His Deception-His Confession Trilogy Book 2 (EBOOK)

A monster made me a captive in the dark. Now, I’m starting to love it…and him…

When I first met Tristan, I thought he was cold. Heartless. Maybe even a sociopath.

 I was right.

 He stalked me. Kidnapped me. And now I’m his prisoner.

 I want to hate him. I should hate him.

 But I can’t.

 Not when he rescued me from an even bigger monster.  Not when he’s risked everything to protect me.

 Not when he looks at me like I’m the only light he’s ever had in his dark, tortured life.

 I know I must do whatever is necessary to escape this cell. To survive. 

 I can only hope I have the strength to leave my monster when the time comes…

Trigger Warnings: Kidnapping, Stalking, R@pe (Not hero), Captive, PTSD, Childhood Abuse, Panic Attacks, Foster Care, Childhood SA, Physical Abuse, Self Harm, Drugging, Incest (not between hero and heroine), non-con, graphic violence, abuse, drugging, captivity.

Tristan

I stared at the photo in my hands like I was seeing a ghost from another time. A more uncertain time. A different life than the one I led now. Because that’s exactly what it was.

The woman in the photo was Luna, but not. If I looked closely, there were a few small differences. Luna’s hair was the same shade—such a dark brown it was nearly black—but it was longer and thicker. Her lips were fuller. The shape of her face more heart-shaped than oval. She was also about fifteen to twenty pounds heavier, with larger breasts, curvier hips, and a rounder ass. Her skin was also a slightly different shade. Paler, creamier, without the olive tones of her Italian father.

The biggest difference between the two of them was that the woman I was staring at in the picture was cold and rotting in the ground and had been for the last seventeen years. Because I was the one who’d killed her.

But the hot-blooded woman in the back bedroom of my house, she was very much alive and well.

I closed my eyes. I could still feel the phantom weight of her warm, soft body pressed against my chest as I’d carried her unconscious form away from Gino's. Her head had lolled against my shoulder, her long dark hair spilling over my arm like ink. It had triggered memories I'd long ago tried to bury, a chilling reminder of the horrific nights that still haunted my dreams. No matter how hard I tried, I could never completely forget the things they'd done to me. Some sins could never be forgiven or forgotten.

And yet, even with my demons diving at me from every direction, I'd pulled her closer, my only desire to protect her from the haunting echoes of my long-ago trauma reaching her.

“Tristan.”

Dragging my attention from the photo in my hand, I met Enzo’s eyes. Or at least the approximate location of them behind the dark glasses he wore. 

To my surprise, he took them off and set them on the table. We were sitting in my kitchen after he’d texted me that he was coming over. He didn’t know I had Luna locked away in my cell, and unless he walked back there, he never would. Because that room was indeed completely soundproof, just as I’d told her when I’d gotten Enzo’s text. She could be back there screaming her lungs out and neither of us would ever know.

Enzo caught my eyes with his, and I had to fight the urge to look away. Staring into Enzo’s eyes was like being swept up by a tornado of emotions, complete with flashes of intense feelings he couldn’t seem to control and hits from random pieces of judgmental debris. It was why he wore the glasses. His eyes gave everything away. I wished he’d put them back on. Having a conversation like this left me feeling unsettled for hours afterward, and so it took me a moment to realize he’d asked me a question. “I’m sorry?”

“I asked you if what you told Luca was true. About the woman Gino brought to my wedding.”

I laid the picture face up on the table between us. “Yes, it’s true.”

“So, that’s her mother. His wife that died.”

“The woman I killed under Luigi’s orders,” I corrected. “Yes.”

“Luca told me you’re planning to take her from Gino.”

I weighed my options. I could tell Enzo she was already here, or I could leave him in the dark and make my life more difficult than it had to be by hiding the fact from both Luca and Enzo that she was locked in my cell. Gino was bound to come looking for her, sooner rather than later, and it would be helpful if Enzo was aware of the situation so he could back up whatever story I chose to tell. “I already did. She’s no longer residing with her father.”

Enzo sat back in his chair. “You took her?”

“Yes.”

“Where is she?”

“Here.” I glanced toward the back of the house.

He followed my gaze. He knew what was back there. His eyes met mine again. “Did she come willingly?”

“I didn’t give her a choice. So, no.”

I watched the myriad of emotions tangle up within his eyes right before he shoved back his chair and stood. I didn’t try to stop him as he strode from the kitchen and headed toward the back of the house. I knew it would be useless. 

Sipping the glass of iced tea I’d poured for myself right after he’d gotten here, I listened as he opened the last door. Luna’s pleading voice echoed down the hallway as she begged him to release her. Then the door closed again, and I heard him striding back to the kitchen. Rising slightly out of my chair, I reached across the table and refilled his glass with the bottle of whiskey I kept here for him and Luca. I never touched the stuff myself. Alcohol dulled your senses and made you lose control, and I didn’t like it when I lost control.

A few seconds later, he sat back down across from me and swallowed the entire thing. “You have a woman locked in your cell.”

It wasn’t a question, but I confirmed it anyway. “Yes.”

He was silent for a moment as he poured himself another drink. “Luca told me of your suspicions about Gino. So, I can only assume this is your fucked-up way of removing her from a dangerous situation.”

This time, I didn’t answer. There was no need. The reasons didn’t really matter at this point, did they? She was here.

“Tristan, you can’t keep her locked up in there.”

“Yes, I can.”

“Okay. Fair enough. You can. But you shouldn’t.”

I shrugged. Societal rules had never meant much to me. “I couldn’t leave her there, Enzo.” 

He searched my face, but this time, my stare didn’t falter. Although he knew how I was raised, there were things that happened during my upbringing he didn’t know about. Things I would never tell him. 

Finally, he sighed heavily. “What do you plan to do with her?”

“She’s safe in there. No one, including her fucking rapist father, will be able to get to her, even if I’m not here. Unless he plans to try to shoot her again.” I stared down at the cold glass between my hands and frowned. The odds were good Gino would do exactly that. To remove the temptation she represented and to keep her mouth shut. 

"He tried to shoot her? How do you know that?"

"She told me."

Enzo scrubbed his face with his hand. "Why would he try to kill his own daughter?"

"Because he was fucking her. Using her as a replacement for the wife he lost." I spun the half-filled glass around with my fingers, watching the ice clink together. 

“And you’re absolutely positive that he was having sex with her?”

I swallowed down the bile that rose in my throat and shifted uncomfortably in my chair. “I saw it with my own eyes the first night I went to his house to see her. Before I knew who she was to him.”

“Wait.” He held up his hand. “You were in the house?”

“No. Outside. Watching through the window.”

Disbelief crossed his face. “How many times have you done that?”

I shrugged one shoulder. It wasn’t important. What mattered was that I’d seen what I had, and Luna had no idea she was playing the whore for her own fucking flesh and blood.

Enzo scrubbed a palm over his jaw, staring down at the black tabletop like it held the answers to all of life’s questions. When he realized he wasn’t going to find them there, he sighed again. This time with resignation. “I take it Luca doesn’t know she’s here.”

I picked up the glass and swirled the tea around before taking a drink. I was bored with this conversation. I wanted to check on Luna. “No," I told him, setting the glass back on the table a bit harder than necessary. "He gave me a direct order to leave her with Gino.”

“Which you ignored.”

I raised an eyebrow in question. “Yes. We’ve established that. What’s your point, Enzo?”

He gave a small shake of his head. “Sorry, T. I’m just trying to figure out what the hell is going on with you.”

I met his eyes and let a tiny sliver of vulnerability show through. “I can’t answer that question.” Because I didn’t know either. I didn’t know why this woman was so fascinating to me. Or why I gave a shit about what happened to her. I only knew that she was. And I did. To the point that I was completely distracted when I wasn’t near her and all I could think about was rushing back to her side. “I’m not going to hurt her, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

He didn’t try to deny it, and that was something I appreciated about both him and Luca. They always gave it to me straight. And knowing what they knew about me, it was a legitimate fear.

“What is it that you feel for this woman, T?”

“Feel?” I felt nothing. And everything.

“Yeah. Do you wanna fuck her? Brush her hair and dress her up like a doll? Or just keep her in that cage like some kind of sacrificial bird and make her sing for you?”

“I told you, I’m not going to hurt her.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Because it’s none of your fucking business.”

“It is when you’re about to cause a war within the family.”

“I’ll handle Gino. I’m just waiting for Luca to give me the go ahead.”

He scoffed. “Why bother? Apparently, you just do whatever the hell you want to anyway.”

“I wouldn’t endanger Luca. Or you. And you damn well know it.”

“What did you think would happen when you brought her here?” He pointed toward the room at the end of the hall. “Do you think Gino isn’t going to come straight here looking for her? Demanding we return her to him?”

“He doesn’t know it was me who took her. She was running from him when I caught up to her. He probably thinks she managed to get away. Besides, I don’t give a shit what he demands. She’s not going back there.” I stood, feeling restless with this turn in our conversation. My mind spun with everything he said, but I wouldn’t give Luna back. I couldn’t. She was mine now. 

She belonged to me.

Enzo watched me pace the length of the small kitchen. “We may not have any other choice,” he told me.

I shook my head. “No.”

“Tristan—”

Slashing my hand through the air, I cut him off. “Don’t. It’s not happening, Enzo. It’ll never happen.” Before he could argue more, I turned to him. “Would you give Sera back? Wait,” I stopped directly beside him, my mouth curving into a sneer as I looked down at him. “You did give her back. You allowed her to be married off to Luigi, an old man with a shriveled dick.” I was being a bastardo, but he deserved it. He’d given up the woman he loved because he didn’t think he was good enough for her. I knew I wasn’t a good man. But the difference between us was that I didn’t give a fuck if Luna deserved better than me. 

“He was the boss. And that was a different situation. Stop trying to change the subject.”

“Luca kidnapped Veda and held her hostage in his house to get revenge on his brother. I don’t remember him being worried about any strife his actions caused within the family.”

Enzo was on his feet. “Stop. None of this has anything to do with what’s going on now with you and Luna.”

I stepped into him until our faces were only an inch apart. “It has everything to do with it. The only reason you’re so freaked out is because this time it’s me.”

He met my gaze. “I’m not going to deny it,” he told me. “If that’s what you’re waiting for. I love you, T. You know that. But you’re one seriously fucked-up bastard. And I just want to make sure I’m not going to come in here one day to find strips of her flesh hanging from the ceiling.”

His words made my blood run cold. Not because I wouldn’t do something like that. I would. His fear wasn’t unreasonable. But I would do it to someone else. Not Luna. I couldn’t envision hurting her, no matter what she did or said. “She’s safe here. With me. I swear it to you. Now stop being a stronzo and get the fuck out of my house.”

Enzo searched my face, and I knew he still didn’t completely trust me, but he wanted to. Taking a step back, he picked up his sunglasses and put them on. The tension fell from my shoulders once his eyes were hidden. “Okay. I’ll go. But I’ll be back to check on her.”

“That’s not necessary. I can take care of Luna.”

I expected him to argue with me again, but he surprised me. “Okay,” he said after a long pause, and nodded. “Okay. But we’ll need to get a game plan together. Gino will be looking for her, and he’ll come here. You know he will. We need to have our stories straight.”

“I’ll come by the house in the morning.”

He headed toward the front door. “Thanks for the drink.”

“You’re welcome. Now go home to your wife.”

A hint of a smile softened his hard features. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Locking the door behind him, I pressed my back against it and stared down the hall toward the back room. Was it wrong of me to bring her here? No. I was helping her. Was it wrong of me to lock her in a cage? I rolled the question around in my head, trying to see it from the point of view of someone who’d never had to go to extremes to protect themselves. 

Possibly.

But I wasn’t wrong about wanting to keep her safe. And right now, that cell was the safest place for her, whether she knew it or not. Gino would never stop looking for her, and he'd tear the city apart to get her back under his control. She wasn't safe out there. Here, I could keep her hidden. Keep her safe. 

Pushing away from the door, I removed my jacket and draped it over one of the chairs. Then I set the stove to preheat while I gathered the ingredients to cook for her. When I was finished, I picked up the plate I’d prepared and a glass filled with filtered water, turning off the lights with my elbow on the way to the back room. I had more questions for her, but mostly I just wanted to see her again. It occurred to me that I could do that whenever the hell I wanted to now. I didn’t care if she raged or screamed or cried or cursed me. 

With her presence calling to me like a moth to a flame, I went to her without pause, reveling in the feeling of the flames licking at my soul.

Perhaps they would burn away this obsession I had with her.