Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,138
become angry enough to bruise her face.
Given the amount of bullshit I’ve caused in Ivy’s life, walking away is the biggest favor I can ever do for her.
“I’ve made my decision. And being my best friend, you’ll back it up.”
He grins. “You sure about that?”
I smile in return. “Yeah, actually. I am.”
Tense silence settles between us before he says, “Fuck you, Gabe. Fine. But don’t come crying to me like a little bitch when you realize you did something stupid.”
We both head out of the office and are running downstairs when another question occurs to me.
“What were the other papers Ivy gave you?”
We reach the bottom floor before he answers. ”They were invoices for finished jobs.”
“Were they important?” I ask, pressing for more details.
“Not sure,” he says as we turn the corner into the living room, “but I assume so given that two of the people who ordered the jobs were Warbucks and Daddy Dearest.”
Fuck...
Ivy
I can’t even look at Gabriel when he walks back into the room next to Tanner. I’m still in too much shock, still fighting tears that sting the rims of my eyes.
I told him everything. How I feel. What I’ve done. How long I’ve cared for him. And he ripped out my heart with a smile on his face.
Guess it was stupid of me to believe I could see past the mask. While I was protecting myself against one disguise, I fell for another I never expected.
Resisting the urge to rub my palm over my chest because my heart fucking hurts to be anywhere near him, I remain still, my long hair hanging down to cover my face, a curtain that separates me from the sight of Gabe when he walks to stand near the bar again.
Now that Gabriel is out of view, I dare to peek up to see Tanner hand the laptop back to Taylor, his green eyes sliding my way with something unspoken behind them.
That same gaze flicks to Gabriel for only a second before returning to me, his arms crossing over his chest as he leans back against a wall.
“Will your dad know you took all that stuff?”
I cringe at how soft his voice is. Tanner is always a dick, no matter the circumstances, so for him to be nice to me must mean this thing with Gabe is worse than I realize.
Whatever. It is what it is, and I won’t break down and cry as entertainment for the rest of them.
“Most likely. I left the safe door wide open as a message to him.”
The corner of Tanner’s mouth twitches. “You’ve got balls. I’ll give you that.”
Okay. Can somebody please tell me when I stepped into the Twilight Zone?
Tanner Caine doesn’t compliment anybody, and especially not me.
Glancing around, I’m looking for Rod Serling to pop up before the creepy music starts playing.
This is bad.
Seriously fucking bad.
His eyes finally move away from me and look around the room.
“This is what we have. Governor Callahan has a recording of Ivy torching the pavilion back in high school and has threatened to leak the tape and arrest her to protect his interests.”
Sawyer chuckles. “Well, damn. And we thought our fathers were bad. Sucks to be you, Ivy.”
Tanner arches a brow at that, but keeps going.
“We have the phone records from JJB Tech that show the Governor had been in touch with the company during the period of time prior to Jerry sinking the company.”
My eyes fly up at that, and Tanner glances at me. “They were in boxes of stuff Luca had yet to go through. After we found them, that’s how we knew to go after you at the cabin.”
At least that question is finally answered. I’d wondered how they figured it out.
“So this is what we do. Taylor, you should already know your one job is to figure out how to decrypt the files on that flash drive. Mason, I want you to go into the office tomorrow and prepare documents that will counter any charges Governor Callahan can demand against Ivy for the fire. Jase and Sawyer, I want you to go speak with the state prosecutor that owes us a favor to ensure he’s on board to refuse filing charges against Ivy if the Governor demands it. And Ezra and Damon-“
He pauses, eyes both of them, and rethinks his game plan. “You two are out of commission on this one since your faces look like fucking shit.”
The twins both grin, then go back to glaring at each other.