Page 53 of Lies (Wicked Empire 1)

I made it to her place in under fifteen minutes, the route to her house blazed into my brain.

I saw that she was home, probably unwinding or, if I knew her, researching me.

She had been taken aback by that kiss just as I had been and was probably just as confused. And when Amethyst was confused, she dug in and did research.

So I didn’t doubt that was what she was doing now.

I grabbed the manila envelope I had placed on the passenger seat and then walked to her door.

This time, she opened it before I even rang the bell.

“Yeah,” she said, not bothering to hide her hostility, not that it deterred me.

“You’re still such a terrible host. Let me in,” I said.

She scowled, then stepped aside and pulled open the door.

“Sure, Josh, come on in,” she said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“Don’t mind if I do, Amy,” I responded.

That got a bright smile from her, and it made me sad to know that smile would soon be gone.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I walked into her living room and sat down.

“Make yourself at home, Davit,” she said.

I heard sarcasm there too but studied the area, noticing how cozy it looked. She didn’t have her computer out, but I saw a cup of tea, her cell phone, the television remote. I assumed she had just turned off the TV.

“I have a question for you,” she said, moving to sit on the couch.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“I’m just a boring, very unfortunate soul who found myself in your orbit. So, what do guys like you do in the evening? You know, after days of mayhem and all that?”

I laughed. “Today, my mayhem involved reprogramming GPS systems on a couple of shipping containers. Totally scintillating stuff,” I responded.

“No, that’s what Josh Kelley did. What did you do, Davit Petrosyan?”

“Nothing. In fact, the last interesting thing I did was have lunch with a very interesting woman,” I said.

Her brows raised and then lowered, but she recovered. “Anybody I know?”

“Oh, I don’t know. But I have a question for you too,” I said.

I had sat in the chair opposite the couch and stared at her across the expanse of her living room.

She returned the stare, her gaze never wavering, and I knew that was intentional.

“What’s your question?”

“You said you’re going to keep your mouth shut,” I said.

“Yes. And I am.”

“I don’t believe you,” I responded.

She shrugged. “Why is that my problem?”

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