Conviction: Devine (13 page)

My bag slipped from my grasp and my feet glued themselves to the concrete. My heart thumped in shock as my stomach somersaulted. “You work where?”

Gary blinked at me, his face cringing noticeably. “Uhh, nowhere?”

Shaking my head firmly, I glared at him. “Don’t bullshit me now, Gary. You said Miss Genesis,’ Jake’s brothel.”

“No. I said Miss Genevieve’s.”

I was struck dumb for a moment, my head starting its customary thud in sync with my heartbeat. “Is it Jake’s place?” When he didn’t answer, I stepped towards him and narrowed my eyes on him. “Is it?”

He nodded slowly, his skin blanching. “I thought you knew. Don’t let on that I’ve told you. Jake will make sure I pay for telling you . . . and painfully.”

Anger surged through me. “Jake Devine runs a brothel?”

“Well, not exactly,” he mumbled. “Gen does.”

“Oh, it gets better,” I barked. Pulling hard on his car door handle, I bundled myself into his car. “Well, come on. You’d better show me what delights I’ve got myself mixed up with now!”

“Isla . . .” He cowered when I flashed him a deadly look. Closing his eyes for a second, he gnawed on his bottom lip and blew out a breath. “Fine.”

The shocks never ended.

M
Y GAZE COULDN’T FIX
on anything specific for more than a second, the deep blues and sleek silvers a complete difference to what I had envisaged Jake’s brothel to be.

Gary stood beside me as I stormed through each corridor, my eyes flicking left and right as I tried to take it all in. Comfortable sofas lined the hallways and tasteful pictures and luxurious furnishings decorated the exquisitely papered walls.

Miss Genevieve’s was far from the rundown house I had pictured. It was stylish and classy and I was a little in awe of what Jake had accomplished. However, when we walked through a set of double doors and a huge room opened up to us, my stomach vaulted up my throat and I quickly turned around, stumbling back through the doors with a flush to my skin as the blood ran faster through my veins.

“Sorry. I did try to stop you,” Gary murmured beside me. He looked thoroughly chastised, as though my embarrassment and shock was his fault.

“I . . .” I blinked back the image of Kris tied to a cross, my hand covering my mouth as my mind replayed the image of him being beaten by another man. My stomach vaulted. The run of blood down his back made my eyes fill with tears as I struggled to swallow back the hurt for my friend. I knew he had a past that constantly drew on him but to actually sanction your own beating for your own personal thrill, I couldn’t understand. Yes, I enjoyed pain in my sex life but that was maybe a step too far. However, it wasn’t for me to say, and who knew if it was something that Jake and I could ever try. I knew Jake liked to draw blood, that it turned him on to know he had that much influence on my arousal, but it wasn’t a simple bite or smack Kris had taken.

Scurrying down the hall I cowered when the doors slammed behind me and Kris’ angry bellow stopped me dead in my tracks. “What the fuck did you bring her here for?”

I wasn’t brave enough to take the blame so I started moving again as Gary took the responsibility for my stubbornness.

“STAY—RIGHT—THERE!”

I halted. Turning slowly, I swallowed back the bile as I caught him pulling his shirt over his head, his face hardening with the pain the material catching his sore skin caused. I coughed, clearing my throat as I held up a hand. “I’m sorry. Carry on and just . . . just pretend I’m not here.”

His slow strides towards me made me back up until I hit the wall and something stuck into my spine. I shrank back, peering up at him nervously when he loomed over me with a threatening look. “What are you doing here?”

Shrugging stupidly I tried to give him a grin. “I’m just . . .” An idea quickly formed and I straightened my shoulders, pulling my chin up defiantly. “I was actually thinking of becoming a member.”

He stared. He blinked. Then he started to laugh. He obviously thought I was a tame little kitty that jumped a mile when the big bad wolf knocked on my door.

Squaring up to him, I narrowed my eyes. “Is something funny?”

He nodded, laughing harder. “You are! You? In here?”

I watched him until his amusement calmed and his laughter settled, then I leaned towards him. “I think you ought to ask Jake what my sexual preferences are before you pass judgement. Although,” I lowered my voice and gave him a smug smirk, “watching you get fucked up was pretty damn arousing.”

He pulled back briskly, glaring at me with a snarl as his fingers curled around my throat and he slammed my back against the wall again. Whatever had been stuck in my back pierced my skin, and I felt a trickle of blood.

“I swear, Jake’s girlfriend or not, you breathe a word of this then I will make sure Jake is picking you up in pieces.”

I pushed his chest as sadness tipped over into rage, amazed that I was actually able to move him. “For one,” I snapped, holding up a finger, the pain tearing through my back making me feel sick, “I’m the type of girl who would
never
share someone’s secrets. Two,” I pressed on, my fury making me poke him hard in the chest, “we all have fantasies, Kris. How the hell do you know what you were doing isn’t something I would like to try? And three, what you do in your life doesn’t matter one little bit to me. If you’re into men, women or even sheep, I don’t—fucking—care!”

I spun round and stormed to the door on the other side of the corridor, my back squealing in pain as the blood started to drip down my backside and trickle down my leg.

“Shit!” I heard Kris murmur just as the pain became intolerable and I passed out.

“Keep still,” a female voice urged sternly when I woke with a start. A hand pressed to my back, holding me down when I started to wriggle. I winced, hissing as a pain nicked my lower back. “Nearly done.”

I looked over my shoulder to see who was playing nurse and when I found Genesis threading a needle through my skin, my mouth popped open and I started to worry even more. “What the hell?”

She rolled her eyes as if annoyed with me. “Oh, simmer down. It’s not that bad.”

My eyes landed on a quiet Kris standing at the edge of the room, his expressionless gaze fixed on me. I continued to watch him, trying to gauge his mood but he was such a closed character that even an expert would have struggled.

“I’m okay, don’t worry. There’s no need for all these apologies, Kris. I’m a big girl, I can handle a small prick now and again,” I joked, giving him a wink.

His lips twitched, actually twitched, as a glimmer lit his eyes. He dipped his head, giving me a quick nod before he became subdued and stern again.

“Done!” Genesis hissed, snapping at her latex gloves as she stomped away and flung them into a small bin. “Don’t get it wet!”

I moved to sit and looked at her. She narrowed her eyes on me, her head tipped marginally to the side as if I was scum not allowed to look at her. “Thank you?” I said, as if it were a question.

Her lip curled and she scoffed. “I would say it’s not a problem but then we’d both be aware I like to lie.”

I frowned as she glared at Kris then left the room, the door banging closed behind her. I wasn’t sure if there was supposed to be some hidden message in her statement.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I snapped my gaze to Kris, his question making me shake my head. “What about?”

He nudged his chin towards me. “Your back. Why didn’t you tell me I was hurting you?”

I lifted a brow and gave him a sardonic smile. “I think you were a little too angry with me to be bothered whether you were hurting me.”

“What?” For a moment he looked hurt, blinking hard, but then he swallowed and his expression disappeared again. “You think I like to hurt women?”

I shook my head, regretting my stupid mouth and what came out of it. “No, I didn’t mean that. You were just . . . angry with me.”

“That doesn’t excuse what I did.”

I was getting dizzy with his mood swings, his regret clashing with his fury.

I shook a hand and climbed off the couch, wincing at the soreness in my back. “Let’s just forget about it, hey?”

He gave me a nod. “Adam’s on his way to fetch you.”

“What? I don’t want Adam to fetch me!”

“Why?”

“Because he’ll be angry with me.”

Kris stared at me, his brows closing together. “So, you’re scared of Adam and not me?”

“Yes.”

He gazed at me in shock before he started laughing. “Fucking hell! I’ve never met a woman like you before!”

I paused, not sure if he was being sarcastic or flattering. “Right.”

He shook his head and pulled out his phone, sending a text before sighing and grabbing my hand. “Come on. I’ll run you home.”

I stared down at our joined hands, my eyes zeroing in at the united touch. It was something I would never have expected, especially after he’d literally stabbed me in the back. Kris, oblivious to my shock, pulled me through the endless corridors, my eyes widening at what each window unearthed on our way out.

“So,” I plucked up the courage to ask as we slid into Kris’ car. “How long has Jake had this place?”

Kris shot me a warning glance. I huffed and blew out a resigned breath then diverted my gaze to the window. “I’m sorry but I think I should know what I’m dealing with. I’m new to all this. I love Jake but I’m becoming more and more . . . uneasy with what I learn about him.”

“Isla.” I turned to look at him when the tone of his voice softened. “Jake is a good man. Whatever business he has or whatever he chooses to do doesn’t alter that fact.”

“Doesn’t it? How can someone who kills people, runs illegal fight clubs and owns a bloody brothel be a good man?”

Kris regarded me for a moment. He braked suddenly, making me swallow with nerves. He was quiet for a moment, the dark street we’d stopped on making the moonlight eerily bounce off his pale skin. “You need to see,” he said suddenly as he shifted the car back into gear and sped off.

I gawped around, my eyes trying to take in everything at once. Young girls and boys pulled their drip stands behind them and smiled as they made their way towards us. They were all pale, all of them with blotchy and broken skin. Their arms were covered in wires and tubes yet each one had a huge grin and greeted us with happiness.

I covered my mouth with my hand as the grief became overwhelming and my heart wept.

“Kris!” A young boy of around ten came bounding over to us. Kris scooped him up and the boy flung his arms around Kris’ neck. “Where’s Jake?”

“He’s busy, Ben. But he’ll be in soon.”

A young nurse with bright copper hair slowly towards us. I didn’t miss the way Kris stiffened and he lowered Ben back to the floor. “Daisy,” he said with a firm nod.

She peered at him for a moment before returning his nod. “Kris.” The atmosphere around us became suffocating as the two stared at each other. It was pretty clear there was history between them, however the way they regarded each other told me it wasn’t good.

“My holiday was cool!” Ben said, oblivious to the tension between his friend and his nurse.

Kris blinked then looked down at Ben, grinning. “Yeah? You gonna fill me in while Isla takes a look around?”