Page 47 of The Art of Deception

“Youarean asshole, Alex Scott,” I mumble at my reflection.

I believe what I’m saying as I let the words sink in.

My chest squeezes, thinking of the pain Tomi must be feeling right now.

I can’t even imagine what she’s going through.

Drying myself off, I walk into my bedroom, the soft towel doing nothing to chase away the unease settling deep in my chest. My gaze sweeps over the massive, meticulously designed space—floor-to-ceiling windows, expensive furniture, everything curated to impress.Everything cold. Everything impersonal.

I curl my lip. Tomi’s right.This isn’t me.It never has been.

I only live here because my father insists it’s what’s expected of the second in charge of our firm. That image, that illusion of success—polished, powerful, untouchable. But all I see is a place that feels more like a showroom than a home.

The kind of place where nothing feels real. Where nothing feelsmine.

I’d take a small suburban house over this any day—somewhere lived-in, warm, messy in the best ways. Somewhere, I could actually breathe.

Somewhere that feels likeme.

Hell, even I worry I’ll break the shit in here sometimes.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. I just want more freedom to do what I want with it and with my life. I don’t need all this fancy shit. It’snotwhoIam.

I want to share a life with Tomi. I want to share a home with Tomi and Levi. I want to come home from work knowing our home is a mess. But before all that, I wanted her here, tonight, in my bed for the first time. Not because of this place, but because then she would know me as Alex, and we could have worked through it. I wanted her to knowme—all of me. For me to have no more secrets. But it was all a massive fail.

My father will be so happy.

If it all falls through, he’ll have a shop he can open, and hewon’t have me spending time making Hope & Faith Ink version 2.0 perfect for Tomi.

Dragging my feet over to the bed, I climb in. My sheets feel like sandpaper even though they are God-knows-what threat count on my hot flesh. But it’s so empty without Tomi by my side. I sink into my giant bed and flick off the sidelight. The room descends into darkness as the view of the San Francisco night sky makes its way through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The stars twinkle, shining like there’s not a problem in the world.

The only problem is that there is…

I’m here alone, and Tomi is out there, hurt and angry.

Tonight’s a disaster.

But tomorrow?

Tomorrow, I’m going to make it right.

***

Unsurprisingly, I slept like absolute crap. All I could think about was messaging Tomi. But I have to do this right and in measured steps. I need her to know I’m not letting her go without a fight, a fight I intend to win.

I know she’ll be back at the shop packing up stock, so I have to head down there to talk to her. Now that she’s had some time to cool off and think things over. I’m still not entirely sure how much she knows.

Does she know I’m building her a new shop?

Or does she only know who I am?

But either way, I need to put it out on the table so she knows the whole story about me, my firm, her shop,everything.

I know she said she’d call the police if I came near her, but I have to try this, anyway.

The risk is worth it.

The thing is, my father needs some signatures from the other tenants while I’m down this way, so when I see Tomi, it’ll be thefirst time she’s seen me in a suit. The first time she’s seeing me as Alex.

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