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“He was.”

I heard him suck in a sharp gulp of air. “But he never told you his name?”

“No.” I lied.

He obviously knows! Why are you lying?

Dragging a single finger up my arm, Virgo traced my shoulder, following the lean muscle in my neck. “You know, you're not a good liar, you never were. I know you just as well as you know me, Berlin. That's what happens when two people spend so much time together.” His finger kept moving, drawing up bile from my stomach as he reached my chin. Pinching the sides of my cheeks with his fingers hard, he twisted my face to his. “You're lying to me. I can see it all over that cunt face of yours.”

My lids dropped down as my eyes turned to pinpricks. “If you know me so well, then you'd know I'm telling you the truth.”

What the hell am I doing? Am I just begging him to kill me now?

I couldn't stop the lies. But in the same breath, I wasn't willing to bow to that man and let him know he was right.

Walking his fingers across my face like a spider, my skin tickled with a sensation that I wanted to swat away. Reaching my hair, he dug in hard, jerking my head back.

I could feel the hair being torn from my scalp as he tightened his grasp. His eyes blackened, the dark abyss spread like liquid, filling in any color that was there. Gritting his teeth, he growled, tugging my head back further, harder, to the point I thought my neck might snap.

My eyes were open wide, filling with water as the tension on my head began to burn. I couldn't move, I was trapped beneath his devilish face as he glared at me with death in his eyes.

“I should fucking kill you right here,” he said through his teeth, spraying my face with small droplets of spit. “Don't fucking lie to me, I know he said something to you.”

Shaking my head in disagreement lazily, my eyes caught a glimpse of Aubrey. Her face was frozen with fear. But that fear she had, it only made me want to be stronger. I wanted to show her that you could stand up for yourself, and sometimes you had to, regardless of the punishment.

We weren't livestock, we weren't put on this earth for him to profit. I was a woman, not his fucking merchandise.

“Then kill me.” Keeping my eyes firmly on his, I barked, “I told you he didn't say shit to me, so if you choose not to believe me, then fucking kill me already.” My breathing increased, chest rising and falling heavily as I curled my fingers around the bottom of my chair and braced myself. “Come on! What are you waiting for?”

Virgo studied me, watching my eyes, watching for any sign that I was lying through my teeth. Swallowing hard, I took in slow breaths, waiting for him to do whatever the hell he was planning.

Throwing my head away, he snapped his back straight and ran his hands over his hair. “Good girl,” he said, fixing his suit and looking around. “If he comes in again, I want to know. You do nothing for him, not a fucking thing. Do you understand?”

He doesn't know. He believes me.

“Yes.”

Virgo searched for Vin, waving his hand for him to follow him. The two men went off to a solitary corner, where I watched Virgo give him orders, his hands moving around nervously as he spoke. I had never seen Virgo look so unnerved before. Not once had he ever told me to deny services to anyone, especially when the money was so good.

Bentley wasn't just a man, he was a power, one that made my handler anxious and uncomfortable. It made me question just how dangerous he really was. He warned me, he told me that he was the one to be feared.

But I didn't have a reason to believe it until right then.

I couldn't help but wonder what had happened between them. I watched them shake hands, I watched Virgo smile and pat him on the back as they walked off together like they were friends.

But today the friendly mask had been yanked free, tossed into the trash and forgotten as quickly as it appeared.

Who exactly is that man?

And what the hell was I thinking asking him for help?