Page 86 of House of Deceit

“We are just having fun. We’ll figure it out once we leave the mansion. Until then, it’s casual,” Parker says, saving me from having to come up with a lie.

It’s not like I can tell everyone I want to give a relationship with my wrangler a go.

When time is called, we all stand around the table looking at everyone’s cookies.

“Is that an egg?” I ask Grandpa, pointing to one of his cookies.

“It was supposed to be the sun,” he says sheepishly.

I move down the table, laughing at the various decorations. Jayden went with a Christmas theme and I smile, hoping his grandma is touched at the display.

“Holy crap,” Parker says, standing in front of Rebel’s cookies. I move over there and my mouth drops.

Sitting in front of me is a perfect replica of a cartoon princess I recognize from being at Courtney’s house. Another cookie has the horse sidekick, a cityscape across the remaining four.

“Wow,” I whisper.

“Did I forget to mention baking is one of my hobbies?” Rebel checks her nails, trying to smother the smile but I catch it. “Oops.”

“Well, I think we know who’s going to win,” Jayden whispers.

“All those for Rebel to be the winner?” I ask, and all hands go up.

She lets out an excited whoop and does a little shimmy as we all congratulate her. Everyone cleans up, some eating their cookies, while those of us on restriction pack them away in storage containers for the others. I pack up my cookies, intending to take them to Alec as a treat. With a soft smile at the thought of his gentle goodbye kiss, I make my way to the interview room.

Alec is waiting for me, which tells me he was watching the live feed.

“The dinosaur cookies were my favorite,” he says when I open the door.

“You can’t be trusted, you’re a little biased.”

He takes the bag of cookies from me and puts them in the seat of his chair before he moves to me, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me from my feet.

“I missed you,” he whispers in my ear, surprising me.

He sets me back down and I press a kiss to his lips. I want to pretend like I’m not as affected as I am, but every time I see him, my entire body lights up.

“I missed you, too,” I admit, an equally large smile on my face.

“And don’t worry, I deleted the footage.”

I feel the smile drop from my face as I realize what he’s saying.

“The cameras,” I whisper. “I forgot about the cameras.”

Black dots blink in my vision as the blood rushes from my head. My body feels heavy as the dots grow.

“Charlotte, hey, look at me,” Alec demands, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me a touch.

“We made a sex tape,” I say, horrified.

“Only a little,” he tries to joke as tears fill my eyes.

Other people might have seen that footage before it was deleted. My stomach tries to revolt, but I force it into submission.

Alec pushes me down into my chair before pushing a glass of water into my hands and telling me to drink. There’s no ice, but the cool liquid is nice, getting me to focus on my body.

“I went to my office the second I left and deleted the footage. There aren’t any copies. I was very thorough. Trust me.”

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