Page 48 of The Liar's Reckoning

“Him up and leaving? I mean, I knew he had the opportunity—just didn’t realize he was gonna break up with me to take it.”

“Ah.”

We’re silent for a few blocks, and tension fills the cab to the point where I’m having trouble taking a deep breath. My old apartment is getting closer with every roll of the tires, and I feel a round of second-guessing coming on. More words erupt from my chest. “Were you working for Katia when you were together?”

“Uh…yeah. For about a year before he left.”

“And he knew?”

“Yes,” Silas says quietly. “Sort of. He knew I was an escort, but he didn’t know about the sex.”

This raises my eyebrows. I look out the window to hide my surprise.

“Or maybe he did,” Silas goes on. “I don’t know. We didn’t talk about it.”

“Why?”

“Honestly? It wasn’t going to change anything, and I didn’t want to hear what he thought about it.”

“What doyouthink about it?” I ask, surprising myself.

“I think it pays the kind of money I need, and it’s easy.”

“Is it?”

“More or less. Yeah. Beats busting my ass on some loading dock. Schedule’s flexible.”

My mouth twitches. I nearly smile.

“Are we done with twenty questions?” he asks.

“Unless you have any for me,” I tell him.

“Do you know what you’re getting yourself into right now?” he asks.

The question makes my heart race. “Probably not.”

“Nervous?”

“Yeah.”

He makes a sound like a soft laugh, and I hate it. I shift in my seat and refuse to look at him.

“Sorry,” he says like he noticed. “I’m a little nervous, too. I was expecting a jog.”

After another block of silence, he asks, “Were you nervous the first time?”

“Yes,” I tell him. I was a mess withindex cards.

“You did great.”

I guess that’s a compliment, and it sends my anxiety through the roof. “It’s not really the same though, is it?”

“How do you mean?” he asks.

“We know each other now.”

Silas stretches his legs. “I’m not sure I’d go that far.”

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