Page 179 of Ruin Me With Lies
Lorenzo barges in next, laptop in hand.“Not even if Raya herself says you should?”
We both turn to him.“What?”
“I was going through the daily briefing when the screen suddenly went blue and these words popped up…”
He strides over and flips the laptop around.
Tell him to take care of the deal with the Koreans...
First.
A dry, humorless laugh falls out of me.“Am I supposed to believe that’s Raya?Nice try, you two.”
Gio throws up his hands.“Don’t look at me.I’m not in on this.”
“Stefano—” Lorenzo starts, but a grating whine cuts him off.
“What the—?”
“Wait, look,” Gio says, leaning in.“There’s typing.”
I snap my attention back to the screen just as new words appear:
Ask me a question neither of them would know the answer to...
Unconvinced, I flick my gaze to Lorenzo.“You’re not fucking with me?That’s her?”
He shakes his head no.
“Then how can she hear us?”
He frowns, studying the laptop.“She probably tapped into the mic.The webcam’s blocked.”
Nah, this is too convenient.Nothing but a ploy to trick me into making that meeting.Still…
Lorenzo and Gio are the two closest people to me, so what’s something they wouldn’t know, but she would?
Well, maybe… “What’s the number you left for me to find?”
The screen blinks…
444
Something jolts in my chest.Holy shit, it’s her.
And now I have a million questions.“Why do you—”
The screen flashes as new words appear…
Don’t blow up that deal for me.
That’s a major project.Handle it first.
First.
She used that word twice.“First” is a confirmation.Somehow, she knows I cracked her clue, that I’m coming for her.She’s not telling menotto come, but to handle my business first.
“Okay, I will,” I say out loud.“But you’re in so much trouble when I find you, hear me?”
