Page 84 of The Obedient Lie
Questions barked down the line.Rude.Accusatory.Ugly in a way that made my jaw lock.
“Are you serious right now?”
“Who the fuck is there with you?”
“You think I’m an idiot?”
My fingers stilled against her bare shoulder. She didn’t move to pull away, but I could feel the way her breath shortened.
She wasn’t scared.
But she wasashamed.
And that made somethingdarkin me twist.
Because no one got to talk to her like that.
Not in my presence.
Not with my hands on her body and her pulse still thudding from the way I touched her.
It took everything in me—every scrap of control I had left—not to rip that fucking phone from her hand and end the call myself.
Instead, I leaned forward again, voice low butrazor-sharp.
“Tell him you’ll call him back,” I said against her ear, almost gentle.
But she could hear the threat buried in it.
Bastion would’ve snapped the phone in two.
Me? I was patient.
But if she didn’t end it soon,I wouldn’t be.
She made up an excuse and ended the call.
Quick.Breathless.
Not even looking at me when she did it—just muttered something about needing to go, about a meeting or a curfew or some other gentle lie.
But she said it fast.
And she said itfirst.
And that made my chest rise harder.
Eased some of the anger clawing its way up my throat.
Because when given the choice—between that prick and me.
She choseobedience.
She choseme.
I exhaled slowly and let my hand run down the line of her spine, knuckles soft, grazing the pink satin that still clung to her.
She shivered slightly.
