Page 71 of Last Shot

‘I never said I’d kill Skinner.’ She turned away, her arms folded across Nella’s silk shirt, her chest rising quickly like she’d been running. ‘Libby just ... assumed I would, and I never corrected her.’

‘Riiight. You’re playing Libby Johnston, not me.’

‘I wouldn’t put it like that. Except for the part about not playing you – that’s true.’

‘You’ve been playing me ever since you tried to stop me from helping a drunk girl into a car.’

‘I haven’t had a chance toplayyou, not when you’ve had your mind made up about me since you found out my name!’

It was long before that, Grey thought. It was since he first saw her face. Felt her long dark hair against his neck as they fell off the trellis, saw the intricate tattoos winding up and down the soft skin of her arms. He had decided not to trust Max Conrad long before he’d known who she was. His father’s voice had been the loudest thing in his ear.

The city lights were glinting in her green eyes as she looked out onto the water. Grey swallowed as he tried to look away. There was something indelibly sad about that look.

‘Libby thinks I’ll kill Skinner because of what I did to go to prison, but I never said that. I don’t expect you to believe me. I can ... understand why you wouldn’t.’

The room shifted as though they were feeling the effects of an earthquake thousands of kilometres away.

‘You shot someone,’ he said.

‘Yes.’ She was so still, he didn’t even see her lips move.

‘In self-defence?’

‘The first shot was ruled self-defence and in line with reasonable force. The last shot wasn’t.’

‘And so Libby thinks you tried to kill him outright?’

‘Most of the country thinks I tried to kill Evan Terrace outright.’

Evan Terrace.The name was familiar. ‘So what really happened?’ Somehow he was standing in front of her, palms out, like he was offering something.

A smile cut like a gash across her jaw. ‘You cannot seriously be asking that.’

‘I am.’ His voice was hoarse. He didn’t know why he couldn’t just let it go. Let her go.

‘Just google my name, Greyson. I’m surprised you haven’t done that already. In fact, I don’t actually believe you haven’t done that already.’

‘If there’s anyone who knows about how much the media gets it wrong, it’s me.’

In more ways than you’ll ever know.

‘I can’t talk about it. I’ve never ...’

‘You’ve never talked about it?’ He could relate.

‘Well ...’ She folded her arms. Max Conrad off guard, unsure of what to say, was a sight to behold. ‘I told my lawyer.’

‘Who was your lawyer?’

‘Jameson Gunter.’

‘Gunter?Gunter?Christ, I’m surprised you didn’t go away for ten years with that idiot.’

‘You know him?’

‘Nella does. He’s useless.’

‘Yeah, well, he’s who I got assigned. I didn’t exactly have a Barbarani trust fund behind me.’

---