Empire of Lies - Whitney G. Page 0,12

email, Gil. I’m on my umpteenth nightmare Tinder date and I can’t see this one through to the end.

Try to scream loud as hell into the phone, so I can act shocked and pretend like it’s a real emergency.

Thanks a million,

Meredith

“You know, I’m enjoying our conversation so much, that I feel like we may need to order a round of wine,” Bennett said, winking. “Although, I don’t think I’ll need to be too buzzed to lay down this pipe in the bedroom later.”

Right…

The waitress set down two cups of coffee and the first tray of treats. The non-death sentence ones. I immediately picked up a cookie and stuffed it into my mouth.

“How do you feel about performing a few anal tricks on me?” Bennett asked, mid-bite.

“Excuse me?”

“Like, with a dildo and a few other fun toys I have at home,” he said. “This is going to sound intense, but bear with me.”

I looked down at my phone. Please save me, Gillian.

I’d like for you to push each toy inside of me as deep as you can, and after you’re done, I want you to lick everything off and let me do the same to you.”

I picked up the mug and chugged the coffee, pushing down the vomit that nearly left my throat. I was getting the hell out of here within the next few minutes, emergency call from Gillian or not.

“Do you think you can handle doing that, Meredith?”

His question hung in the air, but he didn’t wait for a response. He launched into yet another one-sided conversation. I didn’t even pretend like I was listening anymore.

I turned my head to the window and watched more cars pass by. I started counting the number of red cars that rolled by and vowed to get up and leave once I reached the number eight.

As I was getting to lucky number seven, a sleek, midnight-colored sports car pulled next to the curb, and the driver’s side door swung open.

A man dressed in a black trench coat stepped out, holding his phone up to his ear. His eyes met mine and his full lips parted, the recognition immediate.

The Devil…

The butterflies in my stomach took flight, and my nipples hardened under my blouse. My mind raced a mile a minute, stunned that this man was actually real. That he’d actually shown up.

Keeping his eyes locked on mine, he said a few more words into his phone and ended the call, tucking it into his pocket. He stared at me for several seconds, looking as if he wanted to fuck me on the spot. Like he was tempted enough to crash through this café’s glass window and bend me over the booth right now.

His lips curved into a smirk, and he looked me over one last time before walking to the entry doors.

I watched him as he slowly strolled over to the counter, as every waitress froze and blushed at the sight of him.

His lips were moving and he was pointing up at the menu board, but they remained standing still, staring at him.

As if he could tell that he had them under his spell, he smiled and revealed a set of pearly whites—pulling them in a bit deeper.

“So, I’ll bend you over the desk and spank you a few times.” Bennett’s annoying words interrupted my thoughts, but I kept my eyes on The Devil as he started walking toward us. “After that, we can probably trade places and I’ll want you to do it even harder to me.”

“Excuse me,” The Devil said, his deep voice cutting off Bennett’s ongoing ramble once and for all. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but—” He paused, looking between us. “Actually, I’m not sorry. I’m not over the woman you’re currently talking to, and she just messaged me to say that she’s still not over me. You’re sitting here wasting your damn time.”

“What?” His face reddened and he glared at me. “You said via the chat that you were ‘beyond single’ and down to fuck after one night! You said you wanted me to fuck you so hard, that you passed out!”

My cheeks reddened. The rest of the café became a lot quieter, and the other patrons softly whispered and stared.

“So much for that, huh?” Bennett scoffed as he stood to his feet. “I can’t believe you were lying to me the entire time, that you got my hopes up. I was excited about fucking you tonight.” He wrapped a scarf around his neck and looked me right in my