Page 5 of Twisted Lies 3
Good things never just happened to me. Shit, from the day I was born, I’d had to scratch and fight for every damn thing I wanted in life. So when Tabitha had called me out of the blue, all excited about one of her business connections willing to provide financing in exchange for a small percentage of my future profits, I was skeptical but desperate for funding to expand my business and start my new clothing line.
“So now you’re kicking yourself for being ambitious?” Jade’s tone was sharp.
I blew out a noisy breath. “No, I’m kicking myself for not asking questions.”
I wanted to bang my head against the dashboard at how quickly I’d just blissfully signed the contract. The ink hadn’t even dried on the business document when two million dollars were deposited into my business account with the promise of another million in six months. Little had I known that the investor was the one and only Core McKay or that I had stupidly given away ninety-seven percent of my business.
Frankly, that wasn’t the part that hurt the most. It was that my trusted mentor and friend, Tabitha Thorp, had betrayed me by deliberately hiding the fact that my business investor was Core. My jaw tensed. Even worse, I had a damn sneaking suspicion that Tabitha and Core’s relationship went deeper than business.
With disinterest, I glanced at the sleek concrete buildings as we raced over the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn.
But do I really want to know how deep?
Heat flushed through my body.
I took a cleansing breath.It doesn’t matter, not now.
A bitter tang coated my mouth. What did matter was the fact that Tabitha had steered me into a deal that she knew I wouldn’t have taken if I had known it involved Core. And given our long-standing friendship, in my eyes, that was a really fucked-up thing to do.
CHAPTER 3
Sinthia
Jade pulled onto Tabitha’s quiet residential block before parking in front of her brownstone. Jade drummed her fingers against the steering wheel. “So, what’s the plan?”
“We wait to see if she’s in there.” My heart pounded as I eyed her home.
The normally vibrant flowers on the stairs were dead. Tabitha, if nothing else, was a stickler for order and appearances.
“Fuck it. I’m going in.” Unbuckling my seat belt, I threw open the door.
Jade’s eyes widened as she grabbed my arm. “Going in where?”
Shaking her off, I snapped, “Inside,” before rushing out of the car.
Jade scrambled out, following me. “You’re breaking in?” she squeaked, skirting around the car and jogging to catch up with me.
“No.” I reached into my jeans pocket, pulling out a key. “I still have the spare key she gave me in case of an emergency while she was on vacation.”
Her mouth slackened. “Sin, stop. This is fucking crazy.”
I held up my hand. “I got this,” I replied, scanning the neighborhood. I knew I wouldn’t arouse any suspicion from the neighbors since, in the past, I’d been a frequent visitor to Tabitha’s brownstone.
“I’m not letting you go in by yourself.”
I whirled around to face her and whispered, “You can’t come in with me. I need you out here, keeping watch, just in case shit goes south. So keep your finger on your cell and get ready to call your family’s well-paid attorney, because I, for damn sure, don’t want to end up in jail as Big Bertha’s bitch.”
Jade ran a jerky hand through her hair. “Okay, but I’m giving you fifteen minutes. If you’re not back, I’m coming in.”
“Deal,” I muttered before turning on my heel and sprinting up the stairs.
Bouncing on my toes, I stuck the key into the lock and entered Tabitha’s house. Holding my breath, I punched the code on the alarm, hoping Tabitha hadn’t changed it. The alarm deactivated, and I sagged against the wall with relief. The pounding of my heart slowed down.
“Thank God,” I mumbled, shoving the key back into my pocket.
I nearly swallowed my tongue when I finally got my shit together enough to scan her house.
The space was completely cleared out.
