Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,103
he answers, “Yes.”
I’m not sure where to go from here. Or what will happen.
But judging by the look on his face, I do know one thing for sure.
Gabriel Dane is a such a good liar that he doesn’t even know when he’s lying to himself.
Gabriel
“You did what? Please tell me you don’t think that will actually work.”
Tanner’s laughter fills my office as he settles back in a chair on the opposite side of my desk. We’ve sat like this more times than I can count. In our law office. In our houses. Back at Yale.
It wasn’t too long ago that I sat across from him watching him self-destruct after confessing to Luca what he’d done to her, only this time, I’m the one who confessed my crime, but in a different way and with a completely different outcome.
“You wouldn’t really leak the tape,” he correctly assumes. “Not now anyway. A month ago? Maybe. But not now and you know it.”
“No,” I admit, “I wouldn’t. But Ivy doesn’t know that.”
A month ago...hell, over the past ten years...all I wanted was to destroy Ivy Callahan. But the time I’ve spent with her quickly dissolved that idea, the hatred I held onto melting away to reveal what existed beneath it the entire time.
It’s something I could never see when we were young, and I’m still struggling to admit it now.
Tanner’s smile vanishes.
“I came here with every intention of raining hell down on her for what she did in my office.”
“I know that, which is part of the reason I tamed her.”
He laughs at that.
“Tamed her, my ass. This is Ivy we’re talking about. You may have tossed down rules, but she’ll find a way around them.”
Outside my office door, the rest of the Inferno waits for the family meeting I called. Luca, Ava and Ivy are with them, and I can’t help wondering if Tanner is right.
So far, Ivy has behaved, which honestly, I can’t stand.
I like her more when she’s painted in bold colors.
I like the way she paints me in them as well.
She wasn’t wrong about that.
But then, it’s only been two hours. How long will she continue her good behavior?
“Why did you really do it?”
A smile creeps over my face. “To get access to her dad’s records-“
“That’s bullshit, and we both know it. Don’t fucking lie to me, asshole. I see through that shit.”
“Fine. My secret is out. She knows I set her up with the pavilion.”
Confusion tugs his brows together, and I settle more in my seat waiting for him to catch up. It only takes a few seconds, the corner of his mouth stretching into a smirk.
“And she didn’t tear you a new asshole for it?”
“Nope. Not when I admitted it while laying down the new rules.”
“You sly son of a bitch. You just snuck that in there with something that pissed her off more so you wouldn’t have to face the wrath like I did with Luca.”
Another quirk of my lips. “Like I said, I’m not a moron like you.”
Tanner narrows his eyes, his fingers flipping a pen through them.
I have no idea how he always manages to grab something to fiddle with. A pen. A rubber band. A paperclip. It doesn’t matter. His hands are always moving when he’s thinking.
“What I told Luca was your idea-“
“And you were the idiot who followed through with it, but that’s not what we’re here to discuss.”
My mouth curls more as the pen flips faster. Pissing Tanner off is always amusing.
“I really do need access to her dad’s office,” I say, changing the subject before he launches that pen at my face. “I highly doubt she’ll be able to get the truth out of him. Ivy’s loyalty to her family is a problem.”
The pen in his hand stops moving as his nostrils flare, and his head turns just a fraction. He grins and taps the pen against the armrest of his chair. “Do you really think she’ll behave?”
“She has so far.”
His grin lifts more, something flickering behind his eyes. “You sure about that?”
Shrugging, I stare at him with suspicion. “She thinks I’ll leak the tape.”
You can tell Tanner is trying not to laugh. His eyes lock to mine.
“Do you remember how I said she’s not allowed at my house?”
“Yes, why?”
His expression tightens with the restraint it’s taking him not to laugh.
The faint scent of smoke hits me just before my office door pops open and Sawyer peeks his head in.
“Uh, just wanted to let you know the kitchen is on