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Love is a fucking lie.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Lia
While part of me wanted to curl up on the floor and fall asleep, I got to my feet once my tears had slowed. The kitchen seemed colder and bigger than when I’d first entered and I noted that coffee spilled around the mug that Ty had set down so violently.
Knowing that Flora had probably left, I went to the sink and grabbed a few paper towels. First, I wiped at my face and blew my nose, then I grabbed another handful and cleaned up the mess before putting his mug in the sink.
Hearing voices and footsteps coming from a distant part of the house, I fled down a hallway that I hadn’t been yet. It was narrow, with windows along one side and two doors on the other. One led to the main area of the house and Ty's office, and the other opened onto a staircase.
Finally, I stopped and turned in a circle at the end. How odd for a hallway just to end like this... I built up a picture of what I knew of the house from when I'd been walking around outside and tried to figure it out. Then a dim flicker of excitement went through me. Yes, there had to be a room here.
Heart beating fast, remembering how my mom had told me about old New England houses sometimes having hidden doors and secret passageways, I felt along the walls for a hidden doorknob and then my fingers found a metal ring.
Tugging on it, a thin door pulled free with a rasping groan, as though it had been a while since it had been opened.
Slipping inside, I found a far cozier room than I'd been expecting. It was smaller than the other rooms in the house. The walls had been left unfinished in the same rough stone as the outside, and I wondered if it was part of the original house, perhaps old servant quarters. There was a fireplace on one side and built-in shelves on the other with tons of timeworn books. Comfy chairs were shoved under a window covered in leafless vines, and there was a table in front of it piled with books and magazines, along with a few notebooks.
But the best thing was the wide seat built into the bay window, heaped with pillows.
There was something about the room that had the feel of a secret hideout. Although, I had a feeling that no one had been in here in a long time. Stepping inside, I kicked up dust and noticed that the magazines were at least fifteen to twenty years out of date.
Going to the shelves, I noted that the first one was packed with board games, including a chess set, and shoved into the corner were some well-worn toys including Matchbox cars, puzzle boxes, and a few stuffed animals.
A strange feeling crept over my scalp. Had there been children in this house?
It seemed impossible. The décor of this big, imposing house didn’t lend itself to children, not when every last corner was drenched in sleek and cold intimidation, down to the very existence of the basement cell.
Perhaps it had all been secreted away into this corner of the house.
Checking to make sure the door was closed behind me, I surveyed the room again, wondering if it was too much to hope that there would also be a secret way out.
After a few minutes of exploring, though, it was clear that if there was, I wasn’t going to find it. And even if I did, I knew that Ty would find me.
Why are you being such a pain in the ass? You trying to piss me off?
I pressed my fingers to my tingling lips, trying to shake off the way those words had affected me. They were so harsh but with a naughty edge that screamed decadence and I couldn’t suppressthe flashes of memories of Ty kissing me or the way he’d wrapped his strong arms around me so that he could kiss me more deeply — before I shoved him away.
Going over to the window seat, I sat down and gripped my head. No, we couldn't continue down this path. I had done the right thing in the kitchen.
Yesterday had been a moment of madness brought on by duress and confusion. I forced myself to remember how he’d held on so tightly that he’d bruised me, how he’d shattered my heart in my chest with his words.
I know you’re naive as fuck.
Lust is all there is. Let me give you a good, hard fucking and teach you that.
Shoving myself to my feet, I paced down the length of the room and then back again but his words followed me.
Love is a fucking lie, Lia.
A sound escaped me and I pressed my hands to my chest. Did Ty honestly believe that? And why did I care if he did? He was right about one thing: I had been naive to think that he wanted anything besides sex from me.
My mind flashed back to the first time I’d seen him, the way the music had risen and fallen with hunger and wicked promise,how he seemed to glint with every bad idea I shouldn’t chase. Yet… there’d been something else too.
But I guess I had imagined that something, hadn’t I? That spark between us.
That’s why I’d been spouting off about love to a gangster as though he’d understand. We’d barely even had one conversation. I mean, God, what was I thinking? This man lived in a world of sin and gratification; no wonder he wanted to encourage my demanding, selfish and impulsive side. I had to fight it.
