Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
"Look into it," Faith says, taking a step into my office. "You can always decide what to do when you have your answers, but if you never even look for them, I think it'll always bother you. You don't strike me as someone who's content to have only bits and pieces of the puzzle."
"I'm not."
She nods like she already knew that and takes another step toward my desk. "You're a good cop, Octavio. You'll know what to do when the time comes. Until then, follow the clues. Maybe you'll find out you're worrying for nothing."
"Maybe." I lean back in my chair, crossing my arms over my stomach to study her. "You think I'm a good cop?"
"Yes," she whispers.
"But you don't trust me."
"I tr–"
I cock a brow, daring her to finish that lie, but she doesn't. Having confirmation that she doesn't trust me shouldn't bother me, but it does anyway. It's also my fault.
"I'm sorry I threatened to take your door off the hinges," I murmur to her. "I shouldn't have said that, no matter how frustrated I was. You should know that I didn't check it. If you want to lock your door, that's your right."
She nods but doesn't say anything.
"I'm going to earn your trust again someday, angel. One of these days, you'll tell me what you're trying so hard to keep from me. You'll let me help you."
"The only thing I need help with is getting Nikolai to stop looking for me so I can be free," she mutters, refusing to meet my gaze. "The only thing I want is freedom."
"You're free with me, Faith."
"No, I'm not." She offers me a sad smile, turning for the door. "You may be nicer about it than they are, Detective, but I'm as much a prisoner here as I was there. My cage is more comfortable, and my captor is less of a brute, but any freedom I have is an illusion, as easily snatched away as ever."
"That's not true," I growl.
"No? If I wanted to walk out the front door right now, you'd let me?" she asks.
I grind my teeth together, pissed because she's right and we both know it. There's no way in hell I would let her walk out that door. She thinks it's because I need her help, but she's wrong. I can't let her go because I think it might actually kill me if something happened to her. If Tarasova found her or hurt her, it would tear my world apart. I already lost a sister to the bastardos. I won't lose Faith too. But I can't tell her that. She wouldn't believe me even if I did.
"Nikolai wants me back so badly because my mom and stepfather stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from him before they fled," she whispers after a moment. "He's certain she'll come back for me someday, so he decided to keep me close to ensure she had to come to him to get to me."
"Jesus Christ."
"I know you care about what happens to me, but I'm a means to an end for you just like I was for him, Octavio. I don't kid myself about that. Maybe you shouldn't either." She offers me another sad smile and then ducks out of my office. "Goodnight."
I sit there for a long time after she leaves, staring into space. Every part of me wants to stomp after her and tell her that she's wrong. I want her to know that I'm nothing like he is and that the only thing I want from her is whatever little crumbs she's willing to give me.
My entire adult life, I've focused on finding out what happened to my sister. Even after my parents died without answers, I kept searching, hoping to piece together which of Tarasova's men took her and what happened to her. Eventually, I had to come to terms with the fact that I'd never know.
I started focusing on finding a way to make them pay after that.
I want them out of this city so badly it borders on desperation. But I'd walk away from that mission if it meant keeping Faith. She's been here for two weeks, and she's already becoming something vital to me. Something irreplaceable.
Too damn bad for me, because to her, I'm just another man keeping her in a cage. As far as she's concerned, I'm just another motherfucker who can't be trusted. And she's not wrong about me. If she gives herself to me, I'll never let her go. I'll give her the world…but I won't let her go.
And she's made it crystal clear that she doesn't want that.
I sigh heavily and flip open the file on Kincaid again, reading through it from cover to cover. By the time I'm finished, I'm almost certain there's something here. Something I have to pursue. I jot a few notes and then stow the file before opening the one on Faith and Tarasova, flipping through it without really seeing anything.