AllFreeNovel
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I’m not getting out of this one.
Archer turns a page and doesn’t look up from his book. Calm and cool as one can be with a fucking tampon shoved up his nostril.
“You know what?” I say, sitting up as far as I can. “I’ve changed my mind.”
“About what?”
“I won’t make it quick. When I kill you, it is going to hurt.”
He laughs. “Is that right?”
“Oh, it’ll be excruciating. It’s going to hurt so badly, your own mother will feel it.”
“That will be awfully impressive considering she’s dead already.”
I fall silent, feeling a sudden stab of guilt out of nowhere.
“What?” he asks. “Don’t let my orphan status keep you from throwing down another witty retort.”
“When did she die?” I ask.
“While she was having me.” He sets the book down. “Lived in orphanages until I was sixteen, then I ran off. Never met my father, so he’s basically dead, too.”
I lay my head on the table again. “Where’s my phone?”
“I moved it last night while you were sleeping.”
“To where?”
“Somewhere else.”
I fill my eyes with emotion — any that I can muster. “Archer, please.”
He slides his feet off the table and rests his chin on his palm as he stares at me. “No.”
“If all you care about is money, I have plenty to spare.”
“Do you, though?” He raises a brow. “Running around and racking up debt on your dead granny’s credit card doesn’t scream fiscal responsibility to me.”
I pause. “What?”
“Mary Elizabeth Hart,” he says, making my chest cave in. “Your grandmother. You have a card in her name. Mostly, you use it for hotel rooms and gassing up your bikes, but I’ve caught you throwing away money at a boutique here and there—”
“How long have you known this?”
“For as long as I’ve been following you.”
“And how long has that been?”
He smiles. “Before LA, there was Boston. Before that, Iowa. Denver…”
I raise my head, more shocked than angry to be honest. “You’re kidding me.”
“You had no idea?”
“No.”
He sits back, smug as fuck. “One thing I can’t figure out, though, is why you have that card at all. As you’ve pointed out, you have plenty of money to spare but you’re also smart. There’s no way I outsmarted you in figuring this out — you know better. So, why have the card?” he asks. “Why leave a trail?”
