Page 75 of Lie to Me

“You’re right, I did. But that isn’t on you, Marco. You did what you thought was best. You didn’t see another way out of the mess that my father had got us in. You did what you had to do.”

“I don’t care,” he grunts. “Just let me do my thing.”

I roll my eyes. “And what thing is that?”

He gives me a triumphant smile. “Well, it starts with your surprise. Get dressed, we have somewhere to be.”

So not a day spent in bed then…

Once I’m dressed for the day—in jeans and a sweater, wrapped up in my warmest coat, as per Marco’s instructions—he leads me to the car that’s waiting out front of his building for us.

“Where are we going?”

“It wouldn’t be a very good surprise if I told you now, would it?” he asks. I grunt in response before climbing into the car and glaring at him as he does the same.

He isn’t put off by my attitude, he only laughs as he starts the car and pulls away from the curb.

“You can go back to sleep, little warrior. I’ll wake you when we’re there.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Marco

Present

Just as I predicted, Sloane fell asleep within five minutes of being in the car, leaving me to drive for three hours in silence and peeking over at her sleeping form.

One thing I would never, ever tell my girl?

She’s not a pretty sleeper.

Far from it.

She drools and makes this nasally sound that isn’t quite a snore. There’s even been a time or two that she’s woke me up when she’s talked in her sleep. And Jesus Christ, the woman can’t stay still to save her life.

She asked me the other day where I got the bruise on my leg from and I told her a little white lie, saying that it was from Luca fucking around, when it was actually her kicking me in her sleep.

Why did I lie?

Because she’d be self-conscious about sleeping next to me. She’d worry about hurting me. She’d be embarrassed.

Truth is, I find it cute as hell when she drools on her pillow, I find it fucking adorable when she makes that little sound and talks in her sleep. And when she kicks me? Well, I love that, since it’s a constant reminder that she really is there next to me and that it isn’t just a dream.

I pull up outside of the house that we’ll be staying in for the next two nights and turn off the ignition before climbing out and rounding the car. I open Sloane’s door and crouch down to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

“We’re here, baby,” I murmur softly. Her lashes flutter open, a frown forming on her face as she wakes.

“Where the hell are we? I feel like I’ve been asleep forever.”

“Only three hours,” I say with a chuckle and her eyes widen.

I stand and move backwards as she gets out of the car and takes in her surroundings.

“Seriously, Marco. Where are we?”

“The Hamptons. Figured we could both use a break away from everything,” I mutter with a shrug.

Her mouth pops open as she stares at me before looking up at the house in front of us before something akin to realization passes across her features.

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