Fraud (Antihero Inferno #2) - Lily White Page 0,96
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The motor hums as the car lifts to our floor. My eyes stay glued to the red numbers by the door, willing it to climb faster. Thankfully the car was only a few floors below us.
“Is there any particular reason we’re practically running out of here?”
“None at all,” I lie, refusing to meet his curious stare. My foot is tapping a mile a minute, relief taking over when it’s close.
“What the hell happened to my computer?”
Tanner’s voice booms through the office, and my eyes round. Gabriel turns at the sound of the voice and then immediately back to me.
“Should I be worried about that?”
“Not at all,” I lie again, a heavy breath pouring out of me when the elevator doors open.
Grabbing Gabriel’s hand, I tug him to follow me, both of us standing inside when a loud crash is followed by “Who fucked with my goddamn chair?”
Gabriel squeezes my hand, his lips a thin line.
Before the doors close, Tanner comes running out of his office, his quick, angry stride headed our direction.
“Hold that fucking elevator.”
Gabriel glances at me and leans over to whisper, “He wouldn’t be pissed off at you for some reason, would he?”
I shake my head and wriggle my fingers at Tanner just as the elevator doors close in his face.
Turning to Gabe, I blink innocent eyes.
“Who? Me? Why would he be mad at me?”
Gabriel’s laugh is like springtime, only because it’s the real one I rarely hear.
“Is there a reason you didn’t just screw with him?”
He says that like he doesn’t believe I had nothing to do with it.
We reach the bottom floor, and the elevator doors open to reveal the parking garage. Gabe swings out an arm to allow me to step ahead, but once out, he grabs my hand and pulls my back to his chest.
Dipping his head down, he whispers against my ear. “At least let me know why my best friend is going to be after your head.”
Smiling, I can’t help but enjoy the heat of his body against mine.
“When you get a chance, give that Lacey woman a call and send my regards.”
His voice is dangerously rough when he asks, “Should I tell her anything else?”
I nod my head. “Yes. Let her know that the next time Tanner pisses her off, to let me know. I’ll be happy to give her ideas for getting even.”
Gabriel laughs again, and I silently wish that I could hear that sound for the rest of my life.
It truly does something to me in the rare moments the real him shines through.
Gabriel
All I can think about is my father as we weave through town back to my house.
The city disappears in my rear window, the manicured lawns of the expensive suburban neighborhoods bleeding away as I put distance between myself and a life I have to live because it’s expected of me.
One of the reasons I chose a home far out in isolation was because I like to shed that skin when the day is over and be in a place I was never allowed to know as a kid.
I want to be me.
Want to expel the person inside that is always screaming.
Want to unleash the broken prince that wears a mask of jokes and lies when he knows that people are watching.
Only, with Warbucks on my thoughts and Ivy sitting next to me, I can’t shed the mask this time as the miles pass quickly beneath my tires.
It’s not long before we’re pulling into my driveway, trees a wall enshrouding us so that there’s nothing else in the world but this piece of land. The house was built to my specifications so that it doesn’t destroy the small circle of woods that surround it, but instead adds to their beauty.
Inside, the house is still a wreck and I had to switch the larger guest room I’d originally given Ivy for a smaller one on the opposite side of the hall.
Throwing the car in park and killing the engine, I sit back in my seat and turn enough to lock her in view.
“Judging by your behavior at the office, you’re still not tame enough to be trusted.”
She laughs at that, and the sound tugs at the corners of my mouth until I’m grinning to hear it.
“I’ll never be tame,” she admits. Her eyes slide my direction, and she says something that reminds me so much of myself. “Being tame is boring.”
I agree, but I don’t tell her that.
Instead, I search her face, making note of the changes