Page 143 of Dark Duet: Platinum Edition

Caleb swirled his scotch in his glass but didn’t take a drink. His thoughts were with Livvie. Felipe had gone upstairs, despite Caleb’s best efforts to stall him and get there first. Fifteen minutes had passed and he hadn’t heard a gunshot – or any screams. Good news, but his worries were far from dispelled. He wanted his wits about him if things suddenly took a turn for the worse. In many ways, they already had.

Caleb’s mind felt ravaged over how to deal with Rafiq. Their relationship had always been complicated, but it remained the closest Caleb had to family or friendship. Rafiq had been Caleb’s salvation and so many other things over the years…and now he contemplated killing him.

Caleb knew he couldn’t run away with Livvie. Rafiq would hunt them down to the ends of the earth, and while Caleb could take care of himself, it was no life for Livvie. She deserved better. He had considered separating himself from her, but he knew if Rafiq couldn’t find Caleb, he would find Livvie again and use her to get to him.

Rafiq deserved his revenge. Livvie deserved to live her life. That left Caleb thinking about what he deserved: nothing. He’d fought so hard to live, to survive, and he didn’t relish the idea of ending it all, but he would…for Livvie, he would. He’d lived a meaningless life that would culminate in him destroying every meaningful relationship he’d ever had. At the very least, he thought, he could have meaning in his death.

“What has you so troubled,Khoya?” Rafiq asked in Arabic, now they were alone. He had sent Jair away once he’d regained consciousness, and Felipe had used the opportunity to excuse himself from the room. Nancy remained, but she seemed unaware of her surroundings as she huddled on the floor and supported Rafiq’s legs on her back.

Caleb gestured toward her with his drink. “Is that really necessary?”

Rafiq smiled. “No, but she’s here, so why not make use of her? Answer my question – what has you so troubled?”

Caleb’s heartbeat accelerated and heat traveled down his spine, but he attempted nonchalance. “Things are moving quickly now. I keep going over things in my mind.”

“Yes, it’s been a long battle. I don’t know which of us has sacrificed more to see Vladek suffer. The auction is only the first step. It will be up to you to earn his trust, but it will be worth it when everything he has belongs to us, even his very life,” Rafiq said. He took another drink of scotch and Caleb noted it was his third.

“Yes,” Caleb replied, but his tone hinted at his unease.

“You’ve been strange these last few months, Caleb. I would have thought you’d be happier to have your vengeance so close at hand,” Rafiq said. He sounded irritated.

“Why can’t I just kill him, Rafiq? I would do it. Gladly and in front of everyone, I would kill him. We’re wealthy men. We don’t need his company, or his money,” Caleb said and instantly regretted it.

“It’s not about the money, Caleb! It never has been. I want it because it’s the only thing he loves as far as I can tell. If you knew of the things he’s sacrificed for his precious billions, it would be all you could do not to find him now. Tonight! He has no wife, no children. He trusts no one! And he has taken everything from me. Death is not enough. Torture is not enough. I thought you of all people would understand!”

Hadn’t Caleb said something similar to Livvie? It seemed like ages ago, the night he’d rescued her from the bikers and informed her of her fate. She’d asked him why?

“I have obligations, Kitten.” He swallowed deeply. “There’s a man who needs to die. I needed you…need—” He paused. “If I don’t do this now then I’ll never be free. I can’t walk away until it’s done. Until he pays for what he did to Rafiq’s mother, to his sister–until he pays for what he did to me.” Caleb stood abruptly, his chest heaving. He ran angry fingers through his hair and fisted his hands at his nape. “Until everything he loves is gone, until he –feelsit. Then I can let it go. I’ll have repaid my debt. Then, perhaps…maybe.”

“I do, Rafiq. I do understand. For twelve years, my life has been nothing but our quest for revenge. I’m just tired, Rafiq. I’m tired and I want it to be done. I want him dead and I can’t wait for him to die slowly. I’m ready to move on,” Caleb said. It was the truth. He was ready to move on with his life and he wanted it to be with Livvie. He wanted what could never be.

Caleb stared at Rafiq; the man wasn’t well. His hair seemed grayer, his face harder, and his eyes lacked the slightest glimmer of compassion. In the entire time Caleb had known him, he had never taken a slave for his own. Trained them, yes – kept them, no. The fact he’d kept Nancy alive this long and broken her down so thoroughly spoke volumes about his mental state.

Caleb continued, momentarily resigned to his fate. “Have you no thought for me?Brother.All those years I spent as a whore? No one knows better than you everything I suffered. Did you never think I might want to forget? All those years of being your shadow, learning how to kill, and training whores for the very men who would have used me – did you never think I might want to just walk away from it and be…I don’t know! Something more!” Caleb felt as though a floodgate had been opened in his soul.

“I was finally going to show her she was wrong about me…”

“Youaresomething more, Caleb.Imade you something more. I made you a man. I delivered you! I made others quake in fear of you. Who were you before me?Kéleb!That’s who you were! A dog.” Rafiq slammed his glass on the end table near his chair and kicked Nancy over for good measure. Nancy’s sobs quickly filled the room, but she held her hands over her mouth to stifle them.

Pure, uncut rage thrummed in Caleb’s veins, and he’d never wanted to strike Rafiq so much. Only his thoughts of Livvie stayed his hand. Her life was in danger and it remained Caleb’s responsibility to keep her safe. “I know who I am, Rafiq. I knowwhatI am. And I know I owe it all to you. You’ve spoken to me so much about loyalty, but only minutes ago you were willing to maim me to protect Jair, of all people. Where is the loyalty?”

“I told myself you couldn’t help yourself. I told myself something happened to you to make you this way, to make you as fucked up as me, but you’re even more fucked up than I am. And in the strangest corners of my mind I thought…”

Caleb remembered Livvie’s fear, her despair. She’d been brutalized by several men, beaten and bloodied. She had thought Caleb was her savior. Caleb was no one’s savior. He looked at Rafiq and saw the worst parts of himself reflected in the other man.

“That you could fix me? What’s more, that I could fix you? Well, sorry, Pet, I don’t want to be fixed.”

Rafiq leaned forward, the devil in his eyes. “We’ve known one another for a long time, Caleb. You understand how important this is to me. I won’t tolerate anyone interfering with our plans – not even you.”

“You ran. I went to collect my property. End of story. In two years, maybe less, I’ll have what I want – revenge.”

For Rafiq and Caleb, it had always been about revenge. It had been the only thing that hadevermattered. Not friendship. Not loyalty. Not justice. It seemed so trivial now, so small when weighted against the price: Livvie. “I want to kill Vladek and I want it to be the end,” Caleb whispered.

Rafiq let out a derisive snort and sat back. “This is about the girl, isn’t it?”

Fear quickened Caleb’s pulse. “No! This is about us. It’s about our partnership and how much it has always been weighted in your favor.”

“We proceed with the plan, Caleb,” Rafiq said resolutely. “You’ve overstepped your boundaries and taken advantage of the love I have for you for the last time. You’re tired and not yourself, and so I will try to forget the things you’ve said tonight – but I will not tolerate your disrespect again. Consider yourself warned.”