Page 19 of Deceit
The man.
The darkness.
I bolted upright, my heart rate spiking as fear pulsed through me. Blinkingmy eyes, the sun-streaked room came into focus, and as I took in my surroundings, a soft gasp left me when my gaze landed on the man sitting at a desk, staring at a computer.
“Miles?”
Bewilderment pushed the fear aside as a question popped into my mind.Why was he here? More to the point,wherewas here? Because the more the room came into focus, I realizedthatI wasn’t at home in my own bed.
“There’s a glass of water on the side,”he replied, not tearing his eyes fromthe screen.
I swallowed, registering how dry my throat was. Grabbing the glass, Igulped down several large mouthfuls, the cool water relieving the slight burn in my throat. As I drank, my gaze dropped to my body, finding I was no longer in my cocktail dress but had changed into an oversized t-shirt and basketball shorts.
A ton of rocks landed in my stomach. I had no recollection of changing outof my dress. A quick feel underneath the clothing confirmed I still had my underwear on.
Thank Christ.
But who in the hell took my dress off and put me in these clothes?
I hoped to god that itwasn’tMiles.
“Where am I? What’s going on?”I asked, returning my attention to Milesonce I’d finished all the water.
“You’re in my room,”he replied with his usual animosity toward me, andstillrefusing to look my way.
My brows furrowed as all thoughts of why I was wearing what I could onlyassume to be Miles’ clothes were pushed from my head, and confusion settled in my bones.
I was in Miles’ room in Hollows Bay?
The last thing I remembered was being inside Bar Forty-Four, and a man I’dnever met before pointing a gun at me. I remembered the terrorthathad gripped hold of me as he told me he was going to shoot me in the face,justlike he’d done to my…
“Where’s Gus?”Panic laced my tone as I jumped out of bed, instantlyregretting the sudden movement when my body swayed and nausea threatened to creep up my throat.
Reaching out, I placed a hand against a set of drawers to steady myself.Miles huffed, and finally dragging himself away from his computer, he was in front of me within three long strides. “Get back into bed.”
He wrapped a hand around my arm, warm tingles caressing my skin from histouch. Butterflies low in my belly began stretching their wings, ready to flutter manically like any time Miles touched me.
Notthathe touched me often. The first time was when we were forcedto dance with each other at my uncle’s birthday party, the same night Kai stole Riley away after she’d been hiding out at our place.
Papa had insisted we shared a dance, and for the duration of the song, Milesdidn’t speak a word to me despite our arms wrapped around each other and our faces only inches apart. Instead, his eyes had been filled with venom as he glared down at me, and the second the song ended, he marched away like the devil was on his ass.
The strangest thing was, though, I could have sworn I felt something hardpressed against my stomach, and while one part of me suspected whatthatbulge was, the logical part told me not to be so stupid; no way in hell would Miles get an erection for someone he claimed to hate.
I tugged my arm out of his grasp.“No. Not until you tell me where Gus is.”
A wave of pride surged through me as I held my head high and didn’t backdown when storm clouds filled his eyes. I wasn’t defiant by nature, Papa would never have allowedthat, but when it came to Miles, something about his attitude pushed me to defy him.
“Gus is dead,”he replied without a single hint of emotion in his voice. It waslike he was ordering a sandwich, not telling me my bodyguard,my friend,was dead.
“What?”I whispered, my eyes widening in horror and disbelief.“He’s…dead? But, how?”
A flash of somethingthatresembled sympathy passed across Miles’ face,but it was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced with his stoic features.“It doesn’t matter. He’s dead, that’s all you need to worry about.”
I didn’t know if it was because numbness was slowly creeping through me,or if Miles’ callous tone pissed me off. Either way, without conscious thought, I pressed a hand against his chest, doing my best to ignore how hard the muscle felt under my palm.“It does fucking matter! He was my friend! Now tell me what happened!”
His eyes narrowed on me, andeventhough a snarl twisted on his lips, heremoved my hand with a surprisingly gentle touch.“You want to know what happened?”he sneered callously.“Fine. I’ll tell you.”He moved closer, our chests brushing, and my breath caught in my throat.“Princess Sofia couldn’t help but be a brat and gave no fucks whose life was at risk,including her own.But as long as Princess Sofia got what she wanted, right? And now, because of your actions, Gus is dead, someone tried to kidnap you, and you’ve got Rohypnol swimming through your veins. Isthatenough detail for you, Jailbait?”
Tears pricked my eyes as guilt made the nausea already churning in mystomach swirl faster. Distorted memories suddenly filled my head. Punch after punch being thrown at a faceless body, followed by Miles carrying me to his car.
