Page 33 of Lie to Me

Absolutely.

I head through the apartment, finding a guy I don’t recognize just stepping out of my bedroom. His eyes widen when he spots me, a feral snarl taking over his lips as he pounces.

Mystery guy approaches me with his fist cocked, but I’m faster. I duck left and lunge for the floor, sweeping his legs out from beneath him so he falls face first to the floor. By the time he’s managed to flip himself onto his back, I’ve closed thedistance. I straddle his torso, keeping his arms locked with my knees while I pull the rope from my back pocket. I shift and rearrange us both until I’ve got his hands tied, but his legs are cocked upwards and his tied hands are resting near his ass, making him look like a trussed up turkey.

“Who are you?” I bark, and his answering glare only pisses me off more.

“Listen up, asshole. Clearly, you know exactly who I am, which means you know exactly who my family is. I won’t hesitate to take this,” I pull a knife from slot in my belt and hold it up in front of his face, “and slice your balls from your body before feeding them to you. That is, unless you start talking, of course.” I look at him with a sugary sweet smile to soften the blow.

I am a lady, after all.

“I was hired,” he spits, his eyes full of venom.

“By whom?” I arch a brow while sliding the knife down his stomach towards his crotch.

“I don’t know, okay?” he pants. “It was all done online. They transfer the payment after I send them a photo of proof of delivery each day.”

“How many times have you delivered the note?”

He describes each time he’s hand delivered a note to me, and it’s clear that he’s the only one who’s been hired to leave them.

“Where’s the phone?”

He nods towards his pocket, and I pull out his phone, tilting it towards him so I can use facial recognition to unlock it before scrolling through his recent texts. I pull up the thread to see photographic evidence of him leaving me notes, including a video of him sliding one under my door that first day.

I pull out my own phone and send a text to Izzy, since she seems to be some sort of computer genius.

Hey, can you get to my apartment ASAP? I have a… situation.

Izzy’s reply comes in within seconds.

Izzy

OMW

I sit back against the wall, drawing my knees up and twirling the knife between my hands.

“What’s your name?” I ask.

Mystery guy stares at me for a moment before answering, “Reggie.”

“Nice to meet you, Reggie. I’m Sloane,” I say with a grin. “Tell me, how many more women’s apartments are you breaking into other than mine?”

His eyes widen, his gaze darting to the knife that I’m still playing with.

“N-none. I swear. You’re the only job I’ve had,” he whines, and I hum my acceptance to his answer.

It doesn’t matter either way, since he won’t be alive to see tomorrow.

Before I can continue our little chat, there’s a knock at the door. I grin at my new friend before climbing to my feet and heading to the door. Looking through the peep hole, I spot Izzy. I knew she’d come as soon as she saw the message, what I didn’t anticipate is the two hulking men standing behind her. I disengage the lock and swing the door open.

“Why the fuck did you bring them?” I ask her and motion towards Marco and Luca.

Both men—who are dressed identically in suits—raise a brow at the same time.

Fucking creepy.

“I’m sorry,” Izzy says, biting her lip. “They’d had a meeting and were picking me up from Alec’s office when you sent me the message. It sounded urgent and I didn’t know if you were in danger, okay?” She waves her arms dramatically. “I was worried, sue me.”

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