Page 79 of Deception
The door slams shut behind him. “Lex—”
“No one jumps out at me,” she says and interrupts Colt as she stares at the carpet. She needs to gain control of herself again. “I haven’t heard anything. I would’ve told you if I had. Assuming you believe that.”
Venom reaches out to touch her arm, but Lex slides away from him. “Lex, I’m sorry. We needed to get your honest reaction, but I never believed it. I don’t think any of us did. Well, except maybe your dad, but he’s a fucking idiot.”
She nods and focuses on a stain under the table. “It has to be someone who’s been around for a while since they’re allold spots. Marnie, for example, wouldn’t know about them. But Tess, me, Karmen…”
“What?” Jennings asks as she trails off. “You think it’s Karmen?”
Shaking her head, she looks up. “No, I… Can you give me a day? I think I might know how to find out.”
“How?” Colt asks.
“I need to talk to someone. But we’re on the same page, right? Veteran, not newbie?”
“Yeah,” Ky says. “Lex, what are you thinking?”
“I need to work it out first,” she says and furrows her brows.
If her plan works—assuming Karmen agrees—they’ll get the information directly from the source. But past experience tells her that sharing her plan will only have the men interfering and ruining it. Besides, they needed to be certain she wasn’t the rat. She’s entitled to a bit of payback.
“I have to go, but I know the drill. I’ll have to tell the one person I need for my idea, but they won’t say anything. And I’ll either have a name for you, or it failed.”
Turning, Lex heads out to the parking lot to the SUV. Right now, she wishes she had her Mustang to drive. It always made her feel better when she was upset.
She releases a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding as she leans against the driver’s side door. Her defense mechanism when she feels hurt and attacked is to run.
“Lex!” Colt shouts, his loud boots running after her.
She turns and shakes her head. “I’m not saying anything until I know—”
His lips crash onto hers, effectively shutting her up. She gives in and kisses him back, momentarily pushing her feelings of betrayal to the back of her mind.
“I never thought it was you,” he whispers into her ear. “I just had to explore it so I didn’t look biased. I’m still figuring out how to navigate this President thing.”
“My father thought I could be doing it,” she says and wipes her eyes. “But it could never be Saint Zane.”
He cups her face and presses his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“Why can’t he just love me?”
“Because he’s clearly defective.”
“So… Did I pass?”
He sighs. “You never should have had to. I should… I should have pushed against it. I knew it would never be you.”
“Did I pass?”
“Yes,” Jennings says from behind them.
Her lip trembles, but she will not let the fresh tears fall. “You got what you were looking for?”
“This isn’t because we doubted you,” he says. “Colt, I’m sorry for not letting you in on the plan your father and I had.”
She looks at Colt who drops his hands only to wrap Lex into his arms. “What are you talking about?”
“We wanted to test Nash. But we overlooked how it would make you feel, Lex, and we’re so sorry.”
