Stolen Lies (Truths and Lies Duet Book 2)

by Nikki Ash

  I strip out of my bikini, keeping my eyes on Kostas as his heated gaze runs over every inch of my body. If looks could burn, I would be on fire.

  “Come here, wife,” he demands. He turns the water on and steps into the shower first. There are several showerheads raining down on us, so no matter where we stand warm water hits us.

  “How are you feeling?” he asks, framing my cheeks with his strong hands. Our bodies are flush against one another, and he has me backed up against the wall.

  “I’m good,” I tell him honestly. My eyes flit out of the open shower and into our bedroom, thankful I can see Zoe. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to let her out of my sight.”

  “Does that mean when she’s a teenager, we can keep her locked up?” Kostas asks, his lips twitching in amusement. I love every side of him. The serious, the sweet, the silly.

  “Don’t rush my baby growing up.” I pout, and Kostas grins.

  With his thumb and finger on my chin, he tilts my head up and his lips descend on mine. My arms cling to his neck as our mouths tangle and our tongues duel with one another. Tasting. Coaxing. Getting lost in each other. I didn’t realize how much I needed his touch, to feel him until now. We kiss until the water turns cold, and then after quickly washing our bodies, Kostas carries me out of the shower.

  With both of us dripping wet, he sets me on the sink and spreads my thighs. His mouth goes right back to mine, his tongue massaging mine. His hands grip my hips, and he pulls me toward him. My hot center rubs against his pelvis. My fingers wrap around his hard shaft, and I stroke it, getting it hard, before I guide it into me.

  Kostas’s mouth leaves mine to watch as he enters me slowly, filling me with every inch of him. We both watch as we become one. When I’m filled to the hilt with him, he pulls out slowly.

  “Do you see this?” he asks, already knowing I do. “Your cunt was made just for me.” My insides tighten at his dirty words, and he smirks. He pushes himself back into me, hitting my G-spot.

  “Faster,” I beg, desperate to find my release. My breasts are heavy and my nipples are painfully erect. I need more, but he’s refusing to give it to me.

  “There’s no rush, moró mou,” he purrs, continuing to push in and out slowly. Every time he enters me, the head of his cock hits me deep. Little by little, like a hurricane on the horizon, my orgasm builds higher and higher. With every thrust, I can feel it getting closer, gaining momentum.

  Kostas finds my clit, and he massages it in circles, still watching as he enters me deeply and then draws out slowly. In and out. Bringing me to the precipice and then taking me away from the edge before I can fall.

  “Kostas, please,” I beg. Can one die from being denied an orgasm? I’d rather not find out.

  When his eyes meet mine, his gaze is filled with lust and love. Heat and desire. My back arches slightly, and my breasts are thrust in his face. He takes a nipple between his lips, and when he bites down on it, my body convulses in pleasure.

  His thumb leaves my clit, and he cages me in, somehow filling me even deeper than before. That’s all it takes for my body to detonate. His mouth covers mine, muffling my screams of pleasure as he drives into me. My hips rise to meet his thrust for thrust as we both come completely undone.

  My legs are shaking, and my body has gone limp. It takes a few minutes to calm my heavy breathing. Kostas pulls out of me and smirks at what I’m sure is his cum dripping between my legs. There’s no doubt he’s going to have me knocked up soon…and I can’t fucking wait.

  Kostas

  “You know what? Fuck him.” I scrub my palm down my face before leveling Adrian with a hard glare. “I’m done going after him. It’s what he wants.”

  “No,” Adrian argues. “What he wants is to toy with you.”

  It’s been days since we rescued our daughter. Days since we’ve used up all our energy looking for my brother. I’m over it, dammit.

  “With what resources?” I demand. “I get that he could do that shit when he had access to the Demetriou fortune. When he had a bitch who worshiped the ground he walked on. When he had a fucking car. But now? He has fucking nothing. I’m done wasting precious time with my family to hunt down this motherfucker.”

  “I’ll have Basil continue to probe his contacts. Just because you don’t want to actively search for him doesn’t mean we can’t still keep an eye out for him,” Adrian says.

  A year ago, I would’ve fucked over a man with just my knife if he’d undermined my authority. Now, I think a little differently. Besides, Adrian means well and has my best interest at heart.

  “You got anyone besides Basil?” I ask, irritation clipping my tone.

  Adrian’s brows knit together. I know they’re like brothers, but brothers can fucking turn on you. I of all people know this. “Wesley is there. He’s one of my best and most trusted.”

  “Give Wesley the same job. Then, we can compare notes on what information they give back to us.”

  Adrian is clearly annoyed, but he nods before texting. While he busies himself with the affairs of the dark side of my business, I have to deal with the legit side. I call and make arrangements with the hotel manager, Carla. She’ll get started on hiring a construction crew to repair the damage Aris and Selene inflicted upon the hotel while also updating some areas of the hotel that need it. We’ll be down for the season, but our other hotels in Crete and Santorini will bring in plenty of profit.

  “Where’s Phoenix?” I ask once he’s done firing off messages.

  “Last I saw, he was out by the pool with the girls.”

  I exit my office and make my way to the back door. As I exit, one of the men, Fowler, bows his head in respect. Phoenix stands by the pool like a sentry, looking more formidable than the five guards I have placed all over the backyard. He’s dressed in a suit that fits his style unlike that shitty stuff he and his father always wore. It’s like he belongs here. And I know he’d do anything to protect Talia.

  Which makes him perfect for what I need him for.

  Pushing through the door, I nod to him before walking over to the edge of the pool. Melody waves to me from a pool lounger. I crouch to give my wife a kiss and to grin at my daughter. She lets out a squeal of laughter, melting away all my anger and irritation. If I didn’t have so much shit to do, I’d go swimming with them. But, even bad guys have to fucking work.

  “My beautiful girls,” I say before leaving them to play. I click my tongue and nod into the house, motioning for Phoenix to follow me. “Watch them,” I bark out to Fowler.

  “Always, sir,” Fowler says back.

  As soon as we’re in my office with Adrian, I close the door and pull out the ouzo. I’m not the lush I once was, but now that I have my family back, I can relax with a drink from time to time. I make the three of us a drink and then settle in my office chair. Phoenix is guarded but stoic. I study him for a long while and decide that both he and Talia have Melody’s strength. I tapped into her strength when Talia was missing, so I know this firsthand. With Niles gone, it’s easier to note the similarities between the siblings. He’s lucky. The fucker is growing on me. Talia sure as hell did.

  “Your duties in Thessaloniki are over.” I sip my ouzo and watch for his reaction.

  His jaw ticks, but he doesn’t show anger. “Is that so?”

  “It is.” I reach into my drawer and pull out a set of keys. “The Land Rover in the garage is yours. Trade it in for what you want.”

  He lifts a brow. “Okay. You going to elaborate?”

  “Your father is dead. Your sister is here. What more do you want?”

  “Not bullshit answers,” he grumbles, frowning just like my fucking wife.

  I let out a heavy sigh. “My brother betrayed me. You’d die for your sister. I need someone like that on my team. Someone who would give up anything to protect my wife. Is that someone you?”

  “You want a Nikolaides to come work for a Demetriou?” He scoffs, shaking his head. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
<
br />   Adrian snorts out a laugh. We never saw this coming either. But here we are.

  “Technically, you already did work for us in case you’ve forgotten,” I grit out. “Again, are you willing to trade your glorious life back in Thessaloniki for one on Crete Island? You’ll be paid handsomely.”

  “Like I’ve ever given a fuck about the money,” he bites out. “All I care about is my family.”

  “Then that will be your reward, Phoenix. You’ll have unlimited access to both my wife and my daughter. I’ll bring you into the fold—erase your fucking Nikolaides past, and give you a Demetriou future. But once you’re in, there’s no getting out.”

  He leans back in his chair and gulps down his ouzo before setting the glass down hard. “What do you want me to do? Guard my sister?”

  As much as I would love that added layer of protection, I need Phoenix for more.

  “You’ve handled the taxes quite nicely. You have a flair for numbers, correct?”

  He nods. “Dad sure as hell didn’t. I learned at an early age how to run numbers to help his ass out.”

  “Good. I’ve just lost my numbers man.” My chair creaks when I lean forward, placing my elbows on my desk and steepling my fingers. “The moment you’re given the key to the castle, there is no turning back. If I even sniff one ounce of you turning coat, I will fucking destroy you, Phoenix. I will make Talia cut into you and remove each organ for me. Are we clear?”

  Adrian laughs again, earning a scowl from Phoenix.

  “You’re such a fucking psychopath,” he grumbles. “And, no, I’d never do that shit to my sister. You have my word.”

  “Wonderful. Now run along and go trade that expensive ass car in for another stupid Jeep. We have to go over a mountain of shit. The sooner you get back, the sooner we can get to it.” I wave him off with a flick of my hand.

  Phoenix rises and gives Adrian an incredulous look. “Does he talk to you like that?”

  “He grows on you,” Adrian says with a snort.

  “Right,” Phoenix grumbles. He stops mid stride and turns to glower at me, making me tense. “And Jeeps aren’t stupid. They’re practical.”

  Adrian laughs. “Go on, boy, before you get bitch slapped.”

  “You assholes can fucking try,” Phoenix says with a smirk that reminds me of Talia. Ornery fucker.

  As soon as he’s gone, I pull up my laptop and dive back into business, both legit and nefarious. A villain’s work is never done.

  I wake up in the dead of the night to my phone ringing off the hook.

  “What?” I snarl into the line.

  “Your father’s place,” Adrian barks out. “I’m on my way. Meet me there.”

  He hangs up on me. What the fuck? I slide out of bed and start throwing on clothes.

  “Where are you going?” Talia asks, her voice raspy from sleep.

  I lean over the bed and kiss her mouth. “Business. Phoenix and the men will be here. Your gun is in your bedside table. Use it if you need to.”

  As I start to pull away, she grabs my wrist. “I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  Within five minutes, I’m dressed and locking the bedroom door behind me. I stalk down the hallway to the guest room where Phoenix is staying before pushing inside. When I flick on the lights, he snags his Glock and has it aimed in my direction. Good reflexes.

  “Need you to keep an eye on Talia and Zoe. Something’s happened at my father’s place,” I tell him before turning on my heel.

  He pads behind me. “Another diversion?”

  I stalk into the spare room where we have a gun safe and turn the dial on the lock. “I don’t know, but we can never be too sure. Just in case”—I toss him an AR-15—“use brute force to protect them.”

  In nothing but boxers and socks, Phoenix still manages to look formidable with a Glock in one hand and the AR in the other.

  “You think he’s coming out of hiding?” he asks.

  “Nah,” I grunt as I push past him. “He’s just fucking with me. It’s what he does.”

  “He’ll slip up one day, Kostas,” Phoenix calls out after me. “And we’ll make him fucking pay.”

  “Damn right we will.”

  The drive to my father’s is quick as our new home isn’t too far from there. I’m less than a mile away when I see what the fuck happened. That asshole set our childhood home on fire. I push back memories of my mother and me in the kitchen. Many nights when I was small and she’d read stories about heroes to me. The scent of her perfume that still lingered even a year after her death.

  Fuck Aris.

  It was his mother too.

  This just proves to me he’s nothing but a sociopath. All he cares about is number one. Himself. And his favorite way of pleasuring himself is to fuck with me. Sick bastard.

  By the time I reach the home, it’s completely engulfed in flames. The firefighters are already doing their best to control the fire so it doesn’t spread elsewhere. I pull up next to Adrian’s SUV and hop out.

  “What the hell?” I snap, trotting over to him.

  He scowls at me. “Aris.”

  “No fucking shit.”

  “And, Boss…” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “I can’t get ahold of Basil.”

  My blood runs cold. “It’s the middle of the night. Understandable.”

  “Wesley says he never came back to the hotel last night.”

  “Aris took him?”

  Adrian’s features pinch. “He packed his shit, man.”

  A rat. I had a hunch before and I was right. Unfuckingbelievable.

  “Put Wesley in charge at the hotel. I want you on point hunting Basil down.”

  “I thought we were done hunting,” Adrian huffs, irritation making his voice gruff.

  “Aris. Basil is a different story. We find Basil, we’ll find Aris. Find out where the fuck he went, when he went there, and why he thought fucking me over was a smart plan. We find Basil, and I’ll bleed out every detail he knows about Aris.”

  Adrian scowls but nods. “Yep.”

  I clutch his shoulder and give it a squeeze. “Brothers can turn. But you and I? We don’t fucking turn. You feel me, Adrian? We’re better than brothers.”

  “I’m gonna find his ass and haul him in myself. This shit will end soon,” he vows. The exhaustion from this entire Aris debacle over the past year has worn down on my longtime friend.

  As soon as he gets in his SUV and leaves, I pull up my security cameras. Talia is asleep in the bed and she’s moved Zoe with her. Phoenix paces the hallway right outside their door dressed all in black, the AR slung over his shoulder. Thank fuck. The rest of the men are stationed around the perimeter of my house. At least they’re safe.

  But they won’t be until I deal with my fuckface brother.

  I’m going to find his crazy ass and end him because I’m getting too old for this shit. Can’t a man just settle the fuck down and have one goddamn week to be a normal fucking husband and father?

  Until I drag Aris’s ass into that cellar, I won’t.

  I need to start thinking like him. If I were Aris, what the hell would I do next to fuck with me? Cars are a dime a dozen. He doesn’t know the location of our new home. That leaves the hotel. I text Adrian to secure the property from every angle. Next, I text Josef.

  Me: I want every cop hunting down Aris Demetriou. Every fucking one of them.

  Josef: And compensation?

  Me: Money. Lots of it.

  Josef: And?

  Me: Reelection.

  Josef: Done.

  If Josef leads me to Aris, I’ll get him into any political position he so fucking desires. My next text is to a low-level punk gangster with a big mouth—someone I pay to get messages out.

  Me: Aris Demetriou to me alive. 50 mil. Spread the word.

  Jaws: Poppy needs a new pair of shoes. On it, Boss.

  I don’t care if my brother drains me dry. I’d gladly lose every dime if it means having him strapped to a chair in th
e cellar. Every goddamn dime. Because once he’s dead, I’ll just make more fucking money. I’m a Demetriou. It’s what we do.

  Talia

  “Guess what today is?” I ask Zoe as I pick her up out of her crib. She flails her chubby arms and babbles like crazy, excited to see me.

  Last night was the first night in her own room and I swear I got up thirty times throughout the night to check on her. I know she needs to sleep in her own room, but it’s hard to be away from her.

  With Aris having burned down their family home recently, Kostas has our home on lockdown. Nobody is allowed to come or go except for him and his men. Stefano had to leave for Italy to get back to work, but my mom has extended her stay. Thankfully, we have a beautiful pool house, complete with its own kitchen and laundry room, so while she’s here, she’s staying there.

  “What’s today?” Kostas asks, stepping behind me. I lay Zoe across her changing table so I can change her diaper and get her dressed.

  “Today, Miss Zoe is seven months old.” I lean over and blow raspberries on her belly. Her giggles ring out through the room. “Every month when I lived with…” I stop myself, not wanting to bring up Kostas’s brother. With Aris still missing and wreaking havoc all over town, Kostas’s frustration has been at an all-time high. The last thing I want to do is add to that.

  “What?” he prompts.

  “Never mind. She’s seven months old today, that’s all.”

  “Talia.” He picks Zoe up from the changing table then turns to face me. “Whatever happened while we were apart, I want to know. It fucking kills me that I missed out on everything. Your pregnancy, Zoe’s birth, the first six months of her life…”

  He’s right. I can’t help what happened while I was being held captive by Aris. And stopping my tradition just because it began while I was at Aris’s house only gives him power he doesn’t deserve.