Page 95 of Dangerous Deceit

I dial Uncle Jay one last time, crossing my fingers he’ll answer and talk me out of smashing this vase. He’s the only one who’s been there for me since I was a kid, who didn’t give me up to the foster care system, whochoseto raise me. If this is for our tiny family, for our future, for our house on the beach, then I can do this, even if it means hurting Kenzo.

My heart screams Kenzo is good, but my brainknowshe’s bad, worse than anyone we’ve seen in our line of work.

I lift the vase.

“One,” I whisper. “Two?—”

I slam it down on the handle, and the vase breaks, tiny shards of ceramic shooting against my pants. I jump back in surprise. The sound echoes in my ears like a drum.

I glance back up. The doorknob is still there, fully intact. But now, there’s a broken vase shattered on the ground.

Damn it!

The front door clicks. Kenzo enters, and my body instantly flushes. It doesn’t matter if I hate the brooding silence that’s been following him like a shadow lately; my body knows the dirty things he’s whispered in my ears. But just because he’s good in bed, doesn’t mean he won’t kill me.

He faces the hallway, taking in the mess.

He starts, “What the?—”

“I’m sorry. I tripped.” I gesture to the shards on the ground. “I was trying to make room for a candle, putting this vase in another room, and then I?—”

“Where’s the candle?”

I search for something,anythingto explain myself, but my mind is blank.

“Is everything about you a lie?” he asks. “Maybe the love for candle-making is a scam too.”

Tingling sensations ripple through my body, putting me on edge. He’s called me a slut, a bitch, a whore, but somehowthis—Kenzo pointing out I’m lying again—is more insulting than that.

I need him to believe me. I need something to work in my favor.

“Excuse me?” I ask. “You think I’m lying about the candles?”

“You’re all liars. You probably don’t even know your uncle lies to you.”

I blink, trying to make sense of what he’s saying, but there’s nothing there. Only emptiness. Uncle Jay doesn’t lie to me; we’re on the same team, fighting for the same goals.

Instead, I focus on the candles.

“I’ve always loved making candles,” I say. I tuck hair behind my ear, my fingers running over my tattoo. “That’s one of the only things I’ve always,alwaysloved.”

“Then what about Jay?” he asks.

Everything in me stills. “What about him?”

“Have you told him about our firearms deal?”

I shake my head. That much is true.

“But that’s what you’re after, right? Someone hired you to steal the contract from us.”

I don’t want to lie anymore, so I lower my gaze to my feet, my insides swirling with nerves. “Yes,” I mumble, so quietly the word barely makes it to my own ears.

“Who sent you?” Kenzo asks, raising his voice.

“I don’t know.”

“Who are you protecting?” He runs a hand through his hair. “Is it yourself? Go on, then. Be selfish. I can stand behind that. But if it’s for Jay?”

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