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My eyes widened. “Fuck me. Youcan’tbe that goddamned dumb. Please, tell me that.”
She sighed and rolled her eyes, her arms falling in defeat. “What do you want me to say? I didn’t realize she was Bruce fucking Lee, okay? The whole time I’ve known her, she’s been a fucking invalid. How the hell was I supposed to know?”
“Howdo you know her, Harper?” My voice was low, my words slowed, purposeful. I spoke to her in a tone that an angry parent might use with a child.
“I told you. That’s none of your fucking business.”
My left brow raised. “My aching balls say otherwise. Spit it out before I force it out of you.”
She looked at me incredulously. “And justwhatdo you think you’re going to do, Damian? You won’t hurt me. You’re evil, but you’re notthatbrand of evil.”
I smiled, and the very look of it must have been enough to get my point across because she shifted uncomfortably again and cleared her throat.
“Oh, sweet,sweetHarper. There arelotsof ways to hurt someone. Like when I tell Becky that the very night she came crying to you about thinking her boyfriend was cheating on her, you told her it was all okay and then went over to his house and rode his face for an hour. Remember that? Because I do.”
Her eyes widened. “How did you know about that?”
“How the hell do you think?”
She groaned. “Fuck!” Her hands covered her face as she let her obvious frustration pass. “Look, Idon’tknow the girl. At all. All I know is that she’s hiding shit—clearly. I don’t know who she is or what she wants, but I want her to stay the fuck away from my family. Can you understand that?”
I looked at her with confusion. “That girl is no threat to you unless provoked—that much I can tell. She just went to bat for a perfect stranger.Chadof all people. She’s one of those do-gooder, save-the-world types. There’s more to this story you’re not saying.”
“Not a threat to me?! Look what she just did toyou! How can you say she’s not a threat?”
“Because I looked in her eyes, Harper. I can read people better than you can read a fucking book—though I guess that’s not saying much for you.” She looked at me like I smacked her, so I assumed she understood my insult. I ignored her rage and continued. “She isn’t a bad person.”
She closed her gaping mouth and put back on a mask of superiority. “That’s never stopped you before.”
I shook my head. “Absolutely not—and it’s not stopping me now. What’s stopping me is your dishonesty. Something is going on here, and I want to know what it is. I don’t like being fucking lied to, Harper.”
She stared at me for a few quiet moments. “She’s staying with someone that lives close to us. She got really hurt somehow, but there’s something fucked going on with it. If I told you anything else about that, you’d use it, and unfortunately, I can’t have that. If my dad found out I was fucking with her and was the reason she fled California, he’d cut me off forever.I’m not giving youanythingyou don’t need, and you really don’t need to know anything about her. Not if it’s going to causemeproblems. Finish her with your normal tactics. I’ve seen you do it a hundred timeswithoutknowing every detail about the person. I just want this taken care of withoutmy dad finding out because he’s taken pity on thepoor little charity case.” She said that last bit with a nasally and exaggeratedly annoying voice. Taking a step forward, she continued. “I don’t fucking like it. I want her to stay the fuck away from my family. How’s that? Does that work for you?”
I stared into her blue eyes, looking for any blatant dishonesty there. Harper was an excellent liar, but I wasn’t sure if she was good enough to lie to me. The normal person and all her idiotic underlings believed everything she said. Hung on every word. I, however, knew better. That being said, she was either a very good actress, or she was telling the truth.
There was also the possibility she was only telling me enough truth to easily cover the lies or whatever she was hiding.
The only way for me to know for sure was to keep at it. Either she would slip, or Temperance would. I’d have to take a different approach with the new girl.
“Fine,” I said finally, backing off. “You win. But mark my words, Harper”—I leaned forward, my nose just an inch away from hers—“if I find out you’re lying to me or hiding anything else,youwill be on my shit list. I will end you. Do you understand?”
She swallowed hard, and I caught it. The flash of fear in her eyes. She wasdefinitelyhiding something. She’d have no reason to fear that threat otherwise.
“Yes. I understand.” The tiny wave I’d heard in her voice was further proof.
My eyes narrowed as I rose. I knew I wouldn’t get anything else out of her, so I nodded. “Fine. I’ll take care of it.”
She started to say something, but I stepped around her and walked out. There was nothing else I needed to hear. Harper was lying to me, and my only way to figure out how was to get to Temperance. If she wouldn’t respond to fear and intimidation, maybe she’d respond to something a little different.
Oh, Temperance.
Time to have a bit of fun.
CHAPTER THREE
TEMPERANCE
This is pathetic.
