Page 70 of Wild Card

The chaos. At least twelve flat screens hung on the east wall, all playing different news clips, and on the opposite wall were several clocks, each displaying a different time zone. This, seeing inside this space, was so much better than only having a view of the outside. This was a gift, one I’d desperately needed to keep me grounded.

“And the story will get you here?” Decker asked, turning with me.

I blinked and hoped I wasn’t jinxing myself by talking about this in front of Kline Global. “I hope so. My editor hates me, and the last story I wrote, he pulled. If my article and name don’t appear, Kline Global won’t see them. I need something that will stand out, get people talking.”

Decker followed me back to the elevators. “I hope you get it, babe. You deserve it.” He squeezed my fingers in his hand, and because I wanted to stick my head in the sand and ignore everything between us, I squeezed his hand back and let him kiss me again.

“So, what are you doing in the city?” I finally braved asking.

“Just sightseein’.”

I rolled my eyes. “You are not.”

“I could be.” He dipped his head until his lips were at my ear, then he tugged the lobe between his teeth.

A rush of heat hit me right between the legs.

“Eat with me,” he murmured into the space near my ear.

We exited the building, and as soon as we did, Decker popped on a pair of sunglasses. My heart wasn’t ready to see him in a suit paired with Ray-Bans.

I wanted to push aside my fears and go eat with him before we went to the party, but I had to know why he was here. His need for revenge and weird attachment to Taylor in the beginning of all this was too coincidental.

“Decker…I overheard my father talking today, and I am honestly freaking out a little bit.” I closed my eyes, focused on my breathing, and tried to take comfort in the way his hand held on to mine.

“What happened?”

I looked up to find his eyes searching mine. “It sounded like Taylor was being set up…in an arranged marriage or something.”

I was expecting surprise to blanket his features, a raise of the eyebrow, a grimace, a tic in his jaw…but there was nothing. No surprise whatsoever.

My voice cracked. “Is it you?”

“Me?” He reared back, stepping away from me.

“I just need to know,” I begged. Internally I begged him for something else entirely.Tell me it’s not true. Don’t tell me anything at all. Don’t ruin this.

He scoffed, rubbing his chin. The sun caught his hair, and I wanted to tangle my fingers there, bring his face back, and kiss him.

“How could you think that?”

I stammered, trying to control my heart rate. “He said he’d made a deal and that person was in the city meeting with his investors. You look so nice, and in the beginning with your revenge plan…I just…I knew it wasn’t true, but I had to…”

“I knew about it.” He cut me off, his eyes soft and weary.

“What?”

“I knew…it’s…” He trailed off, tugging us to the side of the street.

Meanwhile my heart hammered away in my chest, reminding me how fragile it was and how stupid I’d been to hand it over to someone who had such a rough grip.

“My Uncle Scotty…he deals in information. After what happened with Elias, my uncle kept tabs on him. He found out about this deal he’d made with your father…I don’t know all the details, but the start of it was that he would invite Taylor to the games, make it official in a way that made sure everyone knew they were dating. I knew there was a key element to making sure a ton of people knew they were together.”

I watched him speak, but I felt like my body was disconnected from my head, the two whirling and fighting over what to do with this information.

“I decided to intervene and ruin the start of his arrangement. I figured if I could cast doubt that they were together with enough people, or better yet have sex with Taylor right when he walked in…it would be an efficient form of revenge.”

I took in how his face seemed to pale as he finished. Did he notice how much distance I’d subconsciously put between us? I was so angry, so insanely hurt. I just…

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