Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,67
Even the twins and Tanner?”
“Yep,” I answer, knowing good and well that if they catch me, I’m a dead woman.
“Girl, we need to keep you hidden for the rest of your life. I’m sure I could talk the twins out of murdering you, but nobody will be able to convince Tanner to calm down.”
She’s right about that.
What she doesn’t realize is that Gabriel is just as bad as Tanner, if not worse.
If he finds me, he’ll make sure I’ll regret what I’ve done.
Reaching to turn on the radio, Emily rolls down her window and flashes me a devilish smile.
“We have nothing to worry about. My parents haven’t used the cabin since Dylan was really young. I highly doubt he remembers it.”
Praying she’s right, I hit the button for cruise control, set the speed, and settle in for the long drive.
Ivy
Only Gabriel could be the cause of me becoming a fugitive two times in one month. Both times after acting out against him, of course, because nobody else has the insane ability to push me to that edge.
Gabriel has dragged the entire spectrum of emotion out of me through the course of our lives, the majority of which are clumped on the darker side, better known as the side psychologists warn people should be avoided at all costs.
Only in brief moments has he knocked me sideways to the opposite side of the spectrum.
Admiration. Humor. Joy. Excitement.
Lust...
If I were writing out an actual list, I would bold and underline that last word, then strike it out because where it leads means absolute disaster.
That’s what Gabriel and I are and have always been.
A natural disaster.
A destructive calamity.
A storm so devastating that any person caught in its wake is left confused and stumbling.
To come between us is to become collateral damage, which is why nobody has dared step in to stop our war.
Not that we would let them.
I’m going to be honest with you, something Gabriel will never do.
We like the war.
Crave it.
Need it in a way that will never make sense to most people.
But only because it makes us better.
Maybe it’s our matching personality types. Gabriel and I both need to be challenged. We often need a target, an opponent, a goal and a destination.
Without it, we’re lazy. We have nothing to prove and nobody who draws our interest. We wither and settle behind our masks with no drive to do anything else.
Our years apart proved it.
Without him, I’d succumbed to letting my father rule my life. And without me, he’d lost the spark that makes him unique.
He’d lost his edge and let everybody believe he was the nicest guy in the world.
I lied to you in the beginning. I’d apologize for it, but I don’t feel bad for what I said. It was mostly true.
I don’t entirely hate the monster I see beneath Gabriel’s charming mask because I see the same one staring back at me in my own damn reflection.
That’s fine, though.
I like it that way.
We’ll never stop fighting.
Never stop challenging each other.
And never stop the games we’re known for.
We’ll never stop improving each other until both of us are the best.
Which is why I’m surprised when Emily steps through the open French doors, steps up beside me and drops her phone on the wide handrail where I’m leaning.
“Three days and you’ve already won. Guess this means we can head home now since it’s safe.”
My eyes drag away from the sunset hovering over the distant horizon to snap down to the phone.
“What do you mean?”
Picking it up, I scroll down the article she has open, my eyes growing wider with every new paragraph, distrust unraveling in me because there is no way in hell Gabriel would have done this.
“He’s up to something.”
Soft laughter shakes her shoulders, her gaze focused on the distance where trees rustle in a passing breeze.
“I called Ava. She confirmed they gave that information to the papers because Gabriel is done messing with you.”
Taking a page from Gabriel’s playbook, I’d assigned Ava the task of keeping tabs on the guys. She was told to report the instant they left town because it meant they figured out where I am.
According to her, the guys weren’t doing anything different. Each one went to work and did whatever else it is they do. But none seemed interested in pursuing me.
Not even Gabriel.
“It’s right here in print, Ivy. They leaked it to the media that you broke off the engagement.”