Page 76 of Twisted Truths

I’m going to have a nervous breakdown.

And so, I go in search of her and find her lounging in one of the many living areas in the east wing. She doesn’t seem the least bit surprised to see me.

“Hello, Ariana, how are you this evening?”

“Cut the shit, Uma. What are you doing here?”

She grins like a tiger playing with a boar. I hate that she knows she has me. “What do you mean? You know why I’m here.” She flicks her black hair off her shoulder and leans back in the seat, arms spread wide and looking for all the world as though she’s as relaxed as can be.

I step closer to her. “I want to know why you’re really here.”

“I’m not going to tell you. Not yet anyway.”

“Is this a game to you?” I raise my voice.

“Nothing about this is a game, Ariana, you know that. And if it were, I only play to win. Something to keep in mind.”

My hands fist at my sides. God, I want to straddle her and strangle her, watching her take her last breath. “Isn’t it enough that you’re forcing my family to pay you so much money plus a ridiculous amount of interest? Now you’re here to what, fuck with my life?”

Amusement glints in her eyes. “Maybe I’ll just fuck Obsidian instead. I bet he’s like a wolf in bed.” She arches a dark eyebrow.

“Over my dead body.”

Uma smirks. “Oh, really?”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re doing here, but you need to leave. Now. You’ll get your money. This wasn’t part of the deal.”

She chuckles deep in her throat, but it lacks any humor. “Now, now, Ariana. What would Obsidian think if he heard you talking to me like this?” She clucks her tongue, and her hand covers my necklace around her neck. She rubs her finger and thumb around it. “The woman who saved his life.”

Hearing her refer to him as Obsidian over and over grates on me. Almost everyone calls him Sid or Mr. Voss except me.

“If he knew who you really were and what you were capable of…”

“The same could be said of you.” She narrows her eyes, her face hardening into her usual criminal killer one.

“I want you gone by the morning, or I’m telling him who you really are.”

She shakes her head. “We both know you won’t do that. Too much to lose. Guess you’re stuck with me.”

A frustrated scream releases from me, and I stomp across the massive room toward the exit. This got me nowhere. Now she knows she has me underfoot.

Racing out of the room into the hallway, I pull up short, finding Obsidian. His face is drained of color, and the love that is usually overflowing from his face is gone, replaced with horror.

“How much of that did you hear?” I whisper, tears welling.

He doesn’t say a word before he gives me his back and stalks down the hallway. I race after him, almost having to run to keep pace.

“Obsidian, wait. Please.” I grab hold of his suit jacket, but he yanks his arm out of my grasp.

Unshed tears burn my eyes as I follow him into his bedroom. Twenty paces in, he whips around to face me. Devastation is all I see reflected back, and I have never loathed myself more than in this moment.

“Let me explain,” I beg, stepping closer, but he holds up his hand and steps back.

“I didn’t catch much of your conversation, but enough to know that you and Leah know each other.” He shakes his head as if he can’t make the words make sense. “Enough to know that you’ve been lying to me!”

I cringe at the sound of his anger and disdain, yet I know I deserve it.

It was always going to come to this. I couldn’t continue lying to him anyway.

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