Read Online The Deception by Marquita Valentine - Free Book Online Page B

where our fingers are laced together. Her skin is soft and delicate. A pale gold that I’ve tasted.
    I’ve almost taken her. Almost made her completely mine.
    Only my bitter self-control keeps me from doing so now. We have been in the air for less than an hour, but it feels like an eternity.
    She lies so trustingly against me as the private jet flies toward Paris. We will refuel there, before landing in Moscow. Then, we’ll proceed to my grandfather’s house. 
    Her trust is obscene. The way her body relaxes into mine repulses any decency left inside of me.
    I don’t deserve it. Barely six months ago, when she first walked into my bookstore, I nearly put a bullet into her head. By design, my shop isn’t welcoming. It isn’t for the general public, because it’s a façade for my real business.
    The hint of a tattoo peeks from under my shirtsleeve. Each one represents a job I’ve done. Not a job—a person I’ve murdered.
    Know thy enemy . Sun Tzu said this in The Art of War . But the men and women I have killed are not my enemies. I am merely the weapon of destruction set into motion by the financier. 
    Letting go of her hand, I stand up and begin to pace. Normally, I have a purpose to my walk. Normally, I wouldn’t have Everly on a plane. Normally, I wouldn’t have a damn thing to do with her.
    She looks at me, so many questions in her bright emerald gaze.  “We don’t have to talk about him.”
    The genuine concern she has for my feelings is yet another reason why I never should have asked her to travel with me. Our relationship is built upon lies.
    But this is the only way I know how to protect her. The alternative—her death—is not acceptable.
    If only Viktor hadn’t put me in this position. If only I had never allowed my weakness for Everly to show. If only I had never been ordered to take her out on a date.
    A bloody date that had ruined everything.
    “My grandfather,” I begin slowly, “will be very pleased to meet you.”  In fact, he will. He’ll also be hale and hearty—not a man on the edge of death, with a last request to meet the woman who saved my life from a robbery gone bad, like I’ve told Everly.
    Her answering smile warms me a little. “I can’t wait to meet him. What he’s like?”
    Manipulative, powerful, murderous, generous, caring, and all about family. A twisted mix if there ever were one. “Like other grandfathers, I suppose.”
    Her eyes follow me. “Are you close to him?”
    “He’s like a father to me,” I admit. “He raised me.”
    Everly’s brow wrinkles. “But you said you helped your mother—”
    I slash my hand through the air. “She brought me to him when I was a child.”
    “And then she left you?” She frowns.
    I stop in the middle of the cabin, thinking of the day my mother had abandoned me at the Romanov compound. There had been tears in her eyes.
    “This will be better for you, Kolya. You will get the life you deserve,” she whispers in my ear.
    I can’t imagine she wanted this kind of life for me. A life surrounded by riches, beautiful women, and violence. I kill people for a living, for God’s sake.
    But in the end, I know the truth...
    “She did what was best for me.”
    As if sensing my need to change the subject, she smiles brightly and says, “Is this your plane? I forgot to ask.”
    Before I can answer, the jet drops and the pilot’s voice fill the interior of the cabin. “Mr. Smith, you and your guest need to buckle up. We’ve hit a patch of thunderstorms. It’s going to be a bit rough for the next hour.” The jet drops again and again, as if to prove his words true. I grab on to the back of the sofa, barely maintaining my balance.
    My stomach rises and falls right along with the turbulence.
    I turn, intent on sitting in one of the chairs closest to Everly in case she becomes frightened or needs me in some way. I can’t help myself, even when I’m trying to do the right thing by distancing myself from her.
    Everly shoots to her