Page 6 of The Art of Deception

Eventually, she pulls up at a medium-sized home. It’s a nice place as Henry stops across the street so I can watch. Luckily, the car’s windows are tinted, so even if she tried, she couldn’t see inside the car. My crazy stalking is safe for now.

She slides out of the car, then walks around helping Levi. With his trusty backpack over his shoulders, and his blue fidget spinner in his hand, they race to the front door like a pair of young siblings, not ones with a nine-year age gap. The way she cares for him is special.

They enter the house as I sit watching. The front window is a bay, and it’s wide-fucking-open for me to see right in. Shaking my head at Tomi’s inability to keep her private life private, I swallow a lump hard as she helps Levi with his backpack, kicks off her heels, then pulls Levi to her. They start bouncing around the living room together to something that’s playing on the television.

Sinking into my seat, it warms my heart to see how a woman so full of life, so full of fight and bravado, can come home and simply give her younger ‘special needs’ brother so much attention. It’s making me feel things I didn’t know I had in me.

I’m an only child, and I’ve never known what it’s like tohave someone to grow up with. But I can imagine if I did, our lives would have been very different from Tomi and Levi’s. My parents were strict, tough, though fair. But playing wasn’t something that was permitted very often. I had to work to get what I wanted in life, to get to where I wanted to be. Maybe it’s why I rebelled against my father—I never truly got to live growing up.

Dad has no idea about my tattoos. If he saw them, he wouldlose his shit.He doesn’t like that I do things which aren’t considered upper class, elite, andhisversion of normal.

I just want to livemylife.

To express myself in a different way than normal.

Maybe even to bounce around a room like an idiot and enjoy myself like Tomi and Levi.

Suddenly, Tomi peeks out the window.

I tense up. Even though I know she can’t possibly spot me, she’s staring straight at me. The hairs on my arm stand at the way she studies the vehicle. She stops, moves to the window, and presses her hand against the pane to pry further.

My muscles seize as my breath catches.

She’s on to me.

I don’t want to scare her, so I make the call.

I’ve gotten my fix.

This will tide me over until I can see her again.

I hope.

“Take me home, Henry,” I instruct, keeping my eyes locked on Tomi. It’s as if she’s staring right at me even though I know she can’t see through the tint.If only she could.I feel this unbelievable connection, like magnetism, pulling me toward her. I’m not quite sure I know what it is just yet, but there’s something there, and I want to protect her. I want nothing to stop her from living the life she’s supposed to.

I wish I could tell her.

I want to tell her everything.

I’m Just Xander to her, but she also knows me as Alex-asshole-Scott from Scott Enterprises.

I’m the man ruining her life.

I’m the man evicting her.

I’m the man who’s going to come in and stop her from having everything she’s ever wanted.

And it definitely makes me a fucking asshole.

Chapter Three

TOMI

It’s been a long-ass day. I’m exhausted. I just want to go to sleep, but I’m lying in bed awake, waiting to see if Levi has any issues with going to sleep tonight. For the past couple of nights, he’s called out to me. But tonight, he’s been quiet in his room for the past twenty minutes. Levi will either call because something scares him, or it will be fine, and he’s drifted off. Then I can finally go to sleep until he wakes me up, usually the next morning.

It’s not easy, but I have been gifted this life, and I wouldn’t change it. I love Levi, and even though he can be hard work, he’s the best thing in my life. He’s my best friend. Theonlyone who knows exactly what it was like to lose both our parents and sister in one tragic accident.

I roll over in bed and reach for the picture frame on my bedside table. It’s of my parents and my sister, Kaylie, the day she was heading off for college. Glimpsing their smiling faces fills me with so much emotion—joy at the happiness in their elated expressions and utter soul-destroying sadness at the fact they’re not here anymore.

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