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“No, maybe she wouldn’t have been kidnapped, but she wouldn’t be safe. Neither of us was there. I tried my best, but…”
He reaches across the table. He looks boyishly nervous at the last moment before taking my hand. It’s so different from how he was last night, as if he’s letting me see the good man and the bad. It’s wrong, but I squeeze onto his hand.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” I whisper.
“Lena, I’m sorry. Your mom and I lied to you.”
I pull my hand away. “About what?”
“We were never in a relationship. That was just a convenient excuse for us spending time together while I helped with the wallet, helped her fix her credit, bought the house…”
I shake my head, my mindgoing to all the moments Mom talked about him. There are so many memories of her looking much happier than she had in years, her eyes bright. “What about when you kissed the cotton candy off her nose at the fair?”
This memory is stunningly vivid, bursting to life in my mind undeniably. I remember it in complete detail because it often stabbed me with guilt and jealousy. Mom was sitting at the kitchen table, daintily placing her hand on her nose.“He kissed me right here.”
Jamie looks at me like a gaslighter. “That never happened.”
“Momtalkedabout it.” I stand up, shaking my head. “In detail. Mom might lie to me—white lies sometimes, but not like that, not giving me a play-by-play of the date. She’s not sick. I didn’t even ask her about her lame excuse. An uncle leaving her money…”
He smirks. “That’s what she said?”
I could slap him right now. Not spank, but slap him right across his face. There’s nothing smirk-worthy about this. “So, this is a joke now?”
He walks around the counter and reaches out to touch me. I raise my hand, wondering if he’ll stop. He did last night, just. Maybe he’ll throw my hand aside and pull me into his embrace, crushing me with a kiss. Perhaps I’ll like it, knowing I shouldn’t. “Don’t touch me.”
He steps back, his eyes narrowing. “I’m sorry, but your mother lied. We weren’t in a relationship.”
“Mom wouldn’tlieabout that,” I hiss. “Maybe she’d avoid the issue. Maybe she’d say something general, like,‘We had a nice date,’but she wouldn’t create these crazy elaborate stories. What about when you danced in Abigail Park?”
He shakes his head. I search his eyes for any sign of deceit, but Mom doesn’t lie to me. Even when she scored some small lottery win, she told me. Even when she relapsed again, she told me, and I helped her. Through everything, we’ve always had honesty. She had God. She was always praying. I didn’t need that. I had my purpose. It can’t all come crashing down.
“Lena…” He raises his hand. I step back so I don’t slap it away. I want to hug him and hurt him. It’s messing my head up. I thought I saw somethinggenuinein him. “It’s true.”
“Maybe you’re just saying this because I didn’t let you fuck me,” I say, knowing it’s bitter, knowing it’s vicious.
He suddenly surges forward, takes my shoulders, and holds me tightly. His firm body is taut all over. He looks ready to explode into lust, like he will take me whether or not I want it, but that’s a false comparison. Idowant it, even when I say I don’t. With him, my man, but my mother isnota liar.
“I could fuck your tight pussy right now,” he growls in that almost possessed voice. “Don’t act tough with me.”
“Is that a threat?” I snap.
He lets me go, shuddering. “I’d never hurt you,” he says darkly, “unless you were enjoying it.”
Perversely, my belly and ass tingle, the physical evidence of his darkness. “I mean it, Jamie. She wouldn’t lie. If you’re making this up, just… just tell me now. Right now. Maybe I can forgive you then.”
“It’s the truth,” he says, returning to the kitchen. “Throw a tantrum if you want. It doesn’t change anything.”
I rush forward and grab the plate, scrambled eggs going everywhere. Ialmostthrow it at the wall, but then I see Demon looking up at me, head tilted, staring like I’m nuts. I put the plate down. It clatters against the obsidian surface.
“I’m not going to trust some paid killer over my own mother,” I tell him, even if it hurts to say these words. “When you save her, I’ll ask her. Until then… just… just leave me alone.”
I don’t mean it. I’m going through the motions, but these are therightmotions. This is how I should behave as a loyal daughter. I can’t just believe him because of how he makes me feel. I have to be smarter than that. Yeah, brilliant, like telling the person who’s going to save my mom toleave me alone. That’s real clever.
“You’ll be with your mom soon,” he says. “You can ask her. If she lies to you again, it’s your choice if you believe her.”
He stares at me firmly, no flinch, no mercy. I stare back, trying to be brave, but I look away first, almost running into my bedroom. That was a mess, but I can’t believe him. I can’t trust him even if I want to. I’ve known Mom all my life, and this man feels like the love of my life, but he’s a stranger.
CHAPTERTWELVE
