Hidden Truths (Truths and Lies Duet Book 1)

by Nikki Ash

  “Kostas,” she sobs.

  “I’ll be home soon.”

  Hanging up with her makes my chest ache, but I need to focus. Another shot. I take off running, drawing my H&K .45 from my holster inside my suit jacket. Nurses and employees run toward me, so I head in that direction, passing my father’s room door. Two men in suits round the corner holding MP5s. A spray of bullets mows down a handful of people. I slam my back against the wall and retreat into my father’s room.

  Where the fuck are my men?

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  Responding fire to the spray has my heart ratcheting up. My guys are out there. Shouts can be heard. I back up, putting myself between my father and the gunmen. When the door flings open, I shoot.

  Pop!

  The headshot sends the man flying back and the door closing again. Another loud spray of bullets shatters the door to pieces, but then I hear several pops. Moments later, Adrian flies in, disheveled and breathing heavily. That’ll teach him to take a shit break.

  “Sir,” he barks out. “You okay?”

  “Yes,” I grunt and check over my father. “So is Father. Did you get them?”

  “There were two and they’ve been eliminated. I’ve called for more men and the Minister of Public Order. He’ll sort it out from his end,” he assures me.

  Thank fuck Father is friends with Josef, otherwise this shooting at the hospital would look bad on the Demetrious.

  “Any word on Basil?” I demand.

  Adrian pulls out his phone to check his texts. “Threat has been eliminated. Talia won’t open the door, but there are no signs of forced entry into your villa. The men are in Basil’s custody.”

  “Men?”

  “The one who was trying to get to Talia was wearing a ski mask. The other two wore suits. They seem like two different operations.”

  Could be a coincidence. With my father on death’s door, it wouldn’t take long for our enemies to come up with a plan to try and take out the Demetrious while we were down. Too bad for them, we fight fucking better when we’re down.

  “Deal with the shitstorm here,” I order as I move past him. “I’m going back to the hotel.”

  I slam my Maserati into park and fly out of the car on one mission. Get to Talia. My men are posted around my villa, angry scowls on their faces. This attack is personal. These people waited until we were weakened by grief and pounced. Lowlife motherfuckers. I’ll hunt them all down and make them pay.

  After.

  Right now, I must console my frightened wife.

  I punch in the code on the front door, but the chain is hooked. Good girl. Walking around to the back patio doors, I punch in the code and slip inside. The villa is quiet and I creep through it in case anyone is hiding inside. When I make it to the closet door, I call out her name as I open it.

  Bam!

  A huge hunk gets blown out of the door, sending me stumbling back.

  Bam!

  Another blast.

  “Talia!” I roar. “It’s me, Kostas!”

  Bam!

  Enough of this shit. I crawl on my knees and yank open the door. Pressed against the far wall with her knees to her chest and the Glock wobbling in her hand is Talia. Crying, terrified, trembling. Her eyes are wild as she aims for me. Not giving her a chance, I pounce on her, grabbing for the gun as she fires again. I wrestle the gun away from her and toss it away. Then, I grab her ankles, dragging her toward me. She screams and kicks until I pin her body with mine. I hold her wrists together with one hand and grip her jaw with the other.

  “Look at me,” I demand. “It’s me.”

  She blinks away her daze before crumbling. Heavy sobs rack through her. I release her to hug her on the closet floor, nuzzling my nose in her hair that’s sweaty. I kiss her cheek and whisper assurances until she calms, no longer crying.

  “I almost shot you,” she whispers hoarsely. “I’m sorry.”

  I lift my head to look at her. “You did great, zoí mou.”

  Her fingers find my head and she pulls me closer. Our lips meet in a soft kiss that soon turns ravenous. I bite on her bottom lip and tease her tongue with mine. She whimpers when I nestle on top of her between her thighs and grind against her. My dick is aching to be inside her, but now’s not the time. Not when I have to get answers. She claws at my tie and manages to loosen it. Banging can be heard at the front door, but I ignore it for a few more seconds with my wife.

  “Mr. Demetriou,” Basil bellows. “We heard gunfire. Are you okay?”

  I groan, pulling from Talia’s lips. “I’m fine,” I call out. Aside from the fucking blue balls. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

  My lips meet Talia’s once more for a brief kiss. “I need to take care of business.”

  “What business?”

  “Interrogate the man who tried to take you,” I snarl.

  Her brows furrow. “Like Cy the liar?”

  “Probably more intense of an interrogation. Cy was a liar. This motherfucker tried to hurt my wife. It carries a heavier offense.”

  She nods as though she approves of my monstrous intentions. “I want to come with you.”

  “It’s probably best if you stay and rest.”

  Tears flood her eyes. “Please don’t leave me again.”

  Fuck.

  “Fine,” I relent. “Let’s get this over with. I have a big fucking PR mess to deal with.”

  “Your dad?” she croaks.

  “Alive. They didn’t get to him, but they shot a lot of people at the hospital.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  I kiss her once more. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

  Once I coaxed Talia out of the closet, I changed out of my suit into something a little more comfortable. A pair of navy shorts and a red T-shirt. No sense in dirtying up one of my good suits. Talia also changed from her dress into something that looked better suited for the beach—a pair of jean shorts and a black tank top. Now, we probably look like a tourist couple who got lost and ended up in a torture cellar.

  Lucky for us, we’re the torturers and not the other way around.

  Three men sit in chairs, tied tight by my men. The one who tried to take Talia has his ski mask sitting in his lap. My men wanted me to know which one should get the most of my attention. This is why I pay them well. They know my preferences.

  “Care to sit, zoí mou?” I ask, lifting a brow at her, motioning to the sofa where Aris is already seated wearing a hateful scowl.

  She shakes her head and reluctantly releases my hand. “I’ll stand here.”

  I kiss her cheek before turning to regard the hunks of shit tied to the chairs. They stink and I want them gone. But I want answers first.

  “Names,” I bark out. “I want your names.”

  Nobody responds.

  Okay, I suppose we’ll do this the hard way.

  Walking over to the guy on the far right, I slam my fist into his throat. He gasps and chokes for air, struggling against his restraints. When I pull back my fist, he sputters out a name.

  Gio.

  “Next,” I state in a bored tone.

  The middle man, also wearing a suit, scowls at me. His body tenses as he awaits my blow. I give Basil a hard look and he tosses a knife at me. When I catch it by the hilt, the middle man tenses.

  “We both know I’ll do whatever it takes to get your fucking name,” I growl. “One, two—”

  “Jordan,” the man barks out, sweat beads racing down his forehead.

  Turning my attention to the asshole who tried to take Talia, I give him an expectant look. He trembles like a motherfucking girl at a horror flick. When I’m done with him, he’ll be less than a man and there’ll be enough blood. I can see where he’d be confused. He must sense my malevolent intentions because he pisses on himself. The middle man, Jordan, curses in disgust.

  “P-P-Pauly,” the wannabe bitch cries out.

  “Okay, P-P-Pauly,” I taunt. “Why the fuck were you trying to steal my goddamn wife?”
/>   He sobs. “I fucked up, man.”

  He fucked up.

  This pussy has no motherfucking idea how badly he fucked up.

  “Hmmm,” is all I say as I approach him.

  The man stills when I run the blade along his carotid artery, cutting just deep enough to open his skin. One wrong move and I’ll puncture the vein that keeps him alive. He cries out in pain but doesn’t move a muscle. Crimson runs quickly from the cut. I take a step back and admire my handiwork.

  “I need more of an answer than ‘I fucked up’ because that’s not a fucking answer. I want to know who hired you.”

  He trembles, his dark eyes darting all around. “Niles Nikolaides,” he blurts out.

  Talia gasps from nearby. Betrayal cuts deep. I cut fucking deeper. This motherfucker is about to learn: you mess with a Demetriou and you’ll pay the hard way. Talia Demetriou is mine to avenge.

  “Niles Nikolaides wanted you to what? Kidnap his daughter and be a hero? I’m sorry,” I tell him, shaking my head. “Seems a little out of character for that worm.”

  “H-He thought with you d-distracted by your f-father, he could sneak in and sneak out with her.”

  “So he sent a pussy to do his dirty work?” I demand. “A little bitch who pisses himself in the face of true danger? A cunt of a man who thought stealing a Demetriou would make him a tough guy?”

  “N-No,” he whimpers. “I had other plans. I wasn’t going to hurt her. I was g-going to contact you. Return her in exchange f-for more cash and offer up that N-Nikolaides was behind this.”

  I set my knife in his lap on top of his mask and dig my fingers into his cut. He howls in pain when I rip open his flesh, baring his veins and muscle. “So you thought you could blackmail me, bitch? Is that what you thought? A little Nikolaides errand runner thought he could go toe to fucking toe with me?”

  The man screams and squirms in pain. I push my fingers into the meat of his neck, rolling my thumb over his carotid that pulses furiously. His head lolls as he nearly passes out, but when I spit in his face, he jolts awake.

  “Apologize to my wife,” I snarl, massaging his fat vein.

  “I’m s-so sorry,” he moans.

  “Sorry for what?”

  “F-For trying to steal her.”

  “Tell her you’re just a little bitch who couldn’t even capture a woman right. Tell her you’re a fucking failure. Tell her you’re a piece of shit who doesn’t deserve to share the same motherfucking air she breathes,” I roar, inches from his face.

  “I, uh, what was the first part?”

  I yank hard on his slippery vein, breaking it like a piece of liquorish. Blood sprays outward in a high arc, and I sidestep it to avoid the mess. I grip his chin and make him look at my wife.

  “Talia, he’s sorry.”

  The man twitches and convulses as his life bleeds out of him. Too easy. Too quick. But the fact he’s denying me of time with Talia pisses me off.

  “Now,” I growl, turning toward Jordan. “I want to know why you thought you could try and kill my father. Who fucking sent you?”

  Pop! Pop!

  Talia screams, pressing her back against the wall. I jerk my head over to my brother, fury rising up inside me.

  “What the hell, Aris?” I bark out. “I wasn’t done interrogating them!”

  Aris’s chest heaves and his eyes are wild. “They tried to kill Father. Kostas, they tried to kill our dad.” His eyes glisten with tears.

  Weak.

  Always so fucking weak.

  “Find out who they are and who sent them,” I snap at him. “And next time you interfere with one of my interrogations, it’ll be your last.”

  He winces at my words. “Shit, man. I’m sorry. I was just so angry.”

  “Make sure this gets cleaned up,” I hiss as I storm past him to Talia. I grab her hand with my blood-soaked one and haul her upstairs. We barely make it out of the groundskeeper’s house before she mauls me.

  Her lips crush to mine in a breath-stealing kiss. I grab her ass and lift her, carrying her to my car. Pressing her ass to the door, I deepen our kiss, my hands roaming all over her.

  “Kostas,” she pleads. “I need you.”

  And right now, I’d love nothing more than to rip her shorts down her tanned thighs, flip her around, and fuck her hard against the side of my Maserati.

  But there are cameras and men stationed nearby and I don’t fucking share.

  I grind my hips against her, loving the sound of her whimper. Trailing kisses from her mouth along her jaw, I find her ear and bite hard enough on her earlobe she moans.

  “I’m going to fuck you, zoí mou, and soon.”

  She squirms in my arms, her nails digging into my shoulders. My fingers bite into her ass as I rub against her until her breathing becomes shallow and ragged.

  “That’s it,” I croon. “Come like a good girl and get it out of your system.”

  Her head tilts back as she lets go. I latch onto her sweaty flesh and suck hard. She convulses with an orgasm simply from being dry humped. I can only imagine how she’ll explode when I’m deep inside her needy cunt. As soon as she comes down from her high, I bite her neck hard enough to leave a bruise. On the same spot I just flayed a man. My girl is brave because she slides her fingers into my hair and holds me to her, unafraid. I smile at her growing trust in me before pressing a soft kiss to the bite mark.

  “Let’s get cleaned up. I owe you a nice dinner.”

  Talia

  I wake to find Kostas’s side of our bed empty, and I scramble up, needing to find him. Not wanting to be alone. It’s been three days since I was nearly stolen from our back patio and I’m still shaken by the events. Before that day, I never so much as touched a gun, let alone shot one. But that day I not only shot one, but almost killed my husband, who up until recently, I wouldn’t have minded being shot. But now, well, things are changing at such a rapid speed, I feel as if my head is spinning and my heart is being pulled in a million directions. When I saw the way Kostas killed the man who tried to take me, two things became clear: Kostas would do everything in his power to keep me safe, and if you fuck him over, he won’t hesitate to end your life. I also learned a couple things about Aris down in that cellar: he won’t hesitate to shoot, either, and he’s a loose cannon. A piece of information I would be stupid to ignore.

  “Kostas!” I call out, my heart pumping against my ribcage. For the last few days, since I was almost taken, I haven’t allowed Kostas to leave my sight, and surprisingly, he’s been extremely patient about it, allowing me to stick to his side without making me feel as though I’m a burden. While he’s had his father brought home from the hospital and hired a couple of nurses to care for him while he recovers, I’ve helped him plan his mother’s funeral.

  Which is today.

  “Kostas!” I call out again, climbing out of bed to find him. He wouldn’t have left without me, right? When I hear his commanding tone through the walls, I take a breath of relief, knowing he’s here. I round the corner and find him standing in his home office, already dressed in his black suit. I swear the man practically lives in suits. Not that I’m complaining. He looks hot as hell in them.

  When he sees me approach, he tilts his chin down, indicating for me to join him, without stopping his conversation. When I get over to his desk, where he’s sitting, he pats the top of the oak desk, silently telling me to hop on, so I do. Coyly, I spread my legs wide, placing one foot on each arm of his chair, giving him a full view between my legs. Kostas smirks, knowing exactly what I’m up to. I swear the man has the patience and restraint of a saint. If it weren’t for the way he’s constantly touching and kissing me, I would have quite the complex by now.

  “I will speak to my father and let you know,” he tells whoever he’s talking to. “Today isn’t the day to discuss it.” His hands run up my bare thighs and under my silky pajama short bottoms, near where I want him, without actually touching me there. When I scoot closer, trying to trick his hands into touc
hing me, he chuckles under his breath and shakes his head. “Very well. I will see you in a couple hours.”

  He hangs up and sets his phone down, giving me his undivided attention.

  “I got worried when I didn’t see you in bed.” The corners of my mouth turn down into a frown.

  “I’ll never be far from you, zoí mou.” He leans in and captures my mouth with his own. When my arms wrap around his neck, and I pull him closer to me, he breathes out a laugh and backs up. “Not now, moró mou. We need to leave soon for the funeral.” When my lips purse together in displeasure, he lifts me off the desk and swats my ass. “Go get ready. Now.”

  Stepping into the limo that’s going to take us to the church and cemetery, where the funeral is being held, I’m momentarily taken aback when I see Aris is already in the limo waiting. I should’ve expected him to be here, but I’ve made it a point to think about the man as little as possible.

  “Talia,” Aris says with a wicked smirk. The same smirk I once thought was playful. How could I have been so stupid to believe he was a good guy? A man I could consider a friend?

  “Aris,” I say dryly, scooting to the other side of the seat.

  Kostas slides in next to me and pulls me into his side. The ride there is silent. Kostas is on his phone doing business, and I’m checking out my social media accounts in an attempt to avoid Aris, but to also get caught up with my friends. As I’m scrolling through my newsfeed, I spot a picture of Alex with his arm around a pretty woman. He’s grinning from ear-to-ear, and while I should be upset or jealous, I find myself smiling, happy he’s having a good time in Chicago.

  “Who’s that?” Kostas’s demanding voice asks. I jump in shock, my phone falling into my lap. I didn’t realize he was paying any attention to what I’m doing. “Who. Is. That?” he asks again, his tone telling me he’s about three seconds from losing his shit.

  “Alex,” I admit. “He’s still on my social media.”

  “Do you still talk to him?” he asks, taking the phone from my lap and clicking on the picture.