Page 12 of Nest Of Lies

I turn my attention back to the cupcakes. But the satisfaction is lost.

“Ranger, we need to be worried about keeping the club safe. If they find out we’re rebirthing bikes and cars, that puts the entire revenue for this chapter at risk. It’s not an easy task to move a shit tonne of stolen bikes and cars without being seen. And we’ve got a leak. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it.” I pause, inhaling and exhaling again. “Go away. Please,” I stress.

He hops off the bench and, with another over-exaggerated sigh, dances over to me, kisses my nape, and disappears out of my kitchen.

I stop and brace my hands on the island, hanging my head as Rangers’ words go round and round.

“Fuck it.”

I grab a container and pack up ten cupcakes, wincing a little at the morbid designs, and then I slip out of the house and walk the short distance between our properties. There used to be a fence made of shrubs, but Zaden’s dad and our ex president cut them down just before we moved in.

Unlike our wild garden, Lia’s is carefully manicured. All the plants maintained to be below chest height and all designed for its flowering beauty rather than any real practical reason.

Lia rarely comes out to the gardens, though. She seems to hate them for some reason.

I go around the back, past all the rows and rows of high windows, until I find the laundry door. I carefully set the cakes down and pull out my lock picks.

It takes me a minute, but then I’m in.

I tread carefully through the dark of her house. Slipping past paintings of celebrities and the famous Raines sisters. There are vases sitting on wood thrones, china with elaborate paintings, golden cats, and artwork worth more than I have in my bank account.

And I know she cares for it as little as I do.

The kitchen is different. It’s not the old historic mansion with its thick rugs and polished wood furniture. The kitchen is a dream. It’s got all the modern appliances, space to cook for a hundred or more guests. It’s huge and clean, and the light shining out of it calls to me.

I slip in, but she’s not here.

I glance back over my shoulder, looking at the stairs. She must be up there. I’m both disappointed and relieved.

The counter is cold under my hand, but still, I slide it along the surface, indulging for a minute in a fantasy where she is standing beside me, laughing as I feed her frosting. Ranger is happily watching us, teasing. Zaden walks in, Ianto and Valen behind him, and instead of censure, I see happiness.

This beta could be ours.

That thought rips my illusions away. China Raines, Lia’s mother, made it very clear when we moved in that we were not for her daughter. We are scum, and we were to stay far away.

Of course, things have changed since then. But for Zaden, he and China are of one mind.

Lia is too good for us.

I wish I could believe it the way he does. Oh, I know she’s too good, but I don’t think we’re that bad for her.

I think she could be happy with us. Certainly happier than in here.

I arrange the cupcakes on the island. I step back, lean forward and adjust one, and then turn and silently go back the way I came.

“Hello?”

I stop, frozen. I turn back to her and find her slim body weaving back towards the light. Her hair is a golden halo around her. Her ass gently cupped in a pair of far too short shorts. They make me want to rush her into the nearest surface just so I can get those curves in my damn hands before I die.

“Oh, wow!” Lia’s gentle enthusiasm is infectious, and I want more than anything to go watch her discover my presents. There’s a pause. “They’re beautiful,” she says in awe.

I bite my lip and watch in silence as she vanishes into the kitchen. As soon as she disappears from my line of sight, I recall where I’m supposed to be and turn and slip from her home.

No music or laughter comes from the Raines mansion. Nor signs of people or family. No cars, no bikes, no people at all. But I hope I’ve made her lonely night a little less lonely.

It makes it easier to sleep.

Chapter five

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