Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,62
her. Which is why it aggravated me so much that she brought up the subject of a relationship.
None of that really matters, though. Not when there are other issues we need to focus on.
“What happened to you calling us last night?”
Tanner crosses his arms over his chest, his stare pinning my face with suspicion.
I stare back from over the rim of my coffee cup and arch a brow, daring him to make the accusation. I can almost hear the gears grinding in his head.
“You fucked her instead of calling us, didn’t you?”
“We didn’t get back until late,” I lie.
Sawyer chuckles at that and sits on the living room couch.
Tanner’s stare narrows on my face.
“Great story. It was really entertaining. I’ll be sure to leave a review for it when I have time to gather my thoughts and feelings. Now tell me another one, asshole.”
Setting my coffee mug on the counter, I clear my throat. I’m dragging ass this morning because I haven’t slept.
“The power was out because of the storm. I couldn’t charge my phone.”
“You’re getting great at this, Gabe. One more and you might have a bestseller on your hands. Tell me another.”
Lying to Tanner is damn near impossible, especially with him not distracted by issues with Luca. Since I’m dragging ass with the lack of sleep, my game has been thrown off, and I have to resort to half-truths that aren’t completely made up, yet don’t answer the question at the same time.
“Ivy wasn’t exactly cooperative. I had to pin her to the car just to get her under control. You know how she is.”
He’s quiet for a second, his eyes assessing me for the bullshit in that story.
“That explains why you look like shit right now.”
Laughing, I lean against a counter.
“That’s from not sleeping. Would you close your eyes around Ivy?”
“No.”
“Then it’s settled.”
He studies me again, but I can’t hide from Tanner. He knows me too well because we’ve been close our entire lives. Still, he drops the interrogation on that issue, runs a hand through his hair, and starts another.
“Did she admit anything about her dad and the tech company? I haven’t said anything about this to Luca yet since I’m not sure what to tell her.”
I cross my arms over my chest, wishing like hell I had a whiskey in my hand.
Yes, it’s only seven in the morning, but I’m already agitated.
Ivy went full girl on me in the span of a few hours last night and it’s driving me nuts.
Why the hell would she bring up the idea of anything more between us when she knows good and goddamned well we could never work?
And why does just the idea of it bother me more than it should?
“We didn’t talk much.”
About that subject at least...
Because it’s not a lie, I expect him to buy it and move on. Instead, he blinks, shifts his posture and taps his fingers against his arm.
“You fucked her,” he correctly assumes, his eyes meeting mine to see the truth of it. “Are you kidding me right now, Gabe? Are you really that stupid? We both know what that woman does to you.”
I can’t blame him for his frustration. Ivy has information we need. And I fucked around with our ability to get it. Only because Ivy has always tripped me up when it comes to the games we play.
For Tanner, this is about Luca. But for all of us, it’s about revenge against our fathers. We don’t need their money or their enterprise, but what we do need is the ability to teach them a lesson for all the shitty things they did to our lives.
Until we have what we need, we have to continue playing puppets that march to their orders, but once we have enough to bring them down, the charade ends and we’re free.
Could we walk away now? Technically, yes. But that’s too simple a solution when we’ve spent a lifetime being pushed around.
We’ll rain down hell eventually. Yet, rather than cornering Ivy for something we suspect is important, I focused on another need. One I’ve had for years.
“You know what?” He throws up his hands. “Whatever. It is what it is. Just go wake her up because I’d like to get this over with. We need to pin this shit down before everything gets worse.”
“She’s not asleep,” I answer. “She was in the shower last I checked.”
He pulls out a chair at a small breakfast table and drops his weight into it.