𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐮𝐬𝐭

33

A T R E U S

For this chapter to make more sense, I would say to reread chapter 25. This is honestly kinda my fault because you probably forgot half the things because of my inconsistency but...

I woke up suddenly from the light turbulence of the plane. Catching myself as I take notice of my position on the leather couch, I tightened my arm around the sleeping beauties waist in front of me. Sleepily I took in her relaxed features mashed between the pillow and her arm that was thrown over her head at a weird angle.
 
From the first night we spent together in the same bed I knew she was a deep sleeper and so unknowingly selfish. I couldn’t be anything else but amused at the positions she fixed her body in all while hording the sheets and the bed.
 
Burying my head in her neck with a purr, I locked my ankle around hers and allowed my eyes to flutter shut with drowsiness that was calling my name. Her soft puff of breaths told me she was still fast asleep.
 
-
 
“We are both wide awake and your still hording the blanket.” I muttered teasingly and receiving a side glance.
 
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She answered back after finishing chewing her food.
 
We were still on the plane only a half an hour to a few minutes away from landing in America. After our time in France, after a week it was time to leave the cocoon, we created and return to civilization. I had to beg her to come back to America with me and not to Germany like originally planned and got my way after negotiating with things she could not turn down.
 
“Not when you sleep like a rock, you don’t.” She didn’t answer to devoted to whatever she was reading on her phone that was going off since we woke up.
 
Stretching out on the leather seats lazily, I sighed loudly trying to get her attention. I took the time to admire, her. A quick side glance was all I got and I wanted to be what that gaze was fixed on so I did it again.
 
She held out her granola bar to my mouth instead, attention still fixed on the screen. Did she think I was hungry?
 
“I love the willingness to give your food to me but I’m fine baby.” That got her attention, finally and those pretty eyes settled on me.
 
“Are you though?”
 
“I just want attention.” I admitted with a shrug.
 
I shot a glance over to the other side of the plane at my family, acutely aware of their presence. They could careless about we were doing, to lost in their own entertainment.
 
“I’m too poor to pay attention.” She muttered absentmindedly, nibbling on her food again. I laughed softly but my amusement faded when she didn’t react.
 
“Okay clearly something is wrong, what is it?” I sat up and looked to her phone screen. She didn’t turn it off, not that I could understand anything as everything was in German, well besides the time.
 
“Remi keeps going on and on about something and obviously he can’t call me yet so he resorted to sending me a million text messages.” She whispered, still a bit absentminded.
 
“...Francesca.” I read out the one words I understood, obviously a name.
 
Her gaze snapped to mind then and my brows furrowed at her stare.
 
“You don’t remember when I told you about her?”
 
“Yeah, I do, what about it though?”
 
“I’m sure it’s nothing, Remi has just been a bit paranoid since some things happened and set us off.” She said with a sigh and dropped her phone to the side and finished her granola bar.
 
“Things?”
 
She rests her head back and looked to me, “I left you in New York because someone came by one of our public businesses in Germany with a very morbid message. Details unimportant but basically they said things that only certain dead people are suppose to know.” She said softly, obviously with intent for not everyone will hear.
 
“You told me she may have been alive and we settled that it being true could end badly.” I said recalling our conversation all those weeks ago when I flew out to Germany and spent time with her on her boat.
 
“May...all the attempts we made to lure her supposedly alive person out went up in vain and we just settled that maybe it was all a hoax. Now Remi is telling me all kinds of things that just make no sense.”
 
“Like what?”
 
Her stare met mine again, away from the window across from her.
 
“That agents came to the Estate asking for me.”
 
“Agents as in FBI agents Dariya?” I questioned softly.
 
She only hummed in response and turned away from me to lean back on my chest.
 
“I’m not particularly worried because they are always looking for something to locate and take out the German producer.” She said the name with animated inverted commas and sighed.
 
“And they come to you because of your net worth and rank in Germany.” Typical, they always assume. We do work with them but only a selected few really know who we are, the ones that are willing to take the risk for the extra pay-out. The others just assume because of our money and hierarchy that we are more than we let on to be.
 
I didn’t correct her statement, because she was obviously fazed like she should be. I leaned back, still in sitting position on the chair and pulled her close to me as she fit herself between my legs.
 
“Atreus...” She whispered and I hummed, coming from my racing thoughts and looking down at her.
 
"I know you don't like promises, but I need you to promise me something." Her finger traced over the back of my hand that laid in her lap. My brows furrowed at her words.
 
"You aren’t telling me something.”
 
Ignoring my statement, she twisted slightly and looked back at me so she was looking me in the eyes. "Promise me..." Her fingers reached up to brush my cheek as she started, “That what ever happens you’ll do the right thing, even if it is not the right thing to do and even if I don’t like it.”
 
“Dariya-"
 
"Promise me Atreus." I stared deep into her dark blue eyes, feeling her sincerity and anxiousness. I held her stare for a long moment, going over all the reasonable answers as to why she wanted me to do the one thing I hated the most. At that moment I made a conscious decision to start learning German properly, for both our sakes.
 
"I promise." I whispered softly, my jaw ticking lightly.
 
"Thank you." As she said that she stood up turned in my arms and straddled my lap, arms going around my neck. I hugged her back, breathing in her scent, afraid of the reasons for her new behaviour.
 
"I love you."
 
I stiffened and my breath hitched at the words that rolled off her tongue and into my ear. The words I had been too consciously aware of to say it to her, that bringing too many bad outcomes of me saying it to her in a time I thought was not good enough.
 
"I love you, Dariya." I answered sincerely and felt how her body relaxed as she got the answer she was hoping for. At the same time, I felt relief, I felt cheated because I wanted to have it on my record that I said it first and make it a constant reminder in our relationship.
 
“Because of that, I really wish you would tell me what is going on.” I whispered. My hand reached up and I stroked the back of her head gently before threading my fingers through her hair and holding her.
 
“Nothing we have to worry about, I’m sure.” She paused before continuing, “Your mother told me something that I kept thinking about and well I tested her words.” As she said that, I propped my chin on her shoulder and looked across the plane to my mother.
 
Her stare was already on us. After a long second of me holding her stare, I buried my head again.
 
“What’s that?” I questioned.
 
She pulled away at that and met my stare. Hand on my face and the other combing back my hair she smiled a small smile.
 
“That you are in love with me.”
 
I only stared at her, a wide grin spreading across my face slowly before I laughed.
 
“I thought it was obvious and that made me hesitant.”
 
“Maybe it was all too soon.” She stated saying the one thing I didn’t say aloud and matching my thoughts on the situation.
 
“If there isn’t a time limit for how long you could love, why should there be one for how fast you could love?” I questioned almost with teasing intent but I couldn’t help but think over my words that were so valid.
 
“Why should there be.” She agreed softly and her eyes flicked between mine before dropping to my lip and back to my eyes.
 
“That look tells me things and I would assume these few days alone together was enough to satisfy, but...”
 
“It seems you have not worked hard enough Mr. Castro.” She teased seriously.
 
“And that’s why I’m stealing you from your responsibilities and throwing mine out the window as soon as we land.” She smiled sweetly, fingers tickling the hair at the nape of my neck.
 
“You keep that up you’ll have new responsibilities to abide by.” She said softly, while cocking a brow at me. I stared at her waiting for her to elaborate but she didn’t and only leaned in waiting for me to get it.
 
“New responsibilities?” I questioned, genuinely very confused.
 
She sighed, “What comes from unprotected and continuous sex Atreus?”
 
My eyes widened and I choked on my spit, not expecting those words. Her laugh almost made me feel a bit of relief that it was only a joke but that was not something to joke about.
 
“I’ll be going to work in the morning.” Her head fell back with uncontrolled laughter at my words but I was very serious.
 

-

 
When the plane landed, Dariya and I were the last to get off and as soon as she walked off to the other side of the plane talking in German to no doubt Remi.
 
I took our bag from the flight attendant and placed it into the awaiting trunk of the car. Everyone was going their own way for once and the SUV I stood by would be talking Dairy and I to my apartment.
 
“Who else needed a separate car?” Galina questioned out of blue. I looked in the direction she was staring at and saw two blacked out SUV speeding down the plain.
 
The two pulled up alongside ours and the four doors on each opened as soon as and agent in black dispersed, heavily armed. On the front of their vest were the words, FBI.
 
“Mom.” Odessa said suddenly, looking to our mother who was as impassive and hard to read as always. From the side of my eye, I saw Vera glance around, her gaze settling extra long on the flight attendants who just finished taking out our bags.
 
I didn’t have to see the way her hand slipped across her thigh subtly to behind her to know what she was thinking and formulating.
 
“Castro, we are tight on time I hope you don’t mind our sudden enter and departure.” One of the men said, walking up to us, hands on the gun across his chest.
 
I felt a presence behind me and looked over my shoulder to see Dariya.
 
“Just the person we were looking for.” He said with a smile and flicked his wrist in signalling to the agents behind him.
 
They moved in coordination, two at the front and the others aiming their gun at us or rather at Dariya but staying in their place.
 
“What’s this about?” I spoke up, side stepping into her line of view while keeping my eyes on the two that bravely moved forward.
 
“Get out of the way pretty boy, you’re in the line of the target.” He said unabashedly, carelessly gesturing for me to move aside.
 
“Target?” It was my mother who spoke up this time, just as confused as all of us.
 
He sighed like our questioning were tiring him and said, “Let’s not make things get sticky, we have spectators.” I looked back at the flight attendants that Vera just looked at and saw them staring in fright.
 
“Too many eyes can be bad for business.” He muttered with a grin. I hid the stiffening of my body at his words and began thinking of all the ways I could disarm the agent that just passed me to get his gun if things went South.
 
I spun around realizing that he went passed me and outraged when they not so carefully grabbed Dariya’s wrist and pulled them behind her back.
 
“Don’t touch her, are you mad?” I questioned threateningly, questioning their sanity and not caring of the soft shifting of their guns that was no doubt now aimed on me and waiting for me to do something.
 
“Atreus.” My father said slowly, trying to calm but how could I be calm at what they were doing.  
 
“Dariya Verlice, you are under arrest and in the custody of the Federal Bureau of investigation for the involvement of illegal drugs, unlicensed firearms and for the murder of Dunrick Verlice.”
 
I move to step forward but her eyes met mine and with a subtle shake of her head she stopped me. I read her eyes as she glanced over my shoulder and it was obvious that if I did something they considered stupid I wouldn’t be able do anything at all because I wouldn’t be alive to. Almost willingly with a visible wince as they tightened the cuffs she was arrested.
 
“You don’t know who you’re playing with.” Vera muttered lowly. Our gazes still locked I watched as she was pulled away to the backseat of the SUV. The door slammed in her face breaking our eye contact but I didn’t look away.
 
“We do, we certainly do,” Fuck, “Best thank God it’s her and not you, yet.” With a wink he waved his hand again and they piled into their cars and were off.
 
“What was her fathers name?” I questioned aloud, the man’s word repeating in my head over and over.
 
When no one answered me, I looked to my mother who would know, hopefully.
 
“Dunrick Verlice.”
 
What the fuck?!
 

Surprise.

Hope your christmas is coming along nicely :).

Vote and comment, enjoy your day/night.