FaCade (Deception #1) by Ker Dukey, D.H. Sidebottom Page B

lifted, his arms reaching out. My body felt the invisible tug. Going to him, I crawled into his lap, curling my legs up and into myself. “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s okay, it will come.” I breathed in the whiskey from his breath as he spoke.
    “Tell me about everything, Dante. Where was that place you held me?”
    Waiting a few silent beats, he paused before he answered. “I have a lab and an office built on some of the property. I’m not one for sharing a work space. I made some remodels to accomplish what you had in mind.”
    My stomach alerted me to the fact the cold slice of pizza was still in my hand and not my empty stomach. I flushed, a little embarrassed that he heard.
    “Let me order fresh. I have someone who brings me what I need.”
    What did he mean by that? Didn’t he just call a pizza house like everyone else? I shook my head and nibbled on the cheese around the crust. “Why did you let Maria… su…do what she did?” I tried to keep the jealously from my tone but I failed, making me wince faintly at my questioning.
    He shifted me so my eyes met his. “She was your idea, Star. You said it would make things more believable.” I didn’t feel like he was talking about me. I hated that he let her do that now I know who he was and what we were.
    “Did you do anything else with her?”
    His deep laugh rocked my body with his. “You’re jealous? She was nothing, Star. I was thinking about you the whole time I was down her throat! And oral was all you would allow. You don’t like to share.” Now that sounded more like the person I was discovering I was.
    “What about the others?”
    His postures stiffened. “Malik works for me. I’ve known him for a very long time and we both trust him impeccably. The other one worked for you and is gone now.” A chill raced through me with the sickening feeling that accompanied any thoughts of Theo.
    “What do you mean gone?” I had a foggy memory of him telling me Theo had paid with his life but he didn’t mean…did he?
    His fingers pinched into the flesh of my thigh. “Gone. Don’t ask about him again.” I heeded his warning; his tone was deadly leaving a shiver to rattle through me.
    Rubbing my hand over his to try to loosen his grip, I continued. “What do I do, work wise?”
    Cupping my face in his palm, his lips stroked over mine. “You’re an artist. It was always your dream. I have some of your work over there.”
    An artist? Wow! My eyes roamed the walls and stopped on a painting. It was of the house, the one in the south of France, only it was Dante instead of me in the image. It was so lifelike. “What about my family?”
    He maneuvered me from his lap briskly, causing me to blink at him in surprise. “You’re asking a lot of questions.” Fidgeting from foot to foot now he’d removed me from his lap, I felt dejected and nervous. I hated not knowing his limits; hated not knowing the dynamics of us.
    “I need answers because everything was erased. I just wondered if I had family,” I replied sharply, standing up.
    His hands grasped the back of my neck, tilting my face up to his. “I’m your family! That’s all you need to know. Now it’s been a long day, you need to go rest.” He dropped his hold and pointed to the door. Embarrassment colored my cheeks. He was dismissing me like a child, sending me to bed.
    I lay awake that night, until my body gave out. But I knew he never came in the room. Nor did he sleep in our bed.

THE HOUSE WAS HUGE, THE many walls, though countless and far apart, still felt claustrophobic in their need to contain me inside something I was unfamiliar with. I needed to get out, find open space, somewhere that would allow me room to breathe and feel free.
    Dante had informed me a few hours ago that he would be in his office and I was to reacquaint myself with the house, to explore at my leisure. He laughed, saying I wasn’t a prisoner but his humor was lost on me; it was too soon for me to make jokes about