CHAPTER FIVE

ERIS

I am looking out the window, purposely ignoring my seatmate, gaping at me. "Are you fucking serious? Tell me you're joking, Eris!" Andrea has her mouth hanging open, as she has been for the last few minutes. I look away from the clouds, back at her, and my skin flushes when I think about the events of the previous ten hours. When I left Cian's place, I ran like my life depended on it, to my car, around the block and drove like a mad lad, traffic rules be damned, and a few more blocks after that, I left the car by a parking lot, took a taxi and picked up Andrea, heading straight to the airport.

"Oh my God, are you okay? what happened to you? Did he hurt you?" was the first thing she asked when she got in the vehicle. I was disheveled, I knew it. The driver perked up, seeming interested in our conversation, so I brushed it off, and told her I would give her the details later. I went on to remove the wig and fluff my curly hair, getting it out of the scrunchies. We got dropped off at the airport, and luckily we got two empty seats in a plane that was almost boarding.

And now she's looking at me like I have two heads, considering the information I have fed her, I don't blame her. "Did you at least bring me an eye mask?" I sign, and she fetches the bag under her front seat. "How was it?" she asks. Feeling my ears get hot, and my skin flushing,i grab the mask from her hands, "okay, I guess."

"Mentirosa!" she says, looking at me with those wide eyes. I narrow mine, "I'm not lying." "You forget I have known you for more than ten years. Your brother is going to flip-" "Which is why you're not going to tell him," I cut her off, my voice hard. In turn, she narrows her eyes, "he's going to get mad." I sit back in my seat, "not if he doesn't know. What he doesn't know won't hurt him." I give her a side-eye, "and I'll be more careful next time."

I look back out, my mind wandering, my actions today may cost my sister's safety and life, and I only have myself to blame. I have to rethink my strategy on how to approach what comes, to find my sister,dead or alive. preferably alive. I slip the eye mask on and close my eyes, willing my brain to stop working on overtime and allow myself some rest.

....

"What the fuck is he doing here? " I glare daggers at my friend who's by my side. She pointedly ignores me, and hold onto the straps of her hand luggage tightly. I roll my eyes and look out again, my brother is parked by the exit, so easy to see him, through the glass walls of the airport, leaning by his car. "What did you tell him?" I ask, jabbing my elbow in Andrea's stomach. She gasps and shakes her head, hissing, "nothing! don't fucking hit me. You freaking out will sell you out."

I raise my hand to my face and pinch the bridge of my nose, taking in a well needed deep breath. He couldn't know what happened.

"Asshole!" Andrea calls out to him when we are out of the doors. Dario immediately snaps his head in our direction, his eyes quickly roam Andrea's body then mine, checking for injuries, I assume. And his eyes zero in on my limping foot, he looks back at me and I shake my head, he looks at her once more, his eyes softening. He walks to us, standing in front of us, awkward, and finally takes the bag from Andrea's shoulder and throws it on his. He pulls me in his chest, "I was worried about you." I hug him back, knowing he was truthful, my sister and I may be illegitimate children of his father, but Dario and his brothers are still my brothers and they care for me, for us. And the weight of having to take responsibility for everything is on his shoulder. "I didn't mean to worry you," I tell him. He hums and pulls away, then pulls Andrea into his arms next, and I watch his shoulders sag, in relief. He was worried. I hate to make him worried.

Leaving them behind I walk to his car and get in the back seat. A moment later, they follow and get in the front seats. Immediately, my brother turns to me, "I don't think you can stay here for long." "Of course, I will go back to the US once it blows over," I reply. He glares at me, "your car was torched." My heart hammers in my chest, "what?" "You're lucky to be alive," he says, throwing his phone to me and I scroll through the photos, and indeed, my car at the parking lot, was what remained after it was burnt. I swallow hard, "when was this?" He tells me at one-fifty am. Litteraly minutes after I was out of the car. I didn't see anyone following me though, I could have noticed, or is it because I was so flustered from my encounter with Cian that I paid no attention. I was sure I looked out for myself.

"Did the cameras around catch the guy? How do you have this?" I ask. He shakes his head, maneuvering through the streets, "there was an explosive under the hood it seems. Who the fuck did you piss off?" "It's not a big deal, I'm fine, Andrea is fine," I tell him, which fuels his anger, he grips the steering wheel tighter, "you could have fucking died if you were in the car for five more minutes than you were. Is that 'not a big deal' to you?" I bite my lip hard, to keep my emotions in check, and to stop myself from answering back and pissing him off more. Andrea in turn puts her hand on his arm, "chill out, maybe you can do all that talking at home, I have a headache." Ignoring them, I look outside, my mind blank, barely even seeing what is in front of me.

He parks his car and I immediately get out, not waiting for anything else. Fast walking to the house, I head straight for my room, open my medicine cabinet, and pop two pills in my mouth. Only then am I able to breathe properly, my sister would tell me how I would become an addict to the pills like a lot of people we know, father for example, who takes too much bhang, he says it's for the pain in his legs and back, but we all know he's an addict. From the farms, he takes a portion for himself while the rest goes to the market, together with the coke. I strip and head to the shower to wash off the previous day.

My hand on my neck, I think back to Cian and the feel of his lips on the skin of my neck and jaw. He knew about my plans, he could have killed me while in his grasp, but he chose to have my car torched? Maybe I imagined our attraction, or rather, I should not have imagined anything coming out of our encounter, at the end of the day, I'd murdered his men and had gone to assassinate him. But why did he let me leave, knowing I was the reason his men were dead? he could have come for me sooner. Regardless, the picture of his face and his eyes is imprinted in my brain. I grab my breasts and squeeze them, gasping when the pleasure shoots down between my legs. Twisting the rock-hard nipples, once again, I'm breathing heavily. I picture him, in the same position we were in, but with his hands-free, roaming all over my skin, as I grind on him. I take a deep breath and realize it after a moment, feeling my muscles relax even further, the Xanax kicking in. My hand drifts down to my tight core. I am ashamed to have this much attraction to him, my pussy is already dripping wet when I touch it. I slip a finger inside me and my back arches into the air. He breathes into my neck, 'god, I've wanted you for so long.' He speaks my thoughts, and as much as I tried, I could not resist him, even through the screen as I watched him.

I let out a little moan as my fingers circle my clit, picking up the speed thinking about him taking my hard pebbles in his mouth and his hand on my clit. I shudder, biting back a loud moan, grinding into the air, with my fingers working faster. I plop my foot on the stone stool by the wall, one hand on the wall, the other working faster on my hard clit, my wetness running down my hand. I feel my legs tremble, my core tightening and I work even faster, my hips arching even higher. I imagine his touch, his gruff voice, "you're mine now." And he pierces his cock into my waiting cunt. Shuddering, my walls clamp together and I'm coming hard with a loud moan. I put my leg down and take a seat on the stone step after grabbing the shower head, the water washing my hot skin, washing away the sweat. When the water hits my sensitive bud, I hiss, tempted to get another orgasm while at it.

The tears start falling before I realize, I let them fall. My heart sinks, I was unable to protect my sister and I can't even find her. 'Wait for me, Erin. I will find you.' And I will, even if I have to burn the whole country. I wipe the tears away with a renewed sense of purpose. I get out of the shower and dress, ready for whatever the world throws at me.