Page 105 of Under the Lies

“What kind of alert?”

“The kind we set up to know if or when she visits them.”

Suddenly it feels like my heart is locked in my throat, beating fiercely. This is my chance to uncover more secrets, to see more of his world.

To live.

“I’m going with you, Noah.”

He spares me a sharp look. “No, you’re not.”

He wasn’t budging on this, but I refused to go back to that apartment. It was stagnant without him and I refused to play house cat while he was off gallivanting the city. He was taking me with him. Even if I have to force my way.

And there’s only one way I’m going to do that.

It’s time I start thinking like Noah, like I’m the smartest guy in the room. I might not have the strength of an ox like Gabe or the muscles behind blurring fists like Noah, but I have my mind. And my granddad always used to say the mind was the sharpest weapon in a person’s arsenal.

And my mind? I’m going to wield it like a whip.

“Yes, I am,” I counter, a smug smile fighting for entrance on my face. “Because by the time you turn around and take me back to your place it could be too late. And you’re not going to risk that chance. Not when Harlow could be within your grasp.”

His hands tighten around the leather laced steering wheel.

That smile wins, tugging at my lips as I stare at his profile, clenched in agitation. He knows I’m right.

Everyone has a weakness, my granddad used to say. And Noah’s is my sister. I can see the war raging in his mind as he weighs the pros and cons of bringing me along. And I see the moment he makes the decision. His grip tightens one last time before he exhales the tension out and his posture deflates with it.

I’m not fooled by it, he’s a viper between the blades. Relaxed, yet waiting to strike.

“Fine,” he grits out like it pains him to say it. And it just might. Noah just relinquished some control. Control that I now possess. “But you’re sticking close to me. One step out of line and I’m tying and locking you up.”

“Kinky.” I turn away to gaze out the window.

“Sayer.” His growl brings chills to my skin. “I’m not kidding.”

I twist back around, staring at his profile. “Neither am I.”

He glares at the road from behind his glasses, frustration packed behind it.

A small smile touches my face as I look back out the window, at the passing city. I might not have all the answers when it comes to Noah Kincaid, about what’s going on with my sister, but I’m about to get a little taste.

As Noah pulls up in front of the building, this is the last place I’d ever expect to find my sister, further cementing the fact that we are related in blood only and strangers in everything else.

Noah doesn’t look shocked as he turns the engine off. His features are set in determination, humming with pent up aggression, as his fingers find my chin and tilts my face to his. “Remember what I said.”

I jerk out of his grip and push open my door. I don’t look back at him as I say, “I remember.”

Stick close to him like peanut butter on bread, got it. No complaints from me.

I feel more than see him round his car and stop at my side as I stare up the grand steps to the old, behemoth building. “My sister really frequented the library?” I can’t keep the disbelief from my tone.

It feels so outside the realm of possibilities, but then again, before a couple weeks ago, I never thought I’d be in the position that I am. Living with Noah Kincaid. Sleeping with Noah Kincaid.

Still, Harlow wasn’t much of a reader.

I look up at Noah for answers, already to find him watching me. “She frequented what’s beneath it.”

My skin tingles. “Beneath it?” I echo.

---