Innocence by Lee Savino Page B

all she had. Looking around the dark, she knew she was alone.
    “Cora.”
    The voice sounded in the deep, chilling Cora. Marcus was not working late; she had mistimed. He’s here.
    Slowly, her dark sight made the division between space and shadow. Marcus was sitting on the couch, his form a slighter shade of grey than the rest of the dark room. In one hand, he held a drink. Slowly, he stretched out the other to her. “Come.”
    She went to him. Stepping into the sunken area, she nearly stumbled in the thick carpet. Words rose in her. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to betray you. I just wanted to help my aunt, I didn’t mean...
    But she said nothing. Somehow, in the colorless space, silence could not be shaken. Cora stood before her boyfriend, not touching him. Her head was bowed.
    After draining his drink and setting it aside, Marcus stood. Cora knew she might have one fragile moment to explain herself. Marcus, she begged silently. But outwardly she was mute.
    With slow fingers, Marcus took the first button of her blouse. A slight pull, and then he was touching skin. The touch jolted her.
    He knows, Cora thought wildly. Words spilled into her mouth again, and again the quiet took them. She could not see her lover’s face, but she hoped what she read in the planed shadows was not violence or vengeance.
    Another pull, another button. Forcing a smile, Cora lifted her hands to Marcus’ own shirt collar; he blocked her hands, and undid another button. A few more and she would be bare before him.
    I’m sorry, they came to me, I never meant…
    Did he look at her? Cora could not tell. His fingers spoke slowly, finishing her shirt and letting it slide. The light shuttered over Cora’s belly and chest, crossed with shadows, the bars of Venetian blinds. Trapping her wrists, Marcus lifted both Cora’s arms over her head while his other hand trailed down to her hip. Shuddering, Cora bowed her head. The man released her hands; the maiden left them crossed above her head. A twitch, and her skirt was undone, falling to the floor.
    Marcus Ubeli sat back down on the couch, eyes on the innocent form bare before him. “Turn around.”
    Cora swiveled and light lapped over her. When she was done, he beheld her trusting flesh. There was nothing taped to her skin—no wire, no device. Looking at him, questioning, she found only darkness. She took a step back.
    Suddenly everything she’d held in bubbled out of her. “You knew they would approach me. You knew about the wire.”
    Realization hit her and she nearly crumpled to the floor. “You’ve been one step ahead this entire time.”
    He watched her carefully as her mind spun, piecing things together.
    “There was a plan. You saw me in the bar.” She went slowly, thinking through events. “You liked me. You couldn’t get close. The lord of the Underworld can’t get close. You told your man to get me. He overstepped his bounds. So you punished him.”
    “Sharo did.” Marcus’ voice rasped. He looked calm, if a little sad. A man waiting for a sentence to be pronounced.
    “You moved my aunt.” It was almost a question.
    “We had to vet her. Sharo made sure she wasn’t being paid off by any of my enemies, and then made sure she’s safe.”
              “Your enemies want to get to you through other people.” She reasoned.
    Pain flashed in his eyes. “It’s happened before.”
    “So you had me followed. And then, when I figured that out, you arranged one final test. The wire. And I passed.” She touched her bare stomach, where there was no wire, no tape. She hadn’t betrayed him. In the end, she’d run from the agents who sought to save her, back to the man who would drag her life down into the underworld.
    “I had to know. I had to know I could trust you completely.” He cleared his throat, and looked away. “I love you.”
    “Marcus,” she started, and then shook her head. She didn’t even know what to think.
    “You know everything now. Everything