Page 11 of Devious Truth

“What the hell!”

A hand wraps around my arm, squeezing tight while keeping me pinned against the wall.

“Vivienne Frost.” The man from my past—from my nightmares—sneers as he brings his face to mine.

I go slack.

“Kiernan.” His name hurts to say, like everything from back then.

“Ah, so you do know me. Because the other night you didn’t seem to have such a good memory. You even forgot your own name.” He squeezes a little tighter then releases me, taking a small step back.

“What do you want?”

“You didn’t even change your name.”

“I moved five hundred miles away. I didn’t think I’d have to.”

Keeping my gaze fixed on his, I feel for my phone on the table, but he catches me and snags it up, carrying it with him as he moves deeper into my matchbox apartment.

“You know, Declan still has a bounty on your pretty little head.” He sinks onto my couch.

It’s a two-seater, but he’s slim enough that it seems to swallow him up. He throws his arms over the back, and spreads his knees, like he’s trying to make himself look larger than he is.

“I don’t see why he would. I don’t have anything of his.” I slide toward the door but freeze when he moves his coat enough to expose the handgun holstered at his hip.

“He doesn’t know that, though, does he?” Kieran tilts his head. “As far as he knows, you still have the ring.”

I snap up the paper cup from the floor. “I told you I didn’t have it.”

Grabbing a towel from the laundry basket near the front door, I throw it on the spilled coffee.

“I know you did. You told him that, too, but he doesn’t believe you.”

“It’s been three years, Kieran. Look around this place; does it look like I’m holding onto a ring that’s worth a few hundred thousand dollars?”

“Worth a hellava lot more than that.” The right side of his mouth twitches.

“Okay, well, don’t you think if I had it, I would have sold it?”

He makes a show of looking around the five hundred square feet of my one-bedroom apartment with a disgusted expression. There isn’t enough energy inside me to muster up annoyance at his disdain for my home. It’s tiny, and cramped, and the paint is peeling off the trim in places. But it’s clean and it’s mine.

“Oh, I know you couldn’t have sold it.” He leans forward, pressing his elbows into his knees. “I believed you when you said your man didn’t give it to you. But you know Declan, he holds a grudge better than anyone.”

“If you know I don’t have it, what are you doing here?” I fold my arms over my chest.

The screen of my phone lights up beside him, flashing Ivan’s name across the screen as another message comes through. Kieran picks it up and swipes the screen to get to the messaging app.

“No screen lock?” He shakes his head at my stupidity while he opens the message. “Ah, looks like your new man is wanting you to work a private party room?”

“He’s not my man.”

“Oh, but I’m counting on the fact that he is.” Kieran tosses my phone onto the couch cushion beside him.

“Is that what you’re here for? You’re trying to make a meeting with Ivan Volkov?” I laugh. “I have no pull with him or his brothers. You can just cozy up next to him on your own. I want nothing to do with you or him.”

He lets out a purposefully long and loud sigh.

“That’s too bad.” He gives me a fake frown. “I have no business with the Volkov brothers. It’s the gaming rooms I’m after.”

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