AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Caleb and Lucas exchange a look. “Yeah. It’s called acting, Lana.”
“Oh, this is ridiculous.” I scowl. “I’m not that bad of a cook.”
Caleb blinks. “You once set your kitchen on fire because you tried to boil an egg.”
“Oh, shut up, Caleb. Not like you’re any better.” I glower.
He shrugs. “At least I accept my shortcomings and don’t go around threatening to poison my friends.”
“Ugh.” I stand. “As much as I’d love to listen to you two insult my cooking, I have work to do.”
I glance at my phone, annoyed when I realize the battery is drained. “You go on ahead of me, Lucas. I have to swing by the apartment to pick up my charger.”
“I can drive you,” Lucas offers.
“I’ll take a cab.” I stuff the phone in my bag.
“Don’t cook anything while you’re there,” Caleb maliciously calls after me. I give him the finger before slamming the door behind me.
Grumbling about my charger, I hail a cab from outside Caleb’s apartment.
So lost in my thoughts am I that I don’t see the person waiting in the lobby of my new building until I hear the voice.
My hackles rise. I whirl around to see the last man I had expected to lay my eyes upon.
“How the hell did you get in?” I hiss at Matt, who just smiles. It’s a cruel gesture on his perfect lips. The man is handsome, that much I’ll give him, but something about him deeply unsettles me.
“I have my ways.” When he saunters toward me, my hand immediately goes to my coat pocket. I curve it around the bottle of pepper spray I’ve taken to carrying.
“I’d stay away from me if I were you,” I warn.
He has the audacity to smirk. “Why should I?” He takes another step toward me, his voice soft. “I don’t think you seem to understand the position you’re in, Lana.”
I don’t like his tone. “And what position would that be?”
“You really shouldn’t have disrespected me the way you did,” he continues in that relaxed tone, which is making me feel more and more on edge as he takes another step toward me. “Your brother paid the price for it.”
“Fred? Why would Fred—” I blink in puzzlement. “What the hell are you babbling about?”
When he keeps taking small steps toward me, I glance around urgently, but there’s no one in the lobby aside from us.
“Your brother took out a loan from me last year.” Matt smiles pleasantly. “Half-a-million dollars. He couldn’t pay it back.”
My fingers tighten around the small can in my pocket. “That’s got nothing to do with me.”
“I disagree. It’s got everything to do with you. When he told me he couldn’t pay it back, I gave him an option. If I get you, he doesn’t have to repay the loan.”
My fingers go lax around the can as shock permeates my body.
“You’re lying.”
He’s lying!
My heart beats wildly in my chest, betrayal a cold feeling coursing through my veins. Because I know he’s not lying. Fred’s actions, the way he so casually dismissed this man’s attempts to harm me, could only be because he gave him permission or encouraged it.
Matt must have seen the realization in my eyes because he looks smug. His expression makes me see red, and I bare my teeth. “Even if that is the case, I am not Fred’s to give away. I am not his possession. If he promised me to you, you need to take it up with him.”
Matt raises a brow. “I told you that he paid the price for your behavior. I broke his right arm.”
