Page 108 of Dark Duet: Platinum Edition

Livvie said nothing for several minutes before she turned to look at Caleb. “I don’t want revenge, Caleb. I don’t want to end up like you, letting some fucking vendetta run my life. I just want my freedom. I want to be free, Caleb. Not someone’s whore…not even yours.”

Caleb’s throat felt like it was on fire as he acknowledged the sincerity in Livvie’s words. This had been her game the entire time. He’d known it, reminded himself of it repeatedly, even begrudgingly respected her attempts – but he’d still fallen for it. He deserved every bit of what he was getting. He knew it and didn’t care.

He stepped forward, prodding Kitten out of the way, and rinsed his body beneath the cooling spray of the water. He could feel Kitten’s stare on his body but refused to acknowledge her. Once he was done rinsing, he opened the glass shower door, grabbed a towel, and headed for the bedroom.

“You’re leaving!” Kitten cried, busting out of the shower and gripping his arm.

Caleb pushed her away, somewhat forcefully, and continued into the bedroom. “I have a lot of things to do today. You’ve taken up too much of my time lately as it is,” he said coldly. For a moment, he looked about the room for his pants – then realized he hadn’t come in wearing any because he’d come to address her late-night ranting some time after he’d gone to bed. He glanced at her face and saw the hurt in her eyes, tears standing at the ready. She swallowed hard to keep them at bay as her hands covered her breasts.

“You’re going to gonow, after everything? I thought…” Her voice trailed off, teetering somewhere between anger and hurt. Something twisted inside Caleb’s stomach at the sight of her. He wanted to kiss her and tell her things that would make her stop crying – but then just the thought he’d considered such a thing solidified his anger and resolve.

“You thought what? You thought offering me a little pussy was going to make some kind of a difference? You thought you’d suck my dick and I’d just give you whatever the fuck you wanted?!”

His words cut her deeply, as he intended. He wanted to make sure there was absolutely no confusion. He walked toward her and tilted her chin upward, and she instinctively recoiled, trying to get away from his hand. He gripped her harder, holding her in place.

“I did think it was really cute when you said you loved me, though.” He visibly saw her shoulders slump then, and her eyes closed slowly. He let her face go, and without hysterics she walked toward the bed and put her head down onto her pillow and crawled into a ball.

For a few moments, he waited for her to retaliate, but she said nothing. He walked calmly toward the door, opened it, and walked through without a glance in her direction. He closed the door behind him gently and awkwardly wondered why he suddenly felt hollow. Wrapped in nothing but a towel, he made his way toward his room.

Once inside his room, Caleb stood for a moment, staring into nothingness as water dripped off of him. Livvie had said she loved him, and he’d made her feel stupid. Something in his gut twisted at the thought and at the memory of her tears. He often thought she looked beautiful when she cried because she was nervous, or afraid, or embarrassed, but these weren’t the same; he’d really hurt her. She’d hurt him, too. Caleb couldn’t change who he was.

He hadn’t thought about Rafiq in a very long time. He’d been too busy playing house with Livvie. Too busy to think about the debt he owed and why he owed it. It was probably the reason Rafiq had been in his dreams as of late. It was his subconscious’s way of reminding him not to lose focus. He’d ignored it. He couldn’t do it anymore.

The night before, he’d had a dream about speaking with Rafiq about the murder of his mother and sister. Caleb had been in Rafiq’s study, learning the English alphabet and the sound each letter made. He’d been proud to discover he could use the sounds of the letters to make sense of words. They had begun to look less like a collection of squiggly lines, and slowly, but surely, he could read some words without sounding them out.

Rafiq had been teaching him English and Spanish at the same time, because they used the same letters. It had been confusing at first, because they didn’t make the same sounds, but Caleb was learning. The Arabic and Urdu were much harder to read but easier to speak because he’d grown up with them. His Russian was a mess on both counts, but Rafiq insisted he learn it.

Caleb knew he had to learn the Russian because it was Vladek’s native tongue. Caleb had become hungry for information about Vladek after Narweh’s death, but Rafiq often refused to give too much detail when it came to the murders of this mother and sister.

Somewhere in his mind, Caleb knew the incident was painful for Rafiq, but as Caleb didn’t have a mother or any siblings he knew of, it was difficult to wrap his mind around Rafiq’s emotions. With the exception of Rafiq’s thirst for revenge, which Caleb understood empirically, he often wondered what Rafiq was dealing with emotionally.

Rafiq had given him a long speech about family, loyalty, duty, and honor. He’d said he had responsibilities to his father and to his country.

“I expect obedience, Caleb. I expect your loyalty. Anyone who betrays me will only do it once. Do you understand?” Rafiq had said ominously.

“Yes, Rafiq, I understand,” Caleb had replied.

Caleb finally returned from his far-off thoughts and began to dry off and dress. It was going to be a shitty day. That much was obvious.

A knock on the door drew his attention. He answered, and Celia immediately cast her eyes downward and held a deep curtsy.

“¿Qué quieres?”he asked, more harshly than he intended.

Celia stood slowly, eyeing him with confusion, but then explained her master, Felipe, had requested an audience with him.

Caleb reluctantly agreed to come down stairs after he was fully dressed. He also reminded her to please feed Kitten. He wouldn’t be returning to her room for the day, and he didn’t want her starved. Celia nodded, gave him what he interpreted to be a judgmental look, and walked away. Caleb slammed the door behind her.

Caleb dressed quickly, but not because he was in any particular hurry. Afterward, he descended the stairs and met Celia at the bottom. He noted the stern expression and instinctively knew it had to do with the state in which he’d left Kitten. However, he had better things to do than indulge the scorn of someone else’s fuck toy.

“Take me to him,” he said.

Celia eyed him with open disdain, but still dipped her head in acknowledgment and led the way to Felipe’s library. It was the same room in which he’d first encountered Rafiq, and for a moment, he had to wonder if it was truly Felipe who would greet him when he entered. He squared his shoulders and prepared himself mentally for any eventuality.

Celia knocked on the library door and waited for Felipe’s recognition before she glared at Caleb one final time and walked away in a huff.

Fuck you, too.

“Come in, Señor Caleb. Let us have a conversation,” Felipe said jovially. Whatever was up Celia’s ass, Felipe didn’t seem to share it. “May I offer you a scotch?” Caleb entered the library and took the beverage Felipe offered.