Page 72 of Cup of Lies

“It is a little fucked up,” I agree. “He was a total prick in the beginning. But he grew on me. I’m going to marry that man one day.”

“The bad ones are the best,” Hadley says dreamily.

Caius may have been imbedded in a bad family, but he was never evil to his core like the others. I must’ve sensed that about him from the second I laid eyes on him. Maybe, on some cellular level, I knew he was my soulmate and the same boy I’d seen all those years ago.

“They only pretend to be bad,” I tell her with a smile. “They’re pretty sweet and gooey and good on the inside.”

“A bunch of burnt marshmallows.”

I giggle at her summation of our men. Great. Now I want s’mores.

Caius

Two weeks later…

Why did I allow Romy to come?

I’ve been uneasy the entire last leg of our trip to Lake Erie, shooting more and more worried glances her way. She’s in no condition to do what we’re setting out to do.

“I’m not your captive anymore,” she says, smirking at me. “Willing captives don’t count.”

Her blue eyes glitter with challenge. The fiery, strong spirit inside her is impossible to ignore. She’s a fully capable woman who can take care of herself, but she still needs protection from the evils of this world, especially heavily pregnant with my child.

That’s what unnerves me the most.

My track record with protecting her sucks. I failed when we were kids and briefly locked eyes at the facility where we essentially traded places. When Theo kidnapped her, I wasn’t able to protect her from us Crownes and our manipulating ways. Now we’re headed to the same lake where I couldn’t prevent what Gareth did to her last winter.

Can I protect her this time?

“Do you like this?”

I’m forced to pull my stare from Romy to look at the girl in the front seat, sitting next to Nees. She holds up her iPad. It’s a self-portrait of herself standing on a pile of angry-looking people. They’re covered in blood and she’s holding the knife while wearing a bright smile. Her shirt says, “I AM LULU.”

This artwork isn’t creepy at all.

“That’s…detailed,” I say, shooting LuLu a concerned look. “How’s therapy going again?”

Nees snorts out a laugh from up front. LuLu rolls her eyes at me. The time we’ve been apart really helped her find her identity again. She now has a nose piercing, wears sparkly eyeshadow, and has a whole skater vibe going with her baggy band T-shirt and wide leg jeans.

“Therapy is fine,” LuLu grumbles. “In fact, Penelope says art is a great way to express my emotions.”

“You do know you and Romy are sitting things out once we get there, right?” I remind her for the millionth time. “The guys and I will handle shit. I can’t handle shit if I’m worrying about you two.”

LuLu glances at Romy and then flashes me a saccharine-sweet smile. She’s sassy and outspoken when people aren’t actively abusing her, stealing her innocence, or mindfucking her. It’s as if I really do have a little sister and LuLu is it.

Are sisters kind of annoying?

“Just here to make sure those people are taken out,” LuLu says, turning back around to face the road. “Plus, Mom and Dad would freak the fuck out if I went with you to confront them.”

“Don’t say fuck,” I grumble.

Romy snorts out a laugh but doesn’t chide me telling LuLu how to act.

“I’m surprised your parents let you go with us,” Nees says. “They really must trust us to keep you safe.”

“They think I’m spending time with Romy at the lake, catching up and healing.” LuLu lets out a dark chuckle. “I just didn’t mention which lake or what kind of healing I had in mind. As long as I respond to their texts and calls, they won’t try to pick me up early or force me to go home.”

I know things have been a struggle since LuLu returned home with her parents. So much happened to her since she was takenand trafficked into the sick underbelly of the elite world. She barely knows who she is and is trying to discover that person, while her parents are coming to terms that the young woman that was stolen from them doesn’t exist anymore.

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