Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,82
the execution chamber?”
His stare drops to my lips.
“Confess and we won’t have to pull the switch.”
A shiver runs down my spine at what the switch really is. I wasn’t fully surprised to discover Tanner had kept the evidence of my mistake. In his position, I would have done the same. And while what I did could be easily explained away as a bad decision made ten years in the past, it would still carry heavy consequences for my father if it were ever made public.
I did that. I allowed that to happen by making stupid decisions at the time. And I still carry the weight of it every day.
But I had my reasons.
And now I’m being marched downstairs to answer for that crime. Yet rather than hating the warden who marches at my back, all I want to do is grab onto him and never let go.
“I have nothing to confess,” I whisper.
His stare remains on my mouth as if he’s memorizing the way it moves, or maybe thinking about that addition to the benefits package he’d requested. The thought traps the air in my lungs.
“The information we recently found out says differently.”
A few seconds pass before I ask, “Do you know what Tanner has to use against me?”
When his green eyes lift to lock on mine, he can’t hide the simple fact that he does know. Instead of admitting it, he pulls his arms down and takes a step away from the door.
“We should go.”
I sigh.
Just like that, the moment is over. If Gabriel is as good at anything as he is at lying, it’s building walls that block a person from seeing the truth about what he’s thinking or feeling.
I step out ahead of him. “I know nothing,” I lie as we walk down the hall en route to the stairs, my feet quickly descending the steps while I brace myself for Tanner’s attack the instant he sees me.
It won’t matter. I’ve been up against his hot temper and blatant arrogance before. Tanner has never been what scared me when it comes to the Inferno.
My weakness has always been, and will always be, Gabriel.
That’s why I can step down into the living room with confidence that they won’t be able to pull anything out of me. If anybody is being aggressive about this situation, it’s Tanner, and he can fuck right off with his short-tempered bullshit.
Let him scream. Let him yell. Let him threaten to expose me for the fraud I am. There isn’t a damn thing he can do to make me talk.
“I need you to tell me everything there is to know about why your father was in touch with my father’s company.”
My eyes lift to see Luca standing in front of me, her eyes wide with expectation and brimming with tears, her light brown hair falling soft around her shoulders.
“He’s dead,” she says. “You should know that. Somebody killed him, and I have no idea what can be done about it. So I need to know everything, if for no other reason than to understand why the last member of my family was taken from me.”
Except that.
What she just said might be exactly what drops me to my knees to confess everything and beg for forgiveness. The honesty in her voice might be exactly what makes me talk.
Tanner stands behind her like a bulldog ready to attack, the rest of the guys still lounging on the couches throughout the room.
Poor Emily still sits between the twins, but her focus is entirely on me at the moment. She has no clue about any of this. I’ve purposely kept her in the dark.
I’ll have a ton of explaining to do when Emily has the chance to get me alone again.
“Please, Ivy. I’ve done nothing wrong to you. And I have the right to know.”
Eyes sliding back to Luca, my shoulders wither at the sight of the pain in her expression. I know nothing about her father dying. And I hope my father had nothing to do with that. My dad might be shady at times, but he’d never sink low enough to murder someone.
Although, what I do know might be just as bad.
Gabriel is a wall of heat at my back, his hand sliding over my hip, fingertips curling down as he tightens his grip and holds me in place.
One would think he’s preventing me from shoving Luca aside in a bid to run and escape. But that’s not the feeling I’m getting.