Page 3 of Vicious Hearts

She’s too young and inexperienced at bullshitting people to understand how to go about it. I asked her a closed question—it only needed a yes or no answer. But she started giving details. I decide to stay quiet and see what she says next.

The truth-teller does not need to convince, but when people lie, they need feedback from the other person to tell whether their deception is working. In the absence of anything to go on, a liar will babble.

Sure enough, after a sip of her drink, Roxy continues.

“Seeing as you weren’t taking my calls or responding to messages, I asked Kai about you. He told me you’d asked to be left alone.”

A long pause. She turns to look at me, but when she sees she has my full attention, she retreats, not letting me have her eyes. If she was in an interrogation, I could reduce her to an anxious, cooperative puddle in no time.

She knows she’s carelessly given away her motive here.Next, she’ll attempt to steer me away from it.

“Not that I wanted to see you by then,” she says. “So I went to the seafood buffet, had something to eat, and returned to find the place wrecked. I ran down to the concierge station, and Kai said he’d have to move me somewhere else, but I didn’t want that, so—”

“—you got him to bring you here. With your stuff. None of which is wet, I notice.”

Roxy is now all too aware of the possibility that I don’t believe her. Her eyes scan my face, looking for something to latch onto, but I’m well-practiced at not giving anything away.

“You don’t need to be so fucking rude,” she snaps.

Ah. The classic deflection argument.Get me on the defensive, hoping I’ll forget to ride this train of inquiry into the station.

“Alright, I’m sorry.” I sip my drink. My erection has faded, and I stretch, setting the glass on the table as I shift. “But it’s hardly convenient that you’re here. You’re gonna have a shit-awful crick in your neck tomorrow, just in time for an eleven-hour flight.”

“If you’re worried about my neck, you could give me the bed.” She smiles at me, twirling her braid around her finger. “Or, you know. A bunk-share between good friends. That could be fun?”

Her neck? Iwasthinking about that, actually. I wanna squeeze it while I fuck her.

My cock twitches and I tense my thighs, trying to discourage it from getting hard again.

Roxy returned from her grocery shopping trip about three hours ago and didn’t go out again. I know this because she has to walk past my villa to get anywhere—it’s the next one along, the last in the row. And I’ve been watching ever since, checking to see whether she went out again. Her dinner story is a fabrication.

“What did you eat?”

“Lobster from the barbeque. It’s my favorite. Chardonnay with it.”

Too much detail again. I pity her inability to lie convincingly.

Could she have gotten onto the roof of her villa and trashed it herself? Probably. They’re only bungalows. She could have dragged the patio furniture over and used it to get up there. Ripped up the palm fronds and smashed through the tile just over her bed. So it was bad enough that she couldn’t stay there, but not so bad that her stuff got ruined too.

This was her plan all along. So whatever happens next isn’tmyfault, is it?

I pick up my drink and throw it back.

“Fine,” I say, waving my arm at the bed. “You make yourself comfortable. I’m gonna freshen up, and then I’ll get in too. If you want me to take the couch, I will, but I hope you fucking appreciate it since you’re the one who’s imposing.”

“I thought we might talk a little more,” Roxy says, standing up as I move. “I have questions, Ben. I want to know why we were friends and then we weren’t.”

“There’s nothing to say.” I turn in the bathroom doorway. “Leo is my only friend, and because of my stupidity, I nearly killed him. You had a serious injury and a traumatic experience at my hands before we evenmet, so that tells you plenty. You really want a friend like me?”

She doesn’t reply, and I realize my tone is harsher than I intended. Still, she shouldn’t be here, but she is, and she has to take me as she finds me.

“Just go to bed, Roxy.”

* * *

Roxy

Ben takes his time. I know he’s hoping I’ll fall asleep, but I’m not gonna let that happen.

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