Page 62 of The Ring Thief
“Here, Luke,” Sasha coos, “you can sit next to me.” She flutters her eyelashes, and Lucas comes forward, grabbing the back of a free chair and wedging it close, so that when he sits, he’s crowding her, their thighs pressed together. I stare at them, my mouth twisted into a perplexed frown, and it only deepens when Lucas throws an arm around Sasha’s shoulders, tugging her into him. He strokes a finger over the material of her sweater, murmuring, “Soft”, and she giggles.
Giggles.
I feel like I’ve stepped into an alternate universe, because they don’t like each other. More than once, Sasha has told me she’d like to set him on fire. But now they’re cuddling. I take a page from Sasha’s book and knock back my wine, trying to set my world back to rights.
Lucas glances up, feigning surprise. “You still here, Jamison? I would think you couldn’t spare a single minute without honing that defense.” His smile turns biting, all teeth and no charm.
Caleb tucks his hands into his pockets, letting out a low sound of amusement. “Your boss got you checking up on us?” he asks lazily, his smile not reaching his eyes.
Lucas just arches a brow, the tension rippling through the air enough to make the hair on my arms stand on end. I lean forward with a scowl.
“Whatever this is”—I flick an agitated finger between them—“you can go do it on your own time. This is girls’ night, and you’re interrupting.”
“Yeah, whip out the tape measures when you’re in the courtroom.” It sounds like Sasha, but a muted version.
I try to catch her eye, but she’s already turned away, calling out to a passing server, who gives a ‘one moment’ gesture back.
Caleb nods, his mouth set in a stern line as he raps his knuckles against the balustrade, midnight eyes sliding over Sasha and Lucas, lingering on his arm around her shoulders, before coming to me.
“When your situation is…resolved, maybe you’ll use that number.” And then he’s gone.
For a long minute, no one says anything. I’m staring at them, but they’re both watching Caleb walk away. Once he’s out of sight, Lucas yanks his arm off Sasha and scoots his chair away like she was burning him.
Before I can open my mouth, the server is there, asking us cheerfully for our drink orders. I wait for her to melt back away, before demanding, “What the hell was that?!”
“What was what?” Sasha asks innocently.
Lucas tries a different tact, changing the subject altogether. “Kudos on the annulment, Lily. Sorry I couldn’t help, but like I told her,” he tips his head at Sasha, “I don’t do divorces.”
I wag a finger. “No, don’t blow me off. What was that?”
He looks down at Sasha, raising his eyebrows, and she huffs out a sigh. “Look, I’ll tell you, but I need two things from you first.” I nod, blinking furiously. “Okay,” she exhales heavily, her chin dropping to her chest. “First thing, I’ll need tequila. Lots of tequila.” She chews on her lower lip. “Second, I need you to lose that asswipe’s number.”
“Done.” I don’t hesitate, pulling out my phone and deleting Caleb’s contact information, flashing the screen at her.
Relief has her shoulders sagging. “I’ll tell you once—” she jerks her head at Lucas, probably thinking she’s being subtle but just looking like she’s having a fit.
“Whatever,” he mumbles, thanking the server when she places a beer in front of him and fresh glasses of wine in front of us. “I actually found you here for a reason, excluding that piece of shit.”
Found us?I mouth at Sasha, but she just shrugs, widening her eyes at me. She’s not that good of an actress, though, and I know she wasn’t surprised he turned up when he did.
“You both know the circle of people my sister spends time with,” he says, pressing his lips together.
“Yes, we know,” Sasha says with a mock shudder. His sister spends time with the vapid socialite sect, where they feed off drama and innards of other socialites. Away from the crowd, Verity Petrosen could be tolerable, but only in small doses. “Why? What do you know?”
His glacial eyes lock on mine. “Now that your annulment is public record, you’ve become a morsel of gossip for the hordes, especially after everything that happened with Nexus and Donald Masters.”
I grimace. “Horrid, but not unexpected.”
He leans forward. “Lily, it’s worse than that. Anyone can look up the annulment and the reason for it.”
“Okay,” I drag out slowly, sharing a concerned look with Sasha.
His expression is reluctant, mouth opening and shutting. Sasha shoves him roughly, growling, “Spit it out, Lucas! Jesus!”
He groans, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Fuck, fine. Public record for the annulment states fraud as the reason,” he starts, and my gut churns, already knowing I won’t like this. “Silvia Huntington is telling anyone who’ll listen that Declan’s the one who wanted an annulment. She’s saying you faked a pregnancy to trap him, and he found out on the honeymoon.”
CHAPTER 28
