Page 79 of A Smile Full of Lies
Nox Obscura
That was rude of you to decline my call. I’m going to call back, and you’re going to answer me this time.
My mouth fell open and I couldn’t believe what I was reading. When the phone rang again, I moved on autopilot, both oddlyfascinated and terrified of what might happen if I declined his call again. With a shaking hand, I raised the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
My voice came out in a strangled whisper, and I hated the sound of it.
Nox Obscura’s deep, distorted voice greeted me, getting right to the point.
“Seems to me you know the guy in that portrait at Stonewood Manor pretty intimately, based on the way you reacted to it last night. Is he a boyfriend? Maybe an old flame? Did it strike a nerve when I made you come and then you opened that door and saw his face staring down at you?”
Rage surged through my chest so fast and so violently it nearly knocked the breath from my lungs.
“Don’t talk about him,” I hissed, wishing I could claw Nox Obscura’s eyes out.
“Oh? Touched a nerve, did I?”
The fucker was taunting me, and judging by his tone, he was getting off on it, too.
My teeth clenched. My pulse roared in my ears.
“Go to hell.”
The masked bastard clicked his tongue at me.
“What’s his story, sweetheart? Some rich guy with a tragic family sob story? Poor little rich boy left all alone in the big haunted house?”
White-hot fury exploded through my veins. My hands curled into fists at my sides.
“You keep Knox’s name out of your fucking mouth.”
My breath came fast and sharp. My hands were trembling.
“Or what?”
His sing-song tone made me see red.
“Or so help me God, I’ll make sure you get removed from that goddamn haunted house experience and run out of this town on a rail. You fucking understand me, asshole?”
“Ooh, feisty.”
“You don’t know what it was like for him when his family died. I’ve been his neighbor since we were eighteen years old. I saw the devastation and fallout firsthand. What happened to his family was a fucking tragedy, and you don’t have any right to speak on it.”
My chest heaved and my pulse roared in my ears.
“Tell me, sweetheart…” He paused, chuckling gleefully, and the distorted sound gave me goosebumps. “Do you protect all your neighbors this viciously? Or is it just him?”
My heart slammed against my ribcage, my throat tightening.
“I already told you, don’t fucking talk about him.”
“I wonder how Mr. Knox would feel if he knew how protective you are of him. What would he think if he knew how viciously you’re defending him to me right now? Maybe I should tell him…”
My breath caught.
“Don’t.”
