Page 83 of Filthy Lies


Font Size:  

What stunned me was that I meant it.

Traitor or not, I meant it.

He didn’t accept my apology though. I could see it in his eyes. He didn’t push my hand away so I didn’t move it, just stared down at how my fingers, speckled with dots of blood from where splinters had dug into them, rested against the black sleeve of his turtlenecked sweater.

I wasn’t the kind of woman to go gooey over men. I knew the depravities to which they’d sink better than anyone, after all. But there was something that always got to me about this one—his eyes.

They were soft.

Not in a bad way. Nor a weak one.

Just gentle.

I wasn’t used to that.

His voice was the same.

Even if he was annoyed with me, he never failed to make me feel guilty because he always sounded disappointed in me rather than angry.

I just didn’t know why I reacted to him like that.

The headache triggered some nausea, and I had to reason that was why I blurted, “You’re not one of them?”

Hope filled me.

He sniffed, the tension rippling through his arm again. “They’re insane.”

Was that an answer?

“You told me once that runs in your blood.” I stared at him, trying to read his expression and find the truth in those eyes that enchanted me like he was a snake charmer and I was a python.

My inquiry had him tipping his head to the side, and he stunned me by smiling. “If it does, we’re both fucked. Me with Da, and you with… well, Kuznetsov seems to think you’re his granddaughter, so insanity is in both our lines.”

My mouth tightened. “My mother was a liar.”

“Mothers tend to lie.”

“I don’t lie to Katina.”

He hitched a shoulder. “You’re weird.”

“No.” My brow puckered as I reiterated, “Moms aren’t supposed to lie.”

“In my experience, they do. Little white lies. Santa exists. The tooth fairy pays for dead bits of collagen and calcium. ‘I’ll call every other day…’ All lies.”

That stung.

That fucking stung.

He knew I’d made that promise to Katina, but how?

“There’s a big difference between telling a kid that Santa’s real and—” My throat felt tight. “Katina’s worried about me.” It wasn’t a question.Of course, she was worried.I’d broken so many goddamn promises to her that she’d probably never trust me again.

Who the hell could blame her?

I’d let her down when I’d sworn I never would.

“She is. I met her. She ran away to the city to find me.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
Articles you may like