Page 30 of Smoke and Mirrors

I furrow my brows in confusion. “Wait, who’s your boss? Didn’t he die in the explosion?”

He frowns and sighs taking my shoulders in his hands and looking right into my soul again. “All is not as it seems, Lily. I will tell you when I can, but I have to go. Can I leave Daisy with you as a promise I’ll be back to talk to you about this?”

Shaking my head as I step back from him and exhale. “Fine. Whatever. Just… go.”

“I’ll be back, Lily, I promise. Just keep Daisy with you.”

I nod, and he winces as he takes in my annoyed expression. He looks over to Luca whose joker attitude has gone and has been replaced with a serious, stern-faced man.

It’s unsettling.

“I will be back.”

“Just go, Kace,” I reply, and he leans in kissing my cheek. The usual spark jolts right from my cheek down my side and straight between my legs, but I’m mightily pissed off to act on that right now.

Kace rushes out the door along with Luca without a second glance back. My chest tightens as the door closes, and I huff folding my arms over my chest in utter annoyance.

At least Daisy will be here to keep me company.

KACE

I pull the door shut behind me, clenching my fists tightly at my sides. I want to go back in to ease her mind and tell her everything.

“You know you can’t tell her, right?” Luca states, staring at me as if I’ve completely lost it. I can still feel the taste of her on my lips. She’s soft and sweet, everything I crave but know I can’t have.

“Shut up, Luca,” I snap, forcing myself away from her door and heading for the stairs.

He jogs to catch up to me. “It’s a shame really, I kinda like her. She’s feisty.”

“What happened with you and Lily?” I ask him as we push out the front doors and walk to Luca’s car. We both climb inside, and he starts the engine, pulling away from the curb.

“I ran into her while she was out running. I may have given her a fake name.”

I roll my eyes and look over to my friend. “You just happened to run into her.”

He smirks. “Okay, so I may have been testing her to see if she’s any good for you. But like I said, I like her… she’s hot both in body and temper. But you know drawing attention to her is only going to get her killed.” When I don’t answer, he flicks his eyes from the road to me. “Right?”

I sigh, leaning my head back against the headrest. “Fuck. I know. But there’s something about her, I just can’t stop being near her. Everything inside me tells me to watch over and protect her.”

“Then, it’s best you stay away,” Luca says gravely. “Because the biggest threat to her right now… is you.”

LILY

I dig some dog toys out of my closet and stay on the sofa, tossing a ball for Daisy and smiling as she retrieves it, covering it with her slobber and dropping it back into my lap.

I scratch behind her ear, and she pants happily. “You look all tough, but really you’re just a big softy, aren’t you?”

Trying my hardest to keep Kace out of my head, I focus my attention on her. Just when I think I might have figured him out, he throws another curveball, and my mind once again is reeling.

I need answers.

And he isn’t giving them to me. Part of me wants to dig deeper to see what I can find out about him on my own. But the rest of me wonders whether I’m prepared for what I might find.

I shake off all thoughts of Kace. “Where’s the damn remote when I need it?” I mutter, looking around me, hoping to use the television as a distraction.

Daisy’s head pops up, the remote clenched between her teeth. My eyes widen in surprise as I hold out my hand, and she drops it, sitting back on her haunches proudly almost like she’s smiling at me.

“I wish I had my slippers,” I say slowly, watching as Daisy darts out of the room, heading down the short hall to my bedroom. “No. She wouldn’t…”

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