Page 52 of Mischievous Lies

“Yeah. I appreciate that.” I grab my plate and fork, overwhelmed with emotion. “I’m just going to go back to my room for a bit,” I tell him and beeline for the door. I’m surprised when I see Billie leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Hey, little tornado,” I say in a big, bright voice, trying to be my usual larger-than-life presence.

She pulls me in for a hug, surprising me, as I awkwardly balance the plate in my hand. “You’re always welcome here,” she whispers into my ear. “We wouldn’t be here without you.”

More of that weird shit starts clogging my throat, and I clear it, pushing her back and giving her one of my dazzling smiles. I step back as I announce, “Well, if you ever want a threesome, just let me know.”

“Don’t push it,” Ford growls, and I smile as I slip back into the dark bedroom. The moment the door is closed, I take a steadying breath, looking at my mountain of food.

It might not be the solution to keep ghosts at bay, but at least it makes me happy in some way.

CHAPTER 31

Ivy

Ihaven’t seen Hawke for a week. He’s tried, but I’ve kept myself busy drilling further into Makayla’s death. Jared agreed to meet with me. The problem is, he’s in Ibiza until next week. I tried to encourage him to come back sooner, but even my sultry sweetness didn’t work. Apparently, he’s there on “business” and also trying to deal with his “grief.”

I tracked his movements in the days before the incident to make sure my hunch was correct and it was he who killed them. I’ve looked into any regular meetings he’s had and his phone calls, but it’s all still a puzzle where the pieces aren’t quite lining up yet. What I’m certain of is he wasn’t working on his own.

“I thought I might find you here,” Billie says from over my shoulder. I look back at her, blinking a few times, my eyes adjusting from staring at the bright screen in the dark room. She switches on the light, and I squint.

“That’s offensive,” I grumble as she looks me up and down.

“So is your unbrushed hair. You living as a mole rat now? I know how you can get hyper-fixated on things.” She takes a seat on my bed.

I run my hand over my hair, trying to remember when I last brushed it. She raises a brow at the takeout containers on theedge of my desk. “Glad I kept the key to the apartment so I could check up on you.”

“Just working on things,” I say as I close down the screens.

“I suppose if it’s keeping you out of mischief, I can’t complain.” She flops back on the mattress. I join her, lying down and staring at the ceiling. It’s kind of nice.

“I don’t even know what day it is,” I confess.

“It’s Thursday,” she replies and turns to face me. I mirror her movement. “You all right?” She tucks a piece of her long, honey-blonde hair behind her ear.

“Always,” I answer with a smile that doesn’t convince her of shit. I sigh. She and Hope have been so patient with me.

“Want to explain why Hawke has been at our house every night for a week, then?” she asks, and I roll my eyes.

“What has he said?” I growl.

“Nothing. I just know you two have been spending some time together. Want to explain why? You know it doesn’t bother any of us, right?”

“What doesn’t?”

“You know… You and Hawke.” She waggles her brows.

I laugh, enjoying the lightness of it, but sober at the reason we became close in the first place. I lick my lips and take a breath.

“I went out with a girlfriend one night, and, well, my drink was spiked,” I confess. Billie shoots upright, and I pull her back down quickly. “Nothing happened to me. Hawke came and got me, and well… dealt with it.”

Her eyebrows knit together. “Is this the guy in the hospital? He got lectured by his parents so badly for being impulsive and making it harder to clean up his mess.” A wave of guilt runs through me. “But I wondered if it had something to do with you.”

“What makes you say that?” I ask.

She gets herself comfortable again, the compassion rolling through her as she holds my hand. It reminds me of when we were children, building princess castles with blankets and pillows before Eli would come and destroy them, and Dutton would lecture him about ruining his sister’s perfect creation.

“Hawke’s always been particularly protective of you. And he didn’t tell anyone what it was about. I mean, come on, it’s Hawke. He’s bad at keeping secrets, and the only one who has the power to swear him to secrecy is probably you.”

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