Page 55 of Lovely Deceit

“That’s only the half of it,” I counter, making my way down the hall. She has no idea the kind of fucked-up shit that’s in my head. Then again, last night may have clued her in to some of it.

I pace my room for several minutes. If they’re talking out in the kitchen, I can’t hear it anymore. Good. I hope I ruined their good time.

The lie tastes bitter, even if I didn’t say it out loud. How can I go from feeling one way one second to feeling completely opposite the next?

My shoulders hunch, the muscles in my back tightening. For a brief moment, I feel like giving in, but I can’t. It makes me squeamish. Instead, I bring up a food delivery app on my phone, and in ten minutes, the doorbell rings. I jog out to get it, shooting the three of them a winning smile as I open up the door to a middle-aged man holding my bag of doughnuts in one hand and my coffee in the other.

“Thank you,” I tell him before shutting the door and returning to the kitchen.

As soon as Eden sees what’s in my hand, she says, “You’re fucking ridiculous, you know that?”

I shrug, pulling out the two huge doughnuts I ordered and biting into the first one. I peel back the piece of plastic to vent my coffee while I chew and swallow. “So, what did you guys talk about yesterday during the Deceit Test?”

I feel like shit for asking.

“None of your business,” Alaric and Eden say at the same time.

“What are you guys so mad about? You wouldn’t let me have your food, so I got my own.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t let you. I said to just ask.”

“Yet, I ask you a question and you don’t answer.”

Eden steps off the stool, gripping the counter. “You can’t have this both ways, Leo. Either be a dick or don’t.”

“Well, that’s easy because I’m a dick. Nothing will change that.”

“Good, since you have no problem being honest right now, answer a question for me. What did your grandfather mean he was glad you were following me? He said it when I was hanging upside down.”

“I told you already. I noticed you’d snuck out, so I followed you.”

“How would he know that unless you told him? They knew where to find me, Leo. I already know the fucking answer. You think you can keep up with this charade, but you can’t. You’ve been following me since day one. You were my babysitter before I even knew I had one. That’s why Sir Jarvis put you back into the Knights, isn’t it?”

Her perfect face is scrunched up, her anger singing to a part of my soul that’s raw. But what’s more unnerving is what her laugh does to me; her smiling face. They do so much more than this.

I think about lying, but I see the merit in what Barclay did yesterday. That’s probably why he’s back in her good graces. And for one brief second, I’m hopeful it will make a difference for me, too. “You’re right.” I push the doughnut away and drum my fingers over the edge of the countertop. “I’ve been watching you since the night you got here. My job is to do my grandfather’s dirty work, and you’re on his list.”

Surprise and anger flit across her face in quick succession, my admission clearly taking her off guard.

“Be mad if you want. I knew you would be. Hell, I’d be furious. I didn’t tell him everything, though. I didn’t tell him you took Keegan Forbes hostage. I didn’t tell him Barclay’s secret from the go-kart track or what you guys saw when we visited Kennedy’s office. And for the record, I followed you that night not because you were my job, but because I was worried.”

“You were the car behind me.”

“Trying to get you to pull over so I could bring you back here.”

“And I outran you. For the record…” she says, throwing those words back in my face like a loaded weapon, “I’ll always outrun you.”

27

Eden

Leonardo Jarvis doesn’t understand anything.

I’m not shocked, but to have him use the excuse that he followed me because he was worried is utter bullshit. He did it because he is an obedient little lackey for his grandfather.

“Good thing I like the chase.” His words send a thrill through me as if being hunted by a reckless, tattooed caveman is all I’ve ever wanted in my entire life.

He has a grip on me that I can’t seem to shake.

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