Seeds of Iniquity (In the Company of Killers, #4)(48)

“Believe what you want,” I say. “You cannot manipulate me like you have the others.”

“Yes, I know,” she says. “You and Fredrik Gustavsson I knew coming in here would be the two who would never cooperate. No matter whose lives were on the line.”

“So then if you already knew these things, why are you wasting your time here? What are you getting out of any of this if you know you will not get the confession that you seek?”

A small smirk appears on her face.

“Because whether I get the confession or not,” she says with confidence, “I’ll still get what I came here for, either way.”

“And what would that be?” I know she will not answer, but I ask in case by some chance I am wrong.

“You’ll know in approximately three and a half hours,” she says.

I just look at her, quietly admiring her as much as I want to kill her. The main reason she is still alive is because of Izabel, but I admit, the more I learn about her and interact with her, the more I want to put her under a microscope—I’ve never been face to face with a female version of myself. It is intriguing.

“So…about that confession.” She winks at me.

I stand from the chair and straighten my shirt, tucked inside my pants.

“There are still three and a half hours that you get to sit bound to that chair,” I say. “I’m going to make sure that we use every last minute of them. I hope you have a strong bladder.”

“I have a strong everything,” she says. “You wouldn’t believe how strong my will is.”

“That will be for Gustavsson to prove, I suppose.”

“If he shows.” She has little confidence in that, the same as everyone else, it appears.

“But Victor, there’s something I would like to tell you though.”

I look at her with inquiry but say nothing in response because something about her offer seems off. Dangerous even.

“I’ve been watching you for a long time,” she begins, “years, and although you’re a very difficult man to find and to follow, much less get information on, out of anyone I’ve ever studied, you are by far the most fascinating.”

“Am I supposed to be moved by that in some way?”

“No,” she says, “you’re not really the type capable of being too moved by anything—Izabel can pull it off clearly, but again, how long that will last is up in the air.”

“What is your point?” I say, becoming more intolerant every time she makes Izabel a topic.

“My point is”—she lowers her voice to a whisper; an attempt to keep the embedded mic from picking up her words, though I doubt she cares whether anyone else hears her or not—“that I’ve never been intrigued by any man before, and seeing as how it’s like staring into a mirror, I think you and I could offer each other a very interesting kind of relationship.”

I look down at her with a suspicious sidelong glance.

She smiles darkly and says, “We could f*ck each other as much as we wanted, and you’d never have to worry about the burdens of loving me, because I’d never love you back. With me you could be who you used to be, never having to worry about my safety, or my…feelings”—her grin deepens—“you could go back to doing the kinds of missions you once enjoyed, the ones on the inside like Niklas used to take, getting intimate with your hit, f*cking her until she cries out your name, and coming back to me with no repercussions. Because I don’t get jealous.”

I shake my head, laughing quietly to myself.

“You are unbelievable,” I say. “Is that what you’re here for? For me?” I point at my chest; a look of complete and utter disbelief twisting my features. Though I really doubt that is why she is here. “That will never happen,” I say, slashing a hand in the air in front of me. “And you don’t give Izabel enough credit. She may be new to all of this, but she has more self-control than—”

I hear the door open with boom and see a flash of dark auburn hair whip past me.

Izabel lunges right over the table and spears Nora in the chair like an arrow. The table is pushed violently out of the way, screeching vociferously across the floor as Izabel takes Nora down with her.

“Izabel!” I shout.

Niklas comes running into the room behind me.

Izabel’s fists rain down on Nora’s head repeatedly; the legs of the chair and Nora’s legs bound to them blocking the view as Izabel sits on top of her chest. There’s blood on her knuckles when I finally grab her and pull her off.

Nora’s laughter fills the room, echoing off the empty walls. She chokes on her own blood, stops to spit it out with her head tilted to one side and commences laughing afterwards.

“I’ve had it with this psychotic bitch!” Izabel roars with murder in her voice and I know in her eyes even though her back is to me. My hands grip her at the elbows, holding her at bay.

“Get her out of here,” I tell Niklas as I turn Izabel around.

She thrashes in my grasp, screaming curses—I knew it was only a matter of time before Izabel cracked.

“That is enough!” I shout after forcing her body around to face me, my eyes filled with fury. I shake her roughly and her auburn hair falls down around her face and into her mouth. “I said stop!”