Page 68 of Prince of Lies


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“Rowe, sweetheart.” I huffed out a laugh and cupped his cheek. “You reallydon’tknow much about profitability, do you?” I smiled to take the sting out of my words. “MRO or Medical Response Optimization—what we’ve been calling the project in-house—was going to make a ton of money, and Austin was going to own the patents.”

“Was?”

“Yes.Was. I already told Kenji we were putting the project on hold the minute I first suspected what was happening. There’s no way I’m profiting offanyone’sstolen idea. It’s going to take some work to get to the bottom of everything, but we will. And Austin doesn’t know it, but he made a huge fucking error when he targeted you—ooof.”

This time, it was Rowe who kissed me—kissed me with utter abandon, locking his arms around my neck and throwing himself bodily against me. His kiss, like so much about him, was artless and enthusiastic… and utterly devastating. I gave up the rest of my self-control and pulled him onto my lap, holding him against me and breathing him in.

The person I’d been just a week ago would have been shocked to see me now, grabbing onto the liar from the gala with both arms, embracing the chaos my life had become. But as long as I had Rowe in my arms… I didn’t give a shit.

SIXTEEN

ROWE

Being held in Bash’s strong grip made me feel treasured, protected,safe. Like anything was possible and I was strong enough to take on the world. I wanted to stay exactly like this for hours. Days. I didn’t want to question any of it… but I couldn’t help it.

“How can you believe me so easily?” I asked into the side of his neck. His cologne smelled amazing, and I didn’t want to pull away from him, even though I knew I should. “I lied to you most of the time we were together.”

To my surprise, Bash laughed. “Rowe, I truly hate to break this to you, but you’re a terrible liar. Not only did I know you couldn’t possibly be Sterling—”

“Since there is no Sterling…”

“Right,” he laughed. “But also, your whole body tenses up when you lie. Your voice changes. Which is how I know you told the truth a lot more than you lied.”

He was right, and I really loved that he knew that. “There go my dreams of being an international spy,” I mock-sighed. “I’ve been a horrible liar since childhood. Remind me sometime to tell you about the time I nearly drowned while pretending to drown.”

He laughed again, and it rumbled through me, lodging deep in my chest. “I definitely will. For now, just know that I trust you. And we’re going to work together to get as much evidence as we can for the legal team. I don’t suppose you happened to secretly watermark any of the documents with ‘Property of Rowe Prince’?”

“Uh, no.”

“I didn’t think so. Know why? Because you’re the most honest liar ever.” He gave me a pointed look, and I flushed. “At least Austin doesn’t know we’re onto him, which might make things easier.”

I chewed at the side of my lip for a minute. “He recognized me, sorta. Downstairs. Even with the mustache on. He said he’d seen my picture and wanted to know my name, but I didn’t tell him.”

Bash’s face was stormy for a moment. “Good. We’ll figure out a way to get you out of here without him seeing you.” He touched my face in a way that suggested he wanted to be touching other parts of me but was holding back.

I hadn’t even thought of how I’d get out of here, and it melted me more that Bash had. It had been a long, long while since I’d felt like someone was looking out for me. Like I was part of a team. But nothing had really changed from that hotel back in Philly—this was all still temporary, all going to be snatched away any moment.

The only difference now was that running away wasn’t an option as long as Bash needed me to prove his case.

“I can get all of my research and notes,” I volunteered. “I have a ton of information Austin wouldn’t have, along with all my contacts. That will help.” I started to climb off Bash’s lap, ready to go and collect all the notes and files from Joey’s place that would now be evidence.

“Not yet.” Bash grasped my hips, trying to hold me in place.

During the brief, halfhearted (on my side, at least) struggle that ensued, someone knocked on the door, and the dark-haired man from the hallway pushed his way in and leaned back against the door to close it.

“My eyes are closed,” the man said in lieu of a greeting. “Super tightly closed. I’m seeing nothing.”

“Kenji,” Bash growled. “I told you—”

“Not to disturb you. Yes. But Silas is here, and he’s on the way up.”

“Silas? Why would he— Oh, for god’s sake, open your eyes! Nobody’s naked,unfortunately. Why the hell is Silas here?”

“Because Dev called earlier, and I may have mentioned the situation with Austin…” Kenji opened his eyes and saw me half-perched on Bash. “And your new friend Sterling Chase. And then he lit up your group chat, and Silas got involved.”

Bash sighed, letting his head fall back onto the sofa cushion. “Kenji, this is Rowe Prince. Rowe, this is my assistant, Kenji. Do not give him that look, Kenji,” he warned. “Rowe’s had a fuck of a day already, okay?”

Kenji’s skeptical expression didn’t waver one iota. “So, then, I shouldn’t observe that Mr. Prince has royally disordered everything around here?”

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