Page 10 of Wicked Games

“Stop.” I decide on an apple out of the bottom drawer and take a bite. “It just took me by surprise, that’s all.”

“That we have a chef? To be fair, what we have is completely different from your mom. I mean, you guys lived in the Asher guest house. I’ve heard the stories. How she catered to Mr. Asher’s every whim?—”

I chuck the apple at him.

It hits him in the chest, juice splattering on his shirt. He catches it before it falls, then shakes his head at me.

“Where’s your sense of self-preservation?” My face is getting hot.

“You just need a dose of reality, since Caleb refuses to acknowledge it.” He takes a bite of the apple, winking at me. “So anytime you want to face the truth, let me know.”

He tosses the apple back at me and strolls out of the kitchen.

“Wait,” I blurt out. “My mom…”

He stops in the doorway. “Yes?”

“How much do you know?”

“Definitely not as much as you wish I did. I’d love to lie and say I could tell you what’s lost in your memory. But even I don’t know exactly what happened in the Asher house.”

My lips part. “How…?”

“Did I know you can’t remember?”

The one thing I respect about Ian is that we can talk about this fucked-up situation without pity or sympathy. He doesn’t show any emotion except faint amusement. Amusement doesn’t bother me. It’s everything else that tends to get…

Suffocating.

“You wouldn’t let Caleb near you with a ten-foot pole if you knew the truth,” he says, not waiting for my answer. “And asmuch as I hate him, I’m not willing to spoil it. The longer it goes, the better the fireworks will be.”

He mimes explosions.

I don’t have a reply. My mouth is dry, and I feel… off-kilter? The ground seems to be shifting under my feet constantly, not allowing me to get a grip.

He leaves, and I stare down at the apple in my hands. My appetite has fled, along with my sanity.

I don’t know where the hell my mother is—but she has to have some answers.

Step one: find her.

Step two: hope she’ll talk to me.

And there’s Tobias, too…

So many freaking questions.

Plus, the leaked video, and Caleb’s betrayal, and Ian decided to throw a party.

I set the bitten apple on the table and go back to the pink room. I flop on the bed and consider Ian’s words. Slowly, I toe off my shoes, letting them fall to the floor. A sign that I’m not running… not quite yet.

You wouldn’t let Caleb near you…

My head pounds. I drape my arm over my eyes, blocking out the light.

What’s the truth?

What’s a lie?

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