Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,79
I get Tanner alone, I’m going to kill him.
He was so close to admitting something Ivy doesn’t know, and it was either get between them right at that moment, or admit her current problem is entirely my fault.
Not wanting to deal with the questions I knew would surface, I chose to get between them, which means Tanner wants to kick my ass just as much.
“So, I have a slight problem.”
Glancing up from where I’m leaning against a wall with just a towel wrapped around my waist, I meet her eyes in the mirror.
“That is?”
“I have no clothes. They’re all packed in my bags that I left on the porch.”
My head falls back against the wall as I grin. “Are you asking me to be your errand boy again?”
She smiles. It’s the one lined with sugar, just as fake as the lies she tells.
“I’ll give you a raise in pay and also give some consideration to updating the benefits package.”
She hasn’t yet dropped to her knees in front of me, but I’m starting to figure out there’s plenty of time for that. I’m not done extracting payment for what she did to my house.
If you’d asked me ten years ago if I’d be standing in a bathroom with Ivy discussing the benefits she can provide, I would have told you to lay off the drugs.
On the last day I saw her with my car sunk in a pool, I’d stared up at the smirk on her face knowing that the time would come when I’d get even. I just had no idea that this would happen.
For years, I’ve waited patiently for Tanner to call in the debt. But now that the time is here, I’m not sure I want it anymore.
Which makes Tanner and his bullshit a problem. One I need to deal with before this entire thing blows up in my face.
“I’ll run down and grab them.”
Leaving the bathroom, I run downstairs and rush past the guys where they’re waiting in the living room. Ivy’s bags are near the front door, and the second my hand lands on one, an angry voice sounds behind me.
“This is a joke, right? You’re fucking with me.”
Turning at Tanner’s voice, I lock my eyes to his.
“No, actually. I’ve fucked enough for tonight, but if you give me twenty minutes to recoup, I might be able to squeeze you in.”
His lips thin as his gaze drops to the designer pink bag I’m carrying and shoots back to my face.
“Do you want to explain what’s going on? Because I feel like I’m fighting according to one battle plan, while you’ve switched to the other team.”
“About that...”
I grab Ivy’s second bag and pull the strap up over my shoulder.
“I seem to remember it being you who almost shot off at the mouth about why we have this battle plan in the first place.”
“What the hell do you care? You hate her anyway. It’s not like her getting pissed that you set her up to run to me in high school will make much of a difference.”
I say nothing. Not that I have to when the look on my face says it all.
Tanner straightens his posture, crosses his arms over his chest and lets out a bark of laughter.
“Unless it does make a difference.”
Pursing my lips, I attempt to hide my thoughts on the matter, but considering I’m standing here with pink baggage while wearing nothing but a towel, I think it’s a bit late to claim I still hate Ivy as much as I used to.
And that thought scares the hell out of me.
Tanner runs a hand through his hair and laughs.
“Holy shit. I can’t believe this is fucking happening. Have you lost your damn mind? She’s not to be trusted.”
“I’ll keep her in sight.”
“Right,” he says, another burst of laughter shaking his shoulders. “Just like you did at your house the other day? Or should I expect your body to be dumped on my lawn again? She’s playing you, Gabe. She has always been playing you. And while it was funny as fuck in high school, you have too much to lose now.”
He has a point.
Except what Tanner doesn’t know is the reason for our war. I never told him about the first day I met her, or about what she witnessed outside my house. Those are secrets that only Ivy and I know.
“The longer you keep me down here, the more time she has to sneak out a window.”