So, my Feysand fic "I made you a promise" is over... You can find it on my works if you're interested, it's basically all fluff, focused on character and relationship development. But fear not, my brain is still coming up with story ideas to write, so I'm not done!
This new fic is of a much more different tone, basically much more angsty, and much more slow-burn! More importantly, this story will see Tamlin and Feyre as a couple for a good part of it, so there will be mention and appearance of domestic abuse, mention of drugs, murder). It's very important that you take these warnings into account, I don't want you to feel bad reading this story.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to let me know what you think, thank you so much for reading!
xxx
She was in such a mess. It had all started with her accompanying her boyfriend to a garden party for work. She'd never expected it would lead her here, all these weeks later, washing fresh blood off her hands while the others were taking care of the body.
Feyre looked at herself one last time in the mirror before leaving the bedroom. The dress was pretty enough, green and flowing around her, fitting for a dinner party in the beginning of Spring. Not that she had wanted to accompany him in the first place, she generally avoided any kind of contact with Tamlin's job. But he'd insisted all week about how important it would be for him to have her there with him, so now there she was, heading for a very fancy party at the house of one of the wealthiest families in town.
"Feyre, Doll, are you coming?" He called from downstairs, clearly annoyed at how long she'd taken to get dressed.
"Yes, I'll be right there." She grabbed her small handbag and ran out of the room and into the staircase, finding her boyfriend waiting for her at the bottom of it, dashing in a cream-colored suit, his long blonde hair tied in a high ponytail and leaving his face free. He smiled at her when she reached him, but she rolled her eyes.
"Oh don't think that I'm not still mad at you for dragging me to this dinner, Tam. I'm going to make you pay a steep price later."
He laughed and she felt chills running down her spine when as he whispered in her ear "Oh don't worry, I'm ready to pay any price you want from me. You're a vision in this dress." He straightened up and offered her his hand.
"Shall we?"
"Aren't we waiting for Lucien?" He was the only reason she'd finally agreed to come, and she did not want to go if he wasn't there.
"No, he's joining us there directly. And I'm a little hurt that you'd rather spend the night with Lucien than me," he continued as he led her out the door and to the car waiting for them. They got in and the driver started, letting them settle on the back seat.
"You know I don't mean it like that, but it's going to be boring for me, Tam. You're only meeting with these people for some deal you didn't tell me about, I don't even understand why you want me to accompany you."
"You know why, Feyre. A lot of my father's most trusted partners will be there. I need you to support me."
"You need me to stand beside you and be pretty in silence." She couldn't restrain the bitterness in her voice. In the six months they'd been together, he'd taken her to such events a few times, and she'd always stood by without actually getting involved in the matters at hand. It was becoming tiresome, and boring.
"Feyre, please don't start, I can't have this argument again. Tonight is very important and…"
"I know. I'm sorry." And she was. For all the time they'd been together, Tamlin had taken care of her more than anyone had ever done in her life, and all he'd asked from her in return was to attend a few parties once in a while. She could spend another night smiling at his father's associates if it helped him.
"Don't worry about it. Plus," he said, leaning over to her and starting to kiss her neck, "we still have about half an hour in the car before we get to the house, we can enjoy at least that part of the night together."
She chuckled as he let his hands wander to her thighs, but her mind was still somewhere else, hoping Lucien would arrive before them and be there to help her go through the rest of the night.
He wasn't there. And apparently, he wouldn't get here for a long time, according to what one of Tamlin's brothers told her when she asked. The dinner party was hosted at a huge villa in the outskirts of the city. The dinner was actually a buffet, a wise choice considering the number of people that were attending. The house was crowded with people Feyre had never seen before, and in the ten minutes since they'd arrived, she hadn't recognized more than three or four people. She leaned into Tamlin and murmured into his ear:
"Who are all these people?"
"Oh, friends of friends mostly. One of my father's biggest investor is in town tonight only so he wanted to be able to see as many people as possible, maximize the evening."
"So… Is the night for business or not? I mean, I thought we were here to meet for work, but you're telling me he wanted to see his family and friends?"
"Don't worry about all this, sweetheart. Why don't I get you a cup of champagne, huh?" He slipped away without waiting for her to answer and came back minutes later with two cups in hand. She grabbed hers, and was about to start talking when he said:
"I'm sorry Doll, I just bumped into someone I needed to talk to tonight. Can I leave you alone for a moment?"
"Hum, yes sure. It's just that I…" he kissed her cheek and turned around to go back towards the bar "...don't know anyone."
But he was gone already. Feyre clenched her cup of champagne and turned around, hoping to find a familiar face in the crowd. She started to walk aimlessly in the room, but there was definitely no one she knew around her, so instead of standing inside alone, she opted for discovering the garden. At least there, she could stand alone in the dark and not look like an idiot in the middle of a room full of people she was supposed to befriend.
The garden was simple but beautiful, with soft lights scattered all around to give the guests privacy without leaving them in darkness. But she didn't pay much attention to the other guests there, as she realized where the house was standing. She approached the railing and admired the river under it. The garden had an open side over the Sidra, with a clear view of the Rainbow, the artist's quarter, on the other side. The multicolor lights of the district reflected in the calm water beneath, and if she focused, she could hear the faint sound of the music that she knew was playing on the streets there. She laid her elbows on the rail and smiled at the view, swirling her cup of champagne slowly in her hand. The Rainbow had always been her favorite part of the city, the bright paint on the walls and the music emanating from the cafes giving the place an outerworld feeling she loved. She sipped a bit of her champagne as she pictured the painting she could create of this view: the black water of the Sidra broken only by the colorful reflection of the houses, then softly fading away to let the night sky settle above them, the stars like -
"Beautiful view, isn't it?"
She jumped at the deep voice coming from beside her, spilling some of the champagne on her dress. She turned towards the voice with the firm intention of scolding the person it belonged to, but found herself speechless for a few seconds as she took in the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. Taller than her, he was wearing a black leather jacket that seemed to make him blend in with the night, and he smirked slightly at her, as if aware he'd scared her. But she didn't focus on his jacket, she was too absorbed by his eyes, a shade of blue so deep they seemed almost violet. She looked away from him and turned back to the Rainbow.
"You startled me."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. You seem to be the only person actually enjoying the view, everyone else is too busy to look at it, so I thought I'd come talk to you."
Feyre couldn't restrain her eyes from rolling. That was probably the lamest pick up line she'd heard in a long while. She turned back to him and found him now leaning on the rail beside her.
"I'm going to stop you right there,..."
"Rhysand. Rhysand Morgan."
"I'm going to stop you, Rhysand, before you lose any more time. I'm here with my boyfriend, so don't lose your breath on me."
He laughed at that. "Oh well that's pretty direct! Don't worry, I'm not here to flirt with you,..."
He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly waiting for her to give him her name, as he'd done earlier. She only looked away, and he chuckled.
"Alright, Darling, you don't have to tell me. But really, I'm not here to seduce you, or anyone else for that matter. I'd figured you weren't here alone anyway, or I would have known who you were, I know every person of importance at this party."
"What, because if you don't know me, that means I'm not important? You're an asshole."
"I'm really not, I'm simply good at my job, Darling. My boss wanted me to know every high player that would be attending, and I would have remembered your beautiful face if I'd seen it in my file." How he managed to flirt with her and annoy her in the same sentence was unbelievable to Feyre. She rolled her eyes again and replied:
"Well in that case, you probably know who my boyfriend is. Tamlin Atwell."
"You're Tamlin's girl? Oh yeah I know him. I wouldn't have pictured his girlfriend to be so… feisty."
"Are you making fun of me?" She was feeling the anger rising inside her mind with every comment he made.
"Of course not! If anything, I'm complimenting you. I always pictured him with a docile girl who wouldn't get involved in his affairs, but you don't seem docile at all, Darling."
"Stop calling me 'Darling'."
"Tell me your name and I'll stop."
He was getting on her nerves so easily, it was incredible. She let out a sigh and answered: "Feyre. My name is Feyre."
"Nice to meet you Feyre, I'm Rhysand, but you can call me Rhys." His voice, although as arrogant as ever, seemed slightly softer. "And I really meant what I said as a compliment. I didn't think Tamlin would date someone who would get involved in this stuff."
"Well, he does, and I'm very involved in all this, so it seems that you're not as 'all-knowing' as you think."
Of course, she had no idea what was happening at this dinner party, and the only thing she knew about Tamlin's job was that the company imported food from South America. But she desperately needed to shut Rhysand's mouth, and this seemed like a good way to do it.
"It seems you're right, Feyre, I apologize. If you're Tamlin's girlfriend, we're going to see much more of each other so I hope you forgive me, and we can move on."
"How come we're going to be seeing each other?"
"After the deal is struck tonight, I'm going to work directly with Tamlin so I'm going to be with him a lot. I guess we'll see each other there. And I hope we'll get along well, you and I, so I apologize."
He seemed sincere enough, so she turned back to the view and drank a bit of her champagne, once again listening to the faint music that was coming from the Rainbow on the other side of the Sidra. Rhysand stayed beside her, and after a long minute of nervous silence, she looked at him again, finding him watching her from the corner of his eye.
"What."
He smiled and looked away. "Sorry. I'm just… baffled at the idea that Tamlin told you what the meeting tonight was about."
"Well, he did."
"It seems unbelievable that he would tell you about the drugs coming in tomorrow, that's all. I've always pictured him as a man who would try his best to keep women out of this. Don't take this the wrong way, but your boyfriend is kind of a sexist."
But Feyre hadn't registered anything he'd said after the start of his sentence.
"What did you say?"
"I said that he's a bit of a sexist."
"No, before that." She turned fully to him and straightened. "What did you say about drugs?"
He looked at her and said: "I said I'm surprised he told you about the drug deal happening tonight. It's kind of a secret transaction and…" But he trailed off as understanding flashed on his features. "You didn't know."
"What are you talking about? What drug deal?"
He had already started to step away from her. "Oh no. Not happening. I already told you more than what I should've, I'm not talking about this with you."
She gripped his wrist and forced him to look at her. "You started this, you're going to finish it. Tell me what's going on."
"I started this? Excuse me, am I the one who lied about knowing what was happening? I don't think so. So I don't have to tell you anything."
She couldn't seem to breathe normally, and her knees were so wobbly she could have fallen on the spot, but she didn't release her grip on his wrist.
"Rhysand, please." Her voice was coming out more steady than she felt, and he seemed to think about what he could do. He sighed and looked around him before turning back to her.
"Allright. Hybern's food import business is real, but it's not all they import from South America, the company is involved in the importation of 'Charmz' into the country. The meeting tonight is so that the associates may meet with a brother of Mr Hybern, that has been managing the labs for the last six months. I'm in charge of the security for Hybern, and I can't tell you more about what I do for him or his family."
Feyre tried to calm her raging heart, tried to process the information that has been given to her by this man she'd just met. But her brain didn't seem to want to work properly, because what he'd told her was impossible. Finally, she found her voice again.
"No, you're wrong. Tamlin isn't dealing drugs, he hates anything that's illegal, he would never do that."
"I don't know what to tell you Feyre, maybe you don't know him as well as you think."
"I have to find him, I have to talk to him."
She let go of his arm, but this time he was the one who grabbed her and made her look at him.
"Feyre, whatever you do, don't tell him I was the one to tell you about all this. I would lose my job, or worse, and I really can't afford that."
There was what looked like genuine worry in his eyes, and she opened her mouth to answer, but she heard a familiar voice from the other side of the garden.
"Feyre, there you are! I've been looking for you!" Lucien called her, and she watched him advance towards her.
"Feyre, please," Rhysand's voice was a mere whisper now, "if you confront Tamlin about this, please, promise me you won't tell him about me."
She looked between Lucien who was approaching and Rhysand who still held her wrist gently between his fingers, and she nodded at the latter.
"I promise," she whispered in return, before she took her hand back and started walking in the direction of her friend. Trying to keep the turmoil of emotions buried inside her for the time being, she smiled at Lucien the best she could and shoved the information she'd learned deep inside her.
It was all his fault, really.
If he'd just kept his mouth shut about the drug deal, she would have never found out about it, and she wouldn't be scraping blood from under her fingernails at the moment. She would probably be attending another dinner party, wearing the beautiful summer dress her boyfriend had bought for her last week, enjoying a margarita or a mojito in the living room of one of their friend's house. Instead, she was running through her thoughts to try and make sense of what had happened, and more importantly, what would happen now that there was a dead body in the back of her boyfriend's car.
It was all his fault.
