Page 56 of Heartless Game

His face was unreadable. “They’re in the closet.”

Oh, damn.

“You do yoga?” I asked, momentarily distracted by the thought of Isaac doing downward dog.

“It keeps me limber. I do Pilates too—it helps protect me from injuries. But I like yoga the most, it keeps me emotionally centered and calm.”

I rolled my eyes. “You should probably do it more, then.”

He walked toward the mat, until he was looming above me, his arms crossed over his chest. A paper bag dangled from his fingers.

“I should,” he agreed. “Since my emotional equilibrium was thrown into chaos the moment you moved in.”

“I have an easy solution for that,” I said amiably. “Let me move back out.”

He shook his head. “And let you publish some article that will destroy my family? No, little snoop. I know better than to trust you. Here.” He dropped the paper bag on the floor next to me. “I got you something to wear. There’s a big party at the hockey house tonight, and you’re going to be helping serve and clean up after our guests.”

Alarm bells went off in my head. I looked over at the paper bag with concern. Based on his tone, poisonous snakes could come slithering out of it at any moment, and I wouldn’t be surprised.

He grinned, a little viciously. “Look at what’s inside.”

“What if I don’t want to?” I asked truthfully.

“Then I leak those photos I took of you on social media. Open the bag, Tovah.”

This fucking guy. Why did someone so fucking evil have to be so fucking hot?

I opened it, pulling out some lacy, frothy fabric and holding it up to the light.

Dear god.

“No,” I said immediately.

There was no way I was wearing this thing.

Wicked satisfaction flashed in Isaac’s eyes.

“Yes,” he said. “I gave you a heads up about this, after all. Remember?”

Careful, or I’ll put you in a maid costume and nothing else. Make you clean up my floors with your tongue.

Lost in horror, I said absently, “There’s no way I’m touching my tongue to the hockey house floors.”

He shrugged one sexy shoulder. “Of course not. I wouldn’t want you to do something—so unsanitary.”

“You’re really going to humiliate me like this? Make me be the help for the night?”

My breathing sped up. The shock of almost getting caught was wearing off. Isaac didn’t know this, but the maid costume was giving me flashbacks to my childhood. My mom had never had to wear something so skimpy, but shehadworn a formal maid uniform, and she’d been treated like crap in it. When my stepfather had set eyes on her, we’d thought it meant no more mistreatment by the Silvers.

We’d been wrong.

And now I was going to have to parade around in the slutty Halloween version of her uniform while Reina students laughed at me and whispered and made me do god knew what. And I’d have to suck it up and deal with it, because otherwise Isaac would leak those horrible photos of me naked and covered in his cum. Or, worse, much worse, he’d tell his dad about the little fake maid living in his house, which would become Abe Silver finding hisrealformer maid, and then?—

I stopped my mind before it could go that far. All I’d get out of it was a panic attack.

“Fine,” I said, scrambling to my feet. “I’ll wear the stupid costume. I’ll let you embarrass me in front of all your friends and all our schoolmates. It’ll be a grand old time.”

I stormed toward the door.

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