Make me feel like I was worth something. But then I learned the truth. Saw with my own two eyes what he was capable of. And I shot him point blank. He shouldn’t have survived.”

  “Are you sure he did? Is Dr. Hassan lying?”

  “Why wou
ld he? And besides, I saw him there that night.”

  “What about Julia’s baby?” I ask, unsure I want to hear the answer. I’m not angry, it’s something else I feel and I can’t quite put my finger on the strange emotion.

  Zach studies me for a long time and I know he’s contemplating something, but I don’t know why he hesitated when he answers. “Julia and I had a brief affair. It was inevitable, really. But the baby isn’t mine.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Hassan knows who the father is,” he says, his eyes steady on mine.

  I get the feeling there’s more to tell, but before I can ask, he’s up on his feet and talking again.

  “I made a deal with Hassan.”

  “What deal?”

  “That I won’t hurt Ace.”

  “In exchange for?”

  “Him keeping you safe.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He reaches into his pocket and takes out what looks to be a syringe.

  “What is that?”

  “I’m going to Malik, and I need you to stay here while I do it.”

  I’m up on my feet and walk around the bed, away from him. “No. No way.”

  “Now that I know everything, I’m prepared to confront him. Understand what he’s thinking. What he wants. You can’t be involved in that.”

  I’m shaking my head as he approaches. “I’m going with you. He could have my brothers!”

  “I don’t know what his plan for you is, but if I know Maliki Remi, he has one. And I’ll be damned if I let him get his hands on you.”

  “So, what’s the plan then?” He’s stalking closer and I’m running out of space. “Is that to knock me out?” I ask, pointing to the syringe. “Keep me here while you go get yourself killed?”

  “Eve.”

  “No, Zach. You can’t. You can’t go alone, and I need to know if my brothers are dead or alive. I need to know.”

  “One is alive. I can tell you that.” There’s venom in his words. “I don’t know about the others, but I do know you’ll be staying here.”

  “What do you mean?” I’m backed against a corner, but wrap a hand around the lamp on the nearby table and pick it up.