Forbidden Deception (Deception)

2

“H elia, get out of your house right this second, or I am breaking this door down!” I smack on his stupidly strong front door. The crazy man got a reinforced steel door. I know he can hear me but is making it a point not to.

“Helia!”

It’s my last day in London. I travel to Edinburgh tomorrow. He needs to insert trackers and chips in my second phone.

I’m pretty sure Ambrose is in there, that’s why he is taking so long. Those two are inseparable, and it’s so annoying. Like, please, you don’t need to be smirking at each other every moment you are together.

“I’m coming, you demon child!” His shout is muffled behind that thick door. Then the metal monstrosity slides open like it’s protecting a castle.

Helia is Remo’s right-hand man. He’s a computer expert—AKA a hacker—and is exceptionally intelligent. Black hair falls across his face, partially hiding the scar that runs down his right eye and his emerald-green eyes.

He glares at me. “It’s eight in the fucking morning.”

I push past him and walk straight to his fridge.

Helia, despite all our arguing or maybe because of it, feels like a brother. His light-hearted jokes, glares, and absolutely bizarre antics are what keeps dark things in my mind locked up. Whenever we are in a room together, we’ll be glaring, bickering, debating, or plotting revenge of sorts on each other.

At a glance, you wouldn’t think Helia is thirty-seven years old with how young he looks. Having known him for four years, he is still the same man he was before, and I think he will forever remain like that. It’s part of him. And I wouldn’t have him any other way.

He also happens to be married to Ambrose, who is Aurora’s sister.

“Where’s Blaze? I miss him.”

As if on cue, a black crow caws loudly and shoots right towards me. It circles me twice, then settles on my shoulder.

“Hi, Blaze! I haven’t seen you in so long. Has Helia been nice to you? I know he gets a little crazy sometimes.”

“Speak for yourself! What kind of crazy woman bangs on a man’s door at eight in the morning and then raids his kitchen like she’s been living on the streets and has been starved for years?”

I roll my eyes and grab the croissants I was looking for.

“Put. That. Back.” Helia is in front of me before I can even blink.

I yelp and scramble away.

“Helia, that is so rude of you! Don’t you know how to treat guests?” I run around the kitchen island, Blaze’s caws ringing out with my laughter and Helia’s shouts.

A figure heads towards me, and I dart behind her, the tray of croissants still in my hand.

“Ambrose, tell your husband to let me have these last two croissants. Why is he being so rude? Doesn’t he know I’m leaving for Edinburgh tomorrow?”

With her blond hair tied in a slicked-back ponytail, dark eyeliner lining her brown eyes, and dressed in a sleek black dress and looking heavily pregnant, Ambrose is Aurora’s opposite, dark to her light.

“Helia, are you serious right now? You are having a screaming match with a twenty-two-year-old over croissants.” Ambrose glides towards him.

Both wear black outfits; it seems they are going to the office together today. As soon as Helia’s emerald eyes fall on Ambrose, the sharpness around his eyes softens. If I hadn’t witnessed their unconditional love for each other, I wouldn’t believe Helia is capable of love.

His arms encircle her waist, and he brushes her ponytail away from her neck, then places a kiss there.

“Ew! Get a room! I’m going to complain to Remo!” Not really, but I love doing this to them.

“Helia, stop. Put in her trackers and let’s go. It’s are getting late. And, Venezia?” A small smile plays at Ambrose’s lips. She looks like a gorgeous blond-haired model, but she is, in fact, the brains behind her very successful fashion magazine empire, Glamorous.

“Good luck. I’ll be there to see you off at the terminal tomorrow morning.”

I nod with a warm smile, my heart softening.

“Come on, Helia, get it done. I’ll head out.” She walks over to me and gives me a big tight squeeze that melts my heart.

Ambrose didn’t always have the best relationship with my family, but now she is living a life that I know she wouldn’t trade for the world.

Helia and I spend all morning and afternoon together. I order takeout and swim some laps in his indoor pool, then I take a long run around the forest surrounding his property, with Blaze keeping me company and my spare clothes coming in handy like they do every time I come here. I also managed to annoy him to no end.

By two in the evening, we are done, and I head to the shopping centre to do some last-minute shopping. The day passes by quickly, and morning arrives faster than ever.

I hug everyone goodbye. They are part of my soul. They have given me this life, this freedom, this chance to find myself.

“You have fun, too! Don’t stay cooped up trying to get everything done for Remo. And you, mister, don’t you dare tire her.” Aurora points a finger at Remo, who only nods with a small smile playing at his lips.

“It might be a long time away, but you will have fun. And don’t you dare put yourself in danger,” Aurora warns me, then turns to grab Lavinia, her two-year-old daughter, from Remo’s hold and grasps her small hand to wave at me. “Say goodbye to Aunty Venezia.”

Lavinia is the sole heir to the Cainn fortune. My brother isn’t one to discriminate between genders, and once Lavinia is an adult, she will surely rule this empire if that’s what she desires.

“Bye-bye,” Lavinia babbles.

I give her a big smooch on her cheeks before waving at Helia and Ambrose, who’s rocking a cream wool dress.

The private jet will only take two hours to get there, and it’s my first time being away after coming home. While I sleep most of the way, when I arrive at my home for the next couple of months, I can’t help but laugh. The mansion stretches across a large plot of land filled with beautifully manicured gardens.

The darkened sky contrasts against the brown brick, and the tall towers of the home create an unease in my chest. Petrichor permeates the air, while the eerie silence makes goosebumps raise on my skin.

I’m supposed to live here alone?

My feet touch the pavement, and people emerge from everywhere. Twenty guards, five maids, and a freaking butler line up in front of me. My mouth hangs open as I watch them bow, the guards holding small guns to their side with earpieces.

This looks like a three-storey mafia mansion or something. How did Remo find this place, have it ready for me, and hire tons of staff this quickly? Okay, maybe I do know how. And why. Sometimes I have a hard time grasping the sheer amount of money and power my brother has, and at times like this, it feels surreal.

“Hi, my name is Venezia Cainn, and per your boss’s orders, you guard my life as you would for Mr Cainn. I need a schedule of the security surrounding the property and a blueprint of the property, too,” I start as I head inside, walking past the staff who are all facing one way, not blinking, not faltering in their stance.

I have to keep up the appearance of being a powerful man’s sister, to keep that fear instilled in them, to keep them in their positions. I know firsthand what can go wrong when people get too comfortable with you.

There is no need for familiarity with people who will be guarding me if things go south.

“My name is Leo William, and I am your butler, Miss Cainn.”

I nod at the older gentleman with a head full of white hair and a number of wrinkles placed around his face, who greets me with a stern expression. The sharpness in his eyes says he will be anything but soft and compliant.

As soon as we are inside, the door shuts behind us, and I sigh. A wide circular foyer serves as the entryway for the mansion, with two staircases leading up to the second floor. Under the stairs, two hallways lead to either side of the house. I need to check the entire property as soon as I can, just as Helia instructed me.

“Well, Leo, give me a tour of this nice home, and tell me, how long have you been working here?”

Leo’s brows raise a fraction, but he nods at me and starts the tour.

“I have been working here for ten years, ever since Mr Cainn purchased the property.”

I nod and listen to his story, then ask about the rest of the staff.

The rest of the day is filled with logistics. Tomorrow is Monday, my first day of my new job. In my bedroom that evening, I look up Rafael Gustav on Google, but it’s like this man is a ghost. He has nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Rafael took over his father’s legacy of being a real estate giant, but he seems to have gotten in trouble with Remo, of all people. Talk about digging his grave early. Though he isn’t really young. He’s in his mid-thirties, so he could be classified as being older. Or maybe I’m just projecting, since he’s fourteen years older than me, and I feel very young compared to him.

Dropping into my bed, I shut my eyes, willing myself to sleep, but it never truly comes to me.

Sweat breaks out on the back of my neck, and my skin burns as if being torched alive, and it’s certainly not a nice feeling to wake up to. Nightmares would force you to break from dreams to reality, but terrors make you feel trapped in them. Me having that the first night in Edinburgh isn’t a good thing.

Infiltrating the company of someone as powerful as Rafael is akin to stepping into the devil’s lair. Remo gave me no guidance. All I know is that I have to find and delete the incriminating footage of Remo.