Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,133
the distance, a breath pouring over my lips as I turn back to the looming presence at my back.
Gabriel’s fingers gently touch my jaw, green eyes finding mine with a threat clearly written in them. His voice is so gentle it’s chilling.
“What did you do?”
His thumb sweeps the line of my jaw and I shiver at the contact, my throat going dry. And, really, it’s bullshit. He’s the one who wanted what happened, I only used it to my advantage.
Even if I hadn’t known, everything would have turned out the same. So what if my decision was based on my objective instead of his? We would have ended up here regardless.
Shrugging a shoulder, I spit out the truth. Dragging it out is ridiculous.
“I knew you set me up to burn down the pavilion.”
Gabriel blinks, his damn thumb so freaking soft against my face, the pad of it brushing over the faint bruises my father left.
“We’ve established that. I’m sure you figured it out after you received the recording the next morning.”
“No, Gabe. That’s not what I mean.”
Pulling away from his touch because it’s distracting me and scrambling my thoughts, I confess, “I knew before I burned the pavilion. I knew you started the rumors. I knew you set the challenge. I knew you wanted me to ask a favor. I knew everything before I followed through with it.”
His eyes widen a bare fraction. Not enough that anybody else would see the reaction for what it is. But I know him better than most.
Stepping back, Gabriel slips his hands into his pockets, Fraud firmly in place, his posture a blank slate that says nothing.
“Why would you do something so stupid?”
His voice is barely a whisper, so damn soft, yet thunder rolls beneath it. I lift my eyes to witness the hint of rage in his stare. Only the corner of Gabriel’s mouth quirks, the beginning of a mocking grin that he wears whenever he’s about to raze the world around whoever challenges him.
That’s the ultimate truth a person has to remember with him:
Gabriel is at his most dangerous when he smiles.
He takes a step forward, and I step back out of instinct. When his head tilts just slightly and his eyes study my face, I fight to swallow the knot in my throat.
I didn’t do anything wrong, not really, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at him.
“Tell me,” he demands, his voice so aggravatingly tender that my heart hammers beneath my ribs. “Why would you do something so insanely stupid?”
My back hits a porch column, and I’m stuck in place as he closes what little distance remains between us. Craning my neck, I stare up at him, my eyes narrowing on the curve of his mouth.
“To hold on to you,” I admit, my voice shaking on the answer.
Momentary confusion flashes across his expression, there and then gone again, replaced by the slow, sinuous smile that terrifies me now, even when I’d only ever seen it as a challenge before.
And why is that?
Why is my pulse so fast I feel like passing out? Why can’t I catch a breath or formulate a clear and concise thought? Why is every muscle locking down my spine now when I’ve never feared Gabriel before?
Is it because I’ve tasted what it is for him to want me? To show he cares? For him to finally admit we can be on the same side instead of at each other’s throats?
Is it because I know what that feels like, and I’m terrified of losing it?
It must be. And judging by the calm way Gabriel speaks, the utter stillness of his body, the sleepy look in his eyes as he stares down at me now, I am losing it.
“To hold onto me,” he repeats, not so much in question, but more like he’s rolling the truth of those words over his smooth-talking silver tongue.
The smile stretches wider, but it does nothing to hide the rage I see in his emerald eyes.
“You should explain that one to me a little better, because what I’m hearing is that you’re an absolute idiot for doing something so fucking reckless. You knew? And yet you did it anyway? You knew and yet you set yourself up to be caught?”
His gentle voice is gone when he speaks next, the boom of sound causing me to flinch where I stand.
“Do you have any idea how I could have fucking destroyed you? What do you mean you did it to hold onto me?”