People are staring, so I play it off that we’re only flirting, that I actually want to be near a man who should never be trusted. My body leans into him, the easy confidence I have with men on display even if my nerves are scraped raw and panic is trickling like rain in my head.
“You owe me something, and it’s time you pay up.”
Voice low, Tanner brushes his mouth against my ear. Thankfully he’s playing along that this conversation isn’t a nightmare come to life.
To the outside, we’re nothing more than two people enjoying each other’s company. But the truth is that I made a mistake a long time ago, and the devil at the crossroads has finally come along to collect on the contract I signed.
From across the party, my mother turns our direction, her glossed lips stretching into a smile because she would love nothing more than to see me with one of the Inferno boys.
Except, that will never happen. I don’t care how influential their families are. None of them are worth the wreckage they cause.
Except for maybe one in particular.
Or maybe not…
“I need information on your father. Something I can use against him.”
More panic rains down inside me, a light storm becoming a violent hurricane.
“No.” I look up at him, my body shivering as the blood drains to my feet. “He’s my dad. I can’t do that to him.”
Tanner grins, his lack of concern for my loyalties apparent.
“That’s not my problem. I need the information, and you’ll give it to me. That’s my price for what I did for you.”
“That was in high school. Are you seriously holding that over my head?”
His eyes meet mine, no humor behind them.
“I never do a favor for free,” he answers softly. It’s a lover’s voice, only instead of seducing me, he’s ripping me to shreds.
“And if I don’t pay up?”
Giving me a slight smile, something polite and cordial to an outside observer, Tanner steps away from me. “I’ll let you think about it. I know you’re smarter than that.”
Tanner walks off with his usual confidence. Meanwhile, my world is crumbling down.
When I step up to my group, my knees weaken. My legs unsteady.
Emily catches me by wrapping her arm through mine, and I turn my head to watch Tanner leave, his date peering back at me with concern in her expression.
“What did he want?”
“Nothing,” I say, fake smile in place because the group around us is staring.
I don’t crumble.
Ivy Callahan never crumbles.
I’m made of stronger fiber than that.
Eventually, everybody returns to their obnoxious conversations, and I’m no longer the focus of their scrutiny. The minutes wear on as the night pushes closer to the announcement that is the purpose of this party.
“I have to go,” Emily whispers to me just as my head turns and I catch sight of the one man in the world I’ve fought more than anyone else.
“Now? But-“ I nudge my chin in that man’s direction.
Him.
A monster that has tormented me since we were children.
Soft laughter blows over her lips. “Just ignore him. You’ll be fine. And I have a date upstairs.”
Grinning like the dirty wench she is, Emily backs away. I can’t be mad. I know where she’s going...and why.
“Which one is it tonight?”
Walking backwards, she laughs and shrugs. “Why choose?”
“Both? At the same time?”
Another wicked grin. “I only have so much freedom left. Might as well have fun.”
She only has an hour of freedom left, and I hope she remembers to be downstairs on time. Still, she’s insane for having anything to do with those boys.
Unfortunately, Emily running off has left me unattended, and I don’t miss the smooth stride of the man approaching me, my gut churning as he draws close.
How convenient that he should appear after what Tanner just asked of me.
If they think I won’t notice, they’re idiots.
I play it off that I don’t see him.
Smiling and nodding at the conversation around me, I ignore the way the hair lifts on my arms, the tingling at the nape of my neck, and a thready pulse that warns of trouble coming.
The liar has no respect for personal space.
But then, he never has.
The deep, dark notes of his cologne assault me before the heat of his body cages my back.
“How long has it been, Ivy? I don’t think we’ve spoken since high school.”
Gabriel’s voice is a tauntingly smooth sound. A tease.
“You mean when you found your car sunk to the bottom of Kevin Landry’s pool? It has