Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,102
he demand this?
“I told you I would help you in the only way I could.”
That silver-tongue of his finally tells the truth. I should have known better than to trust him.
“And I’m telling you that unless you give us what we want, a certain video will somehow leak online. You asked me if the price had been paid when we were at my office, and I told you no.”
He pauses, searches my face, something unreadable behind the way he looks at me.
“This is the price,” he says softly. “Paid in full.”
I see it then. The entire picture. The game he’s been playing since we saw the article at the cabin and I called him.
Trapping us there.
Running me through the woods.
Pretending like he gave a damn.
It had all been a smokescreen to cover up what he really planned to do.
He wants me muted.
Subdued.
Bland instead of vibrant.
If I were a little girl at this moment, I’d be shoved to the dirt again, my eyes staring up at the broken prince who wants me on my knees.
Fine.
If that’s what he wants, that’s what I’ll give him.
“Deal,” I say. “Now let me out of these chains.”
His brows tug together, suspicion bleeding into his face. “It can’t be this easy.”
“It is,” I answer, my voice shaking with the emotions I’m fighting like hell to hold in. “My father can’t know it was me. That video can’t surface.”
He stares at me silently for a few seconds. “You’ll behave? No more escape attempts? No more wrecking my place? None of that?”
“I’ll behave,” I agree, spitting it out because it burns my tongue like acrid bile.
It almost looks like he’s disappointed. “Once we have the documents, you’re free to go. You can go speak with your dad tomorrow to get the ball rolling.”
“Fine.”
Another twitch of his brow, but he pulls a key from his pocket and removes the restraints. I pull my hands down and rub at my wrists. They don’t actually hurt, but the way he watches what I’m doing shows me the guilt he feels.
Gabriel steps back to put space between us, his hands slipping into his pockets as I sink to the floor. My legs are tired from standing, my heart breaking apart because I always thought he felt the same about our games as me.
“This is strange,” he says, drawing my eyes up to him.
“What is?”
“Finally winning this war with you. I thought there’d be more to it.”
“What? Did you want me to shoot off fireworks and organize a parade?”
His lips twitch. “It’s not a bad idea.”
“I’ll be sure to jump right on that. Just as soon as I forget how much I hate you again.”
Blinking at that, his voice is soft when he admits, “It’s nothing you haven’t felt before.”
He has no idea.
“This is your room while you’re staying here. I’d offer you the bigger one across the hall, but it has some slight structural damage.”
“You should take better care of your property, Gabe.”
“I should,” he laughs, not as if he found what I said funny, but more that he’s hurt that my destruction will never happen again.
Shaking it off, he explains, “The guys are coming over tonight. We need to discuss my conversation with Warbucks and the best way to go forward. If you’re a good little girl, we’ll be done with this by the end of the week.”
“Great.”
He grins. “And you’ll remember to behave. No pissing them off?”
“Yes.”
It’s insane how I’ve been reduced to one-word answers. Gabriel blindsided me with this, the one person I know exists behind the mask there one minute and then gone. When he’d chained me up, he was the person I know he can be. After speaking to his father, he returned with bruised eyes and a busted lip, and all I saw was Fraud.
Stepping close to me, Gabriel offers his hand to help me to my feet. Ever the fucking gentleman.
I say nothing as I grip his palm, that spark that is always between us still there despite the way my heart feels crushed beneath my ribs. I can barely breathe to look at him.
Instead of releasing my hand, Gabriel tugs me to him, his fingers trapping my jaw, his thumb running along my lower lip as he stares down at my mouth.
“Do you really promise to behave?” he whispers.
My eyes meet his, but I recognize something he doesn’t want me to see shadowing the color. I’m not surprised by it. Even if he doesn’t know it’s there.