Page 63 of A Lethal Game of Trust

“I got that by his apology,” I said.

“Do you know what?” she asked, pulling off her strappy heels. “I can count on one hand the times he’s apologised to me. Back when he forced sand in my eye at school, when he accidentally slapped me because of that frog last year—”

“He’s still scared of frogs?” I interrupted.

She laughed. “Oh yeah, big man with the guns and the crime, yet put a frog in his path and he’s gone.”

Interesting.

“Last year?” I asked and pulled her up to her feet.

Issy groaned and rubbed at her eyes, mascara coating her fists. “At my parent’s anniversary party, that you didn’t come to,” she said with a loaded look. “Which you will be making right this year.”

Only Jared ever knew about the pregnancy.

“I’ll be there,” I said with a nod. “And at your birthday. And at the gala.”

I followed her to her room.

“There are so many events there this year,” she said. “We may as well stay. Home away from home and all.”

Despite moving out of their house at eighteen, they hadn’t touched my bedroom. Dom and Issy’s parents saved me. Even when they shipped me to rehab two years later. The psychiatrists there told them I would always need a ‘safe place’ to return to and, therefore, frequently mentioned that their home was mine. I had been exactly what Dom said I was, a shell of my former self.A shrivelled, emotional wreck.

“Yeah, it might be quite nice to get away for a bit,” I said, lost in my thoughts.

It had been months since I had gone down to Darley. Issy’s mum came to visit us often and we’d gone out for brunch for her birthday. Issy and I video-called her at least twice a week, with Ivan joining in every now and then, but with Firdman’s upcoming release… I didn’t want to talk to Ivan in person. He’d make the same offer as Dom.

“The beach always makes everything better,” she said with a sigh. “God, that orange juice might not have been enough.”

“Why don’t you shower?” I asked as my phone dinged.

She gave a few loud, contemplativehmms, each getting more and more critical of the idea.

I glanced down.

ANSWER: You have too many clothes. I’m going to peel every single outfit off you soon enough. But, please, for the love of God, let me out.

LEONIE: *Frog emoji*

ANSWER: Please stop talking about me. Or tell her to stop spilling my deepest, darkest secrets.

When I looked up, Issy was sitting at the edge of her bed, legs crossed, head perched on her palm. Her brows were high as she jerked her chin at the phone. Herhmmturned lethal, disgusted. “That Jared?”

“No,” I snapped.

“You are worth far more,” she said and tapped my shoulder as she stood. I locked my screen and she took in a deep, frustrated breath. “Do what you’ve got to do. But please break his heart in the end.”

When I didn’t respond, she grabbed her towel and walked out. I watched her go to the bathroom and waited for the shower to squeak on.

Dom was in the wardrobe, grinning with his torch on. Heheld some red lace in his hands. “Now this,” he said, lifting it to show me, “I want to peel off sooner rather than later.”

“Behave,” I scorned as he pulled me to him for a quick, bursting kiss. I pulled back quickly. “That’s not behaving!”

“It’s exciting,” he said, hand grabbing my ass through my night dress.

I only shook my head, trying to shake off the smile. “If Issy found out, it would ruin our friendship. It would ruin my relationship with your parents. It’s a no-no.”

“Think I’ve unlocked a new kink,” he said into my ear, brushing back my hair. “Fucking someone I shouldn’t fuck.”