Consumed by Deception (Deception Trilogy #3) by Rina Kent

“True, but that’s what it’d look like to Sergei and everyone else.”

“Shit.”

“Shit, indeed, Lia. So don’t waste any more time.”

“I don’t plan to.”

Yan hesitates, running his hand through his hair as he watches me from beneath his long eyelashes.

“What is it, Yan?”

“I heard you that night, you know.”

“What night?”

“When I was shot.”

“Oh.”

“You knew that man.” He lowers his voice. “You know him.”

“Yeah,” I murmur.

“Ah, well, fuck. One more complication.”

“Are you going to tell Adrian?”

“Of course not. He’ll take it out on you.”

“But Kolya said Adrian suspects you and thinks you got shot as a ploy.”

“He has no proof to go with it and he doesn’t act without that. I’ll be fine. Just focus on yourself.”

“Thank you. I’m so glad I have you.”

“Me too. Or else my cause of death would’ve been boredom.”

I smile, then peek at him. “Can you do me one more favor?”

“Now what?”

I suck in a deep breath. “Tell me all about the time I was Winter.”

Becoming whole depends on me and me alone. Only when I put all the pieces of my life together will I be able to take the next step.

Whether it will build or destroy us, I have no clue.





9





Adrian





The overstimulation of my mind stops me from processing anything.

Or perhaps I’m processing so much that my brain cells are burning faster than I can form thoughts.

Ever since I witnessed Lia kissing her lover, I’ve been seeing a mist of red. Dark fucking red.

Rage red.

And I couldn’t blow it by killing the fucker because she was protecting him.

Again.

She just regained her memories and stopped asking me to call her by another woman’s name, but the first person she went to was him. Her lover.

Fucking again.

I slam my fist against the table and revel in the shock that reverberates through my arm. At least the pain distracts me from murderous thoughts about her.

About him.

About everyone.

It’s temporary, but it’s better than nothing.

The fact that she got on her knees for the first time, told me to fuck her mouth for the first time, made things even worse.

While I enjoyed the feel of her hands on me and the way I used her mouth to the point of eruption, the gratification ended at that very moment. Because now, all I keep thinking about is how she only did that to shield him. To distract me from following after him.

I knew that at the time, I did, but I had to take her mouth, had to punish her.

And the need for more is still pulsing through my veins.

Maybe this was her plan all along—seducing me so she can distract me.

“Do you want to call it a night, Boss?” Kolya asks from his position on the sofa.

Leaving the surveillance monitors, I stand up and stride to the window, releasing a heavy breath as I stare at the dark garden outside. “I want his location, Kolya.”

“Yes, but watching hours upon hours of public surveillance will probably be a waste of time. He knows how to cover his tracks and always wears a mask and a hat. We only got his profile and it’s impossible to get a facial identification from that.”

I tap my finger against my thigh, then halt as the dots start connecting in my head. When I turn to face Kolya again, the idea forms clearly. “Black leather jacket, mask, and hat…just like the kidnapper from Igor’s birthday party a week ago.”

“You think it’s the same person?”

“I’m almost sure of it.” I stride toward him and sit by his side. “Pull up both feeds.”

After a few clicks, Kolya retrieves a still image of the person who kidnapped Lia and shot Yan, then puts it side by side with the footage we hacked from the public surveillance cameras today.

The clothes are similar, but they’re standard, so anyone can wear them. It’s his build that gives him away. He has the same profile and the same height and broadness.

I tap the screen. “It’s the same fucker.”

“It is.” Kolya’s brows bunch. “Why would he kidnap Mrs. Volkov, though?”

“Because he couldn’t find a way to talk to her. We were keeping a close eye on her, even when she was Winter, and he couldn’t get close, so he had to pull that stunt.”

“I still don’t understand why he needed to kidnap her, shoot Yan, and risk being caught. It couldn’t be just because he’s her lover.”

Kolya’s reasoning makes sense, but if the bastard is as crazy about her as I am, he’d risk it. Though, someone of his caliber, clearly trained and with enough skill to avoid nearly all surveillance cameras, wouldn’t have approached her at a party held by the Pakhan.

It’s like he wanted to drive home a message, a ‘fuck you’ of sorts, to tell me that he could get to me anytime he likes.

That my system isn’t bulletproof.

My system isn’t bulletproof.

The thought snaps blurred lines in my head and the only other time where my system failed rushes to the front.