Page 63 of Liars and Liaisons

“I’m not smitten.” I’m fuckingobsessed.

Bringing her here was a definite mistake, but I can’t do anything to change that now.

Wouldn’t if I could.

She thinks she’s leaving here when I’m done with her, but the truth is, I won’t ever be.

As if summoned, the door opens again, and I turn, ready to lay into my closest friend for her loose lips. I should bury her alive outside for the betrayal alone, but it isn’t her that comes through.

It’s Aiden and his girlfriend, the pink-haired security analyst. Or whatever she does at her brother’s cybersecurity firm—I’ve never been able to pay attention when someone talks about it.

The pair parts, and at first, all I see is an actual sea of crimson. Pale skin splattered haphazardly with ruby red and watery footprints to match. As if she had been dipped into a lake of blood and tossed right onto my doorstep.

My veins ignite, confusion burning a path to my heart. Doe eyes gloss over as they lift to mine, outlined by the mysterious red liquid smeared all over her delicate face.

But she doesn’t look particularly delicate now.

She’s the volatile sort of sunshine—the implosion before the world ceases to exist.

And she’s aiming destruction right at me.

21

“Little Echo.”His voice is barely a murmur, his concern quieting the ringing in my ears. But only for a moment because as soon as he pushes from the bar and the abnormally tall man at his side, rage reinvents itself in my bones.

He looks at the pair behind me. “What the hell happened?”

Aiden shrugs, the picture of nonchalance. Like he didn’t just watch me murder someone three feet from where he stood. “She said people were trespassing. Talking about breaking in and hurting…” He trails off, glancing at me to fill in the blanks since I left out the specifics on our walk back.

“Youleftme.” I keep my tone steady, force the wobble from where it lives in my throat. “There were people out there, and you left me to fend for myself.”

Grayson’s green eyes widen, and his brow furrows. “Who was out there?”

“I don’tknow!” I screech, the sound so loud and unlike me that I don’t recognize it, even as it echoes all around us.

It’s not exactly true, but the entire room of people doesn’t need to know I’m a wanted woman.

Grayson studies me in silence for several beats, and a part of me regrets coming in without cleaning up first. I’d insisted on seeing him, as if I could make him atone for what he just forced me to do by abandoning me.

Standing here, the blood of some man dripping from me, I realize there’s no going back. No erasing the smell, the imagery, or the fucking fear.

My heart clenches violently in my chest, but I keep my chin high.

I will not cry.

As if coming to some sort of internal decision, Grayson glances at our crowd and nods toward the door. “Leave us.”

Riley looks to me for some sort of confirmation; she must see it in my unwavering stare because she eventually nods and skips to her boyfriend, who seems more than happy to sweep her from the storm brewing in here.

He must know his uncle very well.

Before they’re gone, Grayson stops his nephew with an outstretched palm. “Find Janus or Arsen and make sure whatever mess is left at the lake is cleaned up. Have them scope the perimeter for others.”

Aiden nods, and then they’re gone.

The tall man with the blue-black hair watches the two of us with an unreadable expression, and I’m struck by how much he reminds me of Kal in that aspect alone. The silent, unyielding calculation and the cold, unflappable calm he exudes. Like a soldier assessing his enemy.

Again, my heart spasms. Yearns for family.

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