Page 20 of Reckless Temptation

Fuck.I swiped my hand over my face.

“She’s cheating on him.” She lifted her chin, looking down her nose at me. “I saw her on the surveillance cameras, bringing a couple of guys in.”

“No.” I started to shake my head.

“Yes.” Now, she smiled. It was a sinister stretch of triumph crossing over her face. “Yes, she is, Nick. Daddy doesn’t know. Not yet.”

“She’s not?—”

“She is, Nick. And if Daddy hears about this…” She shrugged, lifting her hand to study her cuticles with a feigned indifference. “Well, I doubt he’ll be so forgiving.”

Fuck!George Lorsen wouldn’t forgive my mom for cheating on him. He was a stickler for loyalty, which was ironic considering he was a lawyer and often represented liars and cheats.

I didn’t want to believe Tiffany. She was a manipulative, horrible person to the core. But with this, it wasn’t so hard for me to be convinced she was on to something here. My momhadbeen acting weird lately. Secretive. Suspicious. There was a damned real possibility that it was because she was hiding an infidelity, not depression.

If George found out, we’d have nothing. No home. No money. Nothing. No insurance or means to help Mom get back on antidepressants that might work.

Panic enveloped me that my stepsister could be right.

“Don’t believe me?” She sighed and got her phone out, showing me a short bit of footage of my mom kissing one of George’s assistants in his office. It was grainy, but I recognized her easily.

“Fuck.”

She hummed. “You’d be fucked,” she agreed.

I couldn’t believe my mom would do this. That she’d threaten the stability we had here!

After all we’ve suffered.

After all we’ve lost.

Thisis how she wanted to move on with her life?

Glaring up at Tiffany, I nodded once and ignored how it felt like I was selling my soul to the devil. “Fine.”

She grinned.

“I’ll do it.”

7

SABRINA

Ismiled back at Professor Gowen as she wrapped up this meeting about my community project. Even though she was my instructor for Law and Order, she was the go-to person who would check in on our L1 community outreach efforts. She was the professor we had to check in with for our projects, and mine was going smoothly so far.

“I’m excited to see this come together,” she admitted. “Not just because I came from that neighborhood where the plans are for the pool, but because I would’ve been one of the first ones to sign up for swim lessons when I was a little girl.” Her grin was almost goofy with that admission. I was so used to her being serious and strict during lectures that it wasn’t so easy to reconcile that version of her with this cheerful one. Then again, hearing someone talk about something they were passionate about always changed their perspective.

“Iloveto swim.” She sighed, as if she wished she could be in the water now.

“Lucky you.” I shook my head. “One day, maybe I’ll try to learn how.”

“I admire how you’re using your fear to fuel this project. It certainly shows how much you can sacrifice your personal challenges for the sake of a greater good.”

I wasn’t sure about that. I was terrified of the water because I almost drowned as a child. It debilitated me from ever trying to learn how to swim. I mostly wanted to make this fundraising call for a community pool happen because it was something that specific neighborhood really needed after losing funding from the state. That was my strength, seeing what was lacking and fighting to make things right. It wasn’t fair to the people in that district that they got screwed over with irresponsible state treasurers.

“Now, before you go,” she said, losing her smile and donning that serious expression again, “I wanted to ask you about this.”

Oh, shit.

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