Page 101 of Tangled In Lies

His gaze snaps up.

I hope my hunch proves correct and we’ll get one step closer to solving this puzzle. “Also, give them everything we have on our canary.”

I see the moment it clicks for him, and his eyes widen. “Fuck me. Motherfucker. On it, boss.”

His footsteps retreat, and I step back into the bedroom at the same time the bathroom door opens.

Eve pokes her head out. She clears her throat when she sees me across the room. “Uh, hey. Are those clothes on the counter for me?”

The gap in the door allows me to see a sliver of her body wrapped in one of my big towels with her bare legs on display.

I nod. “I can get you something else if you want. You seemed comfortable in them the?—”

“No, they’re perfect, thank you.” The corners of her mouth lift into something that resembles a half-grimace, half-smile. “Mmm, okay, I’ll be right out.”

I’m still in the same spot when she steps out several minutes later, dressed in my clothes. The sweatshirt hangs loose on her frame, and the sweatpants are probably rolled up several times at the waist. But for some reason, I can’t tear my eyes away from the sight.

She points at the table by the window where Huxley set up breakfast. “Is this for us?”

I nod, tracking her with my eyes as she strolls across the room and sits.

With her damp hair framing her face in waves and no makeup, she looks much like her younger self. Like the Eve I had a hard time staying away from.

Doesn’t seem very different from now.

In a way yes, but so much has also changed.

My thoughts circle back to that one godforsaken night that still fills me with regret whenever I think about it.

Her sixteenth birthday.

I’d been so tired of resisting, of keeping her at arm’s length. I was desperate for her attention, taking every morselshe threw my way. She was the forbidden fruit I wanted so badly, I couldn’t handle it.

I had just given Eve her birthday present and was ready to find her again, to say fuck it all and take what I wanted. But then I got a text message from one of my father’s enforcers. It was only an address, but I knew exactly what I’d be witnessing that night. What my dad considered part of my training for my future CEO position in the family company: blackmail, physical assault, threats of any kind. Whatever worked to get my father the companies he wanted for cheap so he could tear them apart and resell them for enormous profits. If there’s one thing my father is good at, it’s being a ruthless and calculated businessman.

That night, I watched my father’s men beat a man unconscious to get the information my father was after.

Later that night, I heard from someone that Eve had disappeared with that douchebag, Tyler. While I wanted to find them—find him—and tear him limb from limb, I also told myself it was better this way. The reason why I had resisted her for so long was because I didn’t want to drag her into this twisted and fucked-up family I was born into and put a target on her back for my dad to exploit and destroy. I wanted Eve to shine brightly and explore the world.

A noise drags me out of my thoughts, and Eve looks at me with an apology in her eyes.

“Sorry, I dropped my fork.”

I inhale deeply, shaking those old thoughts off.

“No worries.” I join her at the table, pleased when I see she’s filled her plate with lots of fresh fruit, some fried eggs, and French toast.

I’m a routine person when it comes to my meals,enjoying a vegetable-laden omelet every morning. But today, something urged me to follow in Eve’s footsteps, and I fill my plate with a mix of everything.

We eat silently, glancing at the other when they aren’t looking. Well, that’s what Eve is doing. I’m not even hiding I’m staring, still hoping I’ll suddenly be able to read her thoughts.

“How’s your back? Does it hurt?” She moves the eggs around on her plate but raises her gaze at the end of her question.

I lift a shoulder and drop it. “It’s okay. Nothing I can’t handle.”

She huffs a breath like she knew I’d say something like that.

Her hand tightens around her fork, and she guides it to her mouth. I watch the food disappear behind her full lips.

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