Page 137 of Lies (Wicked Empire 1)

THIRTY-ONE

Amethyst

My heart was beating so fastI thought it would explode.

The fifteen flights of stairs I had taken to get out of the building probably didn’t help that.

But I knew it was more than physical exertion.

I’m looking forward to a long partnership, Mr. Petrosyan.

Those words rang in my ears, played over and over.

I wanted to ignore them, tell myself they didn’t matter.

But that wasn’t true.

I made it to my car in the parking garage, halfway expecting someone to try to stop me.

I didn’t celebrate when they didn’t.

Instead, I got out as fast as I could and drove even faster, not exactly sure where I was going to go, but knowing I had to do something.

My father knew.

He knew.

He’d known all along.

I had gone to him for help, for protection, and he had given me nothing but ridicule.

That was bad enough, but to know that he had ridiculed me, tried to make me feel guilty and insane, and had been working with them all along.

And Davit…

I reminded myself every day that I couldn’t trust him. Knew that whatever physical connection we might have was nothing, not in the face of his business and all that he would do to protect it.

Yet somehow, I was still surprised.

I had let sex and the emotions that I’d tried to control cloud my judgment.

But now, everything was crystal clear.

I was simply a means to an end for him.

How had I let myself lose sight of that?

I didn’t know, but I was clear-eyed right now and couldn’t help but think on Carol’s words.

All I had to rely on was myself.

That was terrifying, as scary as almost anything, except trying to rely on one of them.

I couldn’t do that. Wouldn’t dare take the risk.

I stopped at a red light, trying to look calm, pretend that I felt calm, knowing it was a lie.

But still, I had more than myself to think about now, so I’d have to be smart.

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