Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,94
the sneer curling into a smile. “No. Someone else told Warbucks off once.”
“Who? Because I’d like to shake that person’s hand.”
“Luca,” he says with a laugh. But the humor is only there for a second, love filtering behind his eyes to say her name.
Seeing it shocks me.
Tanner loves nothing except the Inferno and Tanner.
As quickly as it was there, it’s gone, and he’s right back to his usual asshole self.
“But you’re still an idiot.” He grabs my elbow and starts leading me deeper into the office.
Unfortunately, his grip is too strong, and I can’t pull away. My feet are practically tripping over themselves to keep up with his breakneck pace.
“How so?”
Tanner laughs, the sound anything but friendly.
“If you were a smart little girl like you pretend to be, you wouldn’t have fucked up in high school so bad that you needed a favor.”
I smile at that. Not that he can see the expression as he shoves me into a corner office.
Spinning to face him, I brush the hair from my face.
“Does it matter that I happen to think you’re an idiot as well?”
He smirks.
“Not at all. Enjoy the fantasy since you’re miles from the truth. But then that just proves my point that you’re a dumbass.”
Tanner turns to look left while stabbing a finger in my direction.
“Watch her. She is not to be trusted. I have to go help Gabe deal with this Lacey thing.”
A feminine laugh drags my attention to a black, leather couch positioned against the wall. Luca’s kind smile greets me. I didn’t even realize she was sitting there.
“I’ll be sure to keep a lookout,” she answers him with a shake of her head.
Tanner glares at me, but his gaze softens as he glances back to Luca.
“I’m serious. Tackle her, if necessary. Or scream your head off, and we’ll come running. She’s not to touch anything.”
Saluting him, Luca nods. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
Shooting me one last suspicious glare, Tanner spins on his heel to march off. My eyes slide to Luca where she sits quietly laughing.
“I see the two of you get along just about as well as you did at the cabin.”
Laughter bursts from my lips.
“We have history.”
“You appear to have history with the entire group,” Luca comments, her voice curious. “One of these days, I’ll need you to sit down and tell me all their dirty secrets.”
She’s so sweet. That’s the first thing you notice about her. Beyond that, she seems intelligent, a little shy and quiet maybe, but she’s not like the idiot Tanner groupies from high school.
“How can you stand being with Tanner?”
The question flies out before I can think better than to ask it. But it doesn’t make sense that someone as nice as Luca would be with the biggest asshole on the planet.
Her shoulders shake with soft laughter.
“It took us some time to get here. I told you what he did to me at first.”
Nodding at that, I cross my arms over my chest and glance around the office.
It’s a gorgeous room. Very large and spacious. The walls are painted a muted grey, and one full wall is floor to ceiling windows looking out over the city. It’s not overly decorated except for a few accent touches on a side table and Tanner’s desk, that and the collection of degrees and accolades on the wall.
All in all, Tanner’s resume must be impressive. But then I don’t actually think he’s stupid. If anything, he’s too smart for anybody’s good. But I’ll never pay him the compliment. It would only swell his ego to astronomical proportions.
“He’s also in a bad mood today,” Luca says, pulling my attention back to her.
She settles against the couch. “He pissed off Lacey, and that’s never a good thing. It’s impossible to replace her.”
Curiosity takes hold again. “Who’s Lacey?”
“His secretary. That poor woman has worked for him for the past two and half years, and I honestly have no idea how she does it. She needs to be declared a saint when she dies.”
Interesting. While she tells me about the way Tanner treats his assistant, I slowly move around, my attention jumping between Luca and the odds and ends scattered throughout the office.
On a side table, a jug of water sits, and I pour myself a glass, sipping from it as I walk over to Tanner’s desk and take a seat in his leather executive chair.
Luca smiles across the room at me.
“Anyway, today he was angry because one of the associate attorneys didn’t file a document on