Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,84

try something.

Apparently, Ezra’s not the only one enjoying this. Without saying a word, Shane stands from the couch where he’s sitting to cross the room en route to the kitchen. All our stares follow him as he disappears inside then reappears a second later with a bag of popcorn in hand.

I roll my eyes when he drops back down on the couch next to Sawyer, opens the bag and grabs a handful.

Ignoring him, Tanner turns back to us, his arm wrapping protectively around Luca.

“I know I’m the last person you want to talk to right now, Ivy, but I don’t think you have any clue what you just admitted. So we’re going to need for you to start at the beginning of whatever the hell it is you know, and tell us every fucking detail.”

Satisfied that Tanner is being somewhat respectful towards her, I step back and take my position behind Ivy.

It’s a little surprising to see him back down even that much, and I think it has everything to do with his understanding that I just dragged Ivy into the family.

Even if she doesn’t know it.

And even if I’m not willing to openly admit it yet.

You can say a million things about Tanner, but once someone is family, you can never say he doesn’t watch over them.

Ivy steps closer to me, her back against my chest, her body tense. I place my hands on her hips because I can’t stop myself from claiming them. Touching her is becoming second nature, something so natural that I don’t even realize I’m doing it.

I’m not sure what to think when her body relaxes to feel that small contact.

“I’m not really sure what I heard. It was just one conversation, and I only heard one side of it. I just happen to remember those names.”

“Something made you remember them,” I say. “What was it?”

She shakes her head, clearly torn about what she knows.

“My father didn’t murder anybody.”

My fingers squeeze her hips.

“We’re not saying he did. But there’s more to this than his death, and you apparently know something about it.”

Stepping away just far enough to turn to look at me, Ivy’s blue eyes meet mine.

It’s obvious she’s torn between her loyalty to her father and her desire to appease us. I can’t understand it, can’t sympathize. I have no loyalty to my family and have every intention to destroy them.

I’m not sure how to bridge the gap between what she feels for her family and what I feel for mine. But I have one idea.

Not wanting to admit in front of everybody what Ivy knows, I suspect it’ll be the final push she needs to give us this information. So I do it anyway.

Locking my gaze with hers, my voice is soft when I admit, “What you know might help us get revenge on our fathers. We’re not after your dad. We’re after something Jerry has that we want.”

Ivy flinches at that, her thoughts undoubtedly going to what she saw the night of the party at my house, and to the little boy with bruised eyes.

Anger and hatred are clear in her face, not at me, but at the men she witnessed abuse me.

“This will ruin your dads?”

I nod, loving how she spit out the last word like it was filth.

Her lips pull into a scowl before slowly tipping up into a conspiratorial smirk.

“Why didn’t you tell me that to begin with? It would have saved us a lot of trouble.”

She turns back to Tanner.

“Okay, so like I said, I only heard part of the conversation. I was walking down the hall outside his office, and he was talking to some guy named Jerry. At first, they were talking about that girl, Everly, I mentioned. Apparently, she was at Yale for a specific reason, but then had to leave. I didn’t hear why, but from what my dad was saying, it was bad.”

We all glance at Jase to see his jaw is locked and he’s glaring at Ivy. And while I assume everyone in this room thinks Jase is the only bad thing that Everly was running from, I also happen to know the other reason.

Mainly because that reason was me.

Everly was how I got a message to Luca’s father that his life was threatened. That message also included the warning that he needed to get Luca away from Yale immediately.

It was stupid of me to do, and went against my loyalty to what Tanner was attempting to accomplish. But I always liked