The Deceiver’s Game

**Ivery Clark POV** 

The name Surñios rang in my skull like a gunshot—loud, deadly, final.

I stared at him, heart stuttering, pupils shrinking like prey caught in the predator’s gaze.

“You..” My lips parted, but no sound came. My body wouldn’t move. “You're part of Surñios..?”

He chuckled, soft and sharp like glass under velvet. “You don’t need to be afraid of me. I'm not going to hurt you, little dove.”

My feet moved before my mind could catch up.

I had to get to him. Alrigo stood across the boutique, locked in a storm of arguments—his mother’s voice sharp like cracked glass, the fiancée’s bitter eyes fixed on him with fury. 

His shoulders were stiff, jaw clenched, trying to juggle decades of obligation and the wreckage I’d unknowingly stepped into.

I didn’t care.

I needed him.

I weaved through the crowd, my lips parting, breath catching. “Alrigo—”

But the name barely escaped me before a hand closed around my mouth.

“Not a sound,” Elias whispered, voice too calm, too collected. “Make one noise,” he hissed, “and I’ll slit your throat right here, right now. Your precious mob lord won’t even notice you bleeding out behind the goddamn curtains.”

I whimpered against his hand, eyes wide with terror.

“Behave,little mia. Let’s talk somewhere… quieter, shall we?” he said, tone switching like a coin flipped midair.

Then—

A sharp pain. Something pierced the side of my neck.

I gasped, but no sound came. The air was thick, my thoughts slurring.

The floor lurched.

The last thing I saw before the blackness swallowed me whole was his face—calm, smiling.

“Nighty night, little mia.”

Darkness.
.
.
.

I woke to the sound of a chair scraping.

My vision swam, head pounding like I’d been dropped from a building. Darkness wrapped around the room, but a single overhead bulb swung slightly, casting flickering shadows across the cracked walls.

I tried to move—my arms didn’t budge.

Ropes. Rough, biting into my skin. Ankles bound. Chest heaving.

Then I heard it.

He emerged from the dark like a ghost.

Elias.

Seated across from me now, elbows resting lazily on his knees, a knife spinning between his fingers. His eyes glinted with something worse than cruelty—delight.

“Oh… you're awake.” He drawled. “I was beginning to wonder if I’d hit you too hard. My bad.” 

My eyes adjusted slowly, the sting of the dim, flickering bulb above me cutting into my skull like a blade. 

“W-What do you want from me?” I managed, throat dry, voice shaking.

“What do I want?” he murmured. “I want to have a chat, dove. Just a little heart-to-heart between two people trapped in the same nightmare. You just don’t know it yet.”

“Also you don’t need to be afraid, Ivery,” he said softly, leaning forward. “I didn’t bring you here to hurt you. Not if you're smart.”

My heart thudded violently against my ribs. “You tied me to a chair.”

“That was… precaution.” He waved a hand lazily. “You see, I don’t like chaos. I like control. Calm, smooth conversations. Clean transactions. But the people around me?” He tilted his head. “Not always so understanding.”

“You’re insane.”

He grinned wider, like he enjoyed the accusation. “Possibly. But being insane doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”

“You… you're Alrigo’s family. How could you be with the Surñios?”

Elias laughed—low, mocking, amused by my horror. 

“Family?” he echoed, voice silk and venom. “That word means nothing in our world, darling. Blood doesn’t make loyalty. Power does. And your precious Alrigo… he stole what should’ve been mine.”

I swallowed hard, panic crawling up my spine. “I don't know what you're planning but I won’t help you,” I said, trying to sound braver than I felt.

He chuckled darkly. “Oh, sweetheart… you already have. The moment you became his pet.”

He leaned back, eyes gleaming with something unreadable—cruel delight, maybe victory. “Now be a good little pawn, and think about this: if I can reach you this easily… how safe do you think your brother really is?”

The chill that washed over me wasn’t from the wind.

“You’re disgusting,” I spat, my voice trembling but furious. “How can you threaten me with his life? He gave his everything to your gang. He bled for you. And this is how you repay him?” 

“Threatening?” he echoed, as if offended. “I’m not threatening you, dear Ivery. I’m giving you a way out—from Alrigo’s grip.”

“What?” 

“I’m not your enemy, Ivery. In fact, you and I… we’re more alike than you think.”

“I’m nothing like you,” I sneered at him.

His smile never reached his eyes. “You’re lost. Desperate. Clinging to someone who doesn’t tell you the whole truth,” he said, brushing imaginary dust off his blazer. “I’m just here to offer you something different. Clarity. Safety. Control.”

“Do you think Alrigo cares for you, and you're the endgame for him. You’re nothing to him more than an entertainment, Ivery.” My eyes snapped up. Elias’s smile widened.

“Tell me something new, Elias. If you think I have feelings for Alrigo, you're wrong.” I sneered at him.

Elias’s smile turned razor-sharp, his tone dripping with faux innocence.  

“Then why did your face crumble like a glass doll, Ivery? When you heard about the fiancée... it was like watching your little fantasy shatter in slow motion.”  

I clenched my fists, jaw twitching.  

“Don’t worry. It happens to every girl who thinks she’s special to a man like him. Who thinks the touches mean something. Who thinks the silence is tenderness, not calculation.”  

“Shut up.” My voice cracked, too sharp to be strong.

“Oh, but why? Because it’s true? Or because deep down, you already knew it?”

“You’re just a placeholder, Ivery. A warm distraction while the real bride gets fitted for her crown. And the worst part? He won’t even need to lie to you about it. He’ll expect you to sit there, quiet, grateful—like a good little nothing. You’re just a doll he hides. A future mistress.”

“Shut up,” I whispered, but my voice didn’t carry strength—just desperation.

The silence was suffocating.

“This is why I give you a chance to free yourself from this shackle, Ivery. And all I want is access to his world.” 

“What? You want me to be a spy?” 

“No. There’s something I need. Something Alrigo keeps under lock and key like it’s his damn crown jewels. A USB drive. Black casing. Embedded code. You’ll know it when you see it.”

My brows drew in despite the dread rising in me. “Why would I know?”

“Because you’re the only one he lets close. You think the rest of us can just waltz into his den and help ourselves?”

I froze.

He was right.

Even when Alrigo was furious… even when he was cold… he still kept me close. Still let me into rooms no one else entered. I was an outsider in his world, but not to him.

And Elias knew that.

“You’re going to take it,” Elias continued, “You’ll hand it over to me. And in return? I’ll make sure you and your precious brother, including you, disappear. New names, new passports, a quiet little life far from all… this.”

“And if I refuse?”

He tsked.

“Why do you always ask the questions you already know the answers to, Ivery?”

“You think you'll be a savior now? Just wait till she finds out. She's no ordinary but another mob princess. You tried to seduce her fiancé and steal from him. Julia doesn’t forgive. And I promise you—Alrigo doesn’t protect what he no longer trusts. Either way, you are bound to die, little dove.”

My heart was a drumbeat of terror.

And Elias?

He just smiled.

“So think about it and give me an answer later. If you want to live or die cruelly.” He walked to the door, gave a soft snap of his fingers. One of his men stepped forward and began to untie me.

Then, Elias leaned closer one last time, eyes gleaming like glass knives.

“Tick-tock, sweetheart. Decisions make themselves when people take too long.”

The car ride back was silent. Unnervingly silent.

I sat there, numb and small in the vast black leather seat, hands clenched in my lap, mind spinning with everything Elias had said.

I was just a pawn. Just something to be used. Again.

What had my life become? I’d believed Alrigo was different but the cruel reality hit me hard. 

I was dropped outside the gates like a parcel nobody wanted. As I stepped into the mansion, my knees almost buckled. 

My face was wet, though I didn’t remember crying. My eyes burned from holding too much in.

What was I going to do now? 

It was dark already, I hadn’t even taken more than two steps inside when the shadow appeared near the door. Eerie. Silent. Still.

Like he'd been waiting… watching.

Alrigo’s eyes were cold steel, locked onto me like lasers. “Where had you been, ma bella?”

I froze.