Page 117 of Vicious Deception

A warm hand presses against my back, and I smile at the light scent of sandalwood and oranges. Elliot nuzzles my neck gently.

“You okay, love?”

“Yeah. Just thinking.”

“About?”

I turn around so I’m facing him and slip my arms around his neck. “The future.”

Ourfuture.

The one I wasn’t sure we’d get to have—and that I’ll always be eternally grateful for.

. . .

“Wren! Over here!” Ava waves from where she’s sitting at a picnic table shrouded by trees.

We decided to meet at a small park so we could get outside and enjoy the fresh air. The sun is out today, and it’s getting warm enough that we can sit outside without freezing our asses off.

Kissing my cheek, Oliver slips his hand from mine. “I’ll wait over there.” He nods to a bench that’s out of earshot of the picnic table. “Take however much time you need, princess.”

“Thanks.”

As I approach, Ava jumps up from her seat, and we throw our arms around each other immediately. It feels good to see her again.

“How’ve you been?” I ask. “How’re things going with Liz?”

Ava grins. “Amazingly. We’ve talked every single day since the ball. She got sick last week, so I made her soup and brought her some meds and tissues and stuff like that. Aaaaand then I got sick because she looked miserable, so I hung around to try to cheer her up. But I’m all better now.”

I laugh. That’sclassicfor Ava.

“But tell me about you,” she says. “What’s been going on? Are the guys somehow connected to your kidnapping? Is there more going on here than you told the police?”

“Yes, but . . . not in the way you think.”

“Are you in danger?” she asks, worry creeping into her voice.

“No,” I say quickly. “Not anymore.”

Her eyes go wide. “Anymore? Girl, what the hell is going on?”

I fidget with the sleeve of my jacket. “A lot. I . . . I want to start off by saying I’m sorry. I basically dropped off the face of the earth after the ball, and then even more so after I quit. It wasn’t fair to you—you deserved more of an explanation, and I’m sorry.”

A soft smile appears on Ava’s features, and she reaches across the table and takes my hands. “I know you, Wren. You wouldn’t do this on purpose. You’re, like, theoppositeof a bitch. Well, usually.”

That makes me laugh, and I squeeze her hands in return. “Emphasis on theusually.”

Her expression grows serious. “So what happened?”

“Well, first off, when I got kidnapped, I actually didn’t.”

“Wait, what?”

“But Ididget kidnapped a week or so later.”

“What?!”

“The first time around, I disappeared, but I was with the guys, and I was perfectly safe. Adam attacked me after I had dinner with him and our parents, and then Thomas was there too—”

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