Page 97 of Liars and Liaisons

I’ve already forgotten their names, but the scrutiny from the little diner’s other patrons makes me remember why I don’t go out in public. It’s been so long since I left the estate for longer than a short trip down the mountain that I’m stricken with that familiar urge to flee.

My eyes mark the exits; the one caveat to the whole situation is that we’re outside, so at least escape wouldn’t be that difficult. I’d have to throw Violet over my shoulder to get her to accompany me though. She’s not short, but I don’t think she’d be able to keep up.

To be honest, I’m not sure she’d want to after my fucking confession in the SUV. I don’t know what possessed me to be so brutally honest, if it was the orgasm or my father making me spiral, but the words tumbled out before I had the chance to stop them.

And she didn’t say it back.

Tough break, Grayson.Between that and NEAA’s dean needing alibis to prove I didn’t do something I definitely did, today’s not been my day.

The blue-haired woman leans across the table, narrowing her eyes at me. “Why are you still here?”

I blink. “Where else would I be?”

She wrinkles her nose. “You smell like sex. What have you been doing to my cousin?”

Folding my hands over my chest, I give her a small smirk. “Seems like you already know the answer to that.”

Her brother shifts in his chair. Pointedly.

“Is that what you do?” the woman continues, her voice growing in volume. Evidently, her fuse is quite short. “Hire women to clean your house and then fuck them?”

“Not always. I made an exception with Violet.”

Her face reddens, and I see the family resemblance. “You know, I could have you reported for abuse of power.”

I try to smother my smirk, but it doesn’t particularly work. At her side, Mayor Wolfe chuckles, tugging on her hair.

“M’eudail, need I remind you howwebegan?”

“That’s different,” she says, shrugging him off. His hand just falls to the back of her seat, waiting. “Violet is sweet and innocent, and I don’t want him ruining her.”

“On the contrary,” I tell her, gesturing in her direction with my glass of iced tea, “your cousin’s the one ruining me.”

That seems to satisfy the little guard dog, and she goes back to petting her actual dog while Violet’s brother continues staring at me. I meet it head-on, aware of the rumors that follow the man around like a ghost.

Even if you don’t live on the island, the entire East Coast has heard of Violet’s brother in some capacity. The nickname Dr. Death isn’t given lightly or without due cause.

I simply don’t care.

Violet groans, slamming her phone down on the table. “Something isn’tright, you guys, I’m telling you. My mom isn’t even answering the phone. If Dad was in jail, why wouldn’t she reach out to me?”

“Maybe for the same reason you never told her about your father’s debt,” I supply with a shrug. “She likely thinks she’s protecting you.”

Violet’s brother’s gaze hardens. “What debt?”

She shoots me a glare. “It’s nothing.”

“I wouldn’t call half a million dollars owed to the Persico familynothing, but perhaps our definitions are different.”

The table quiets, and Violet stares daggers at me. “Is this really the game you want to play right now?”

My nostrils flare, the urge to say yes and to keep pushing her buttons rearing up inside me like a tsunami wave. I’m punishing her for either not revealing her feelings or for the fact that they don’t exist at all, and neither seems very fair.

If I’m actually in love with her, I shouldn’t want to push her to feel the same. It needs to be organic and real, and that can’t be forced.

Otherwise, I’ll be no better than Nate or my father, and everything I’ve done to prove I am will be moot.

“What else could have happened to your father?” the British one asks.

---