Page 29 of A Smile Full of Lies (Secrets of Stonewood #1)

I chewed on my bottom lip as I waited to see what he’d say. My heart hammered against my ribcage so hard I thought the bones might disintegrate.

“Why’d you defend him like that?”

My stomach tightened painfully and I clenched my jaw. Maybe playing dumb would work.

“What are you talking about?”

He growled and all the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

“Don’t play coy with me. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Fuck.

My pulse roared in my ears. My mouth opened, then promptly snapped shut again. I huffed out a frustrated sigh. What the fuck was I supposed to say?

He spoke again, taking great pains to sound patient, but something about it felt clipped and forced.

“When I asked about that portrait, about Philip Knox, you went fucking feral and told me to keep his fucking name out of my mouth. Why?”

My teeth clenched and my whole body shook with the force of holding myself together while I answered him.

“He’s my neighbor and, more importantly, my friend.”

“I call bullshit.”

My breath stalled in my chest. I let out a squeak of protest, but he spoke again, cutting me off.

“That wasn’t the kind of reaction you have for a ‘friend’. That’s strike one, baby.”

My jaw locked.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No? Then why did you get so fucking possessive when those girls were talking about him in line outside the haunted house? Strike two.”

My stomach flipped violently.

“How the fuck do you know about that?”

He snorted, like maybe I was being tiresome.

“Security cameras, obviously. You told those girls you knew him ‘intimately’. You called him Knox. You warned them off him without even realizing what you were doing.”

Heat boiled beneath my cheeks.

“That’s not?—”

“Careful, sweetheart. You’re so close to strike three already. You could’ve stayed quiet. You could’ve let them think you didn’t know him. But you didn’t.”

I stopped breathing for a second, then cleared my throat.

“So what?”

“Tell me why, sweetheart.”

I choked on a whimper and shook my head, but I knew he wasn’t going to let me get away with not answering. So, I sucked in a breath and gathered myself.

“Because they were acting like they had a shot with him.”

“And they didn’t?”

God, he sounded so fucking amused.

My heart squeezed painfully.

“Of course not.”

“Why not?”

Jesus… his distorted voice seemed like it dropped a fucking octave. How was that even possible?

My breath came too fast and shallow.

“Because he’s…”

I stopped. Heat crawled beneath my skin, choking off my answer.

“He’s what?”

My fingers shook and I almost dropped my phone.

“Because he’s mine.”

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I squeezed my eyes shut. My chest heaved painfully. I’d walked straight into his trap.

“Yours, huh?”

His distorted voice dripped with delight.

I sucked in a sharp breath.

“Fuck you. You’re such an asshole.”

Nox Obscura barked out a sharp, shiver-inducing laugh.

“We’ve been through this once already, sweetheart. Don’t tell me you already forgot what last night felt like for you?”

A fresh surge of heat licked its way up my spine, and I ground my teeth, biting back another useless insult. “Of course I haven’t forgotten what last night felt like. I came back to get your contact information so I could file a complaint, but the dipshit with the clipboard wasn’t cooperative.”

“Let’s stay on topic, shall we?”

“God damn it. Why are you doing this to me?”

My heart felt like it was trying to climb out of my chest.

He completely ignored my question and countered with one of his own.

“You said he’s yours. Did he claim you?”

My throat tightened.

“No.”

“Then why the fuck are you acting like he did?”

My jaw clenched and a dull headache throbbed at my temples.

“Because…”

I stopped again, dreading the truth with every beat of my heart.

“Because why? Say it,” he snapped, his patience wearing thin.

I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles ached.

“Because I don’t want anyone else to have him.”

Especially not after the way he kissed me during that game of truth or dare last night.

He sucked in a sharp breath.

“Oh, sweetheart. That’s not a very neighborly thing to say.”

My eyes burned and my vision blurred for a second.

“Don’t fucking mock me, dick.”

“I’m not, baby,” he crooned.

“Really?” I snapped, my nerves stretched to their limit.

“No, sweetheart, I’m savoring the moment,” he murmured.

My throat tightened and my cheeks burned. My thumb hovered over the end call button, but he spoke again.

“But I think you’re lying to yourself.”

It was such a smug, know-it-all thing for him to say. It pissed me off so bad I couldn’t resist the urge to reply.

“I’m lying to myself?” I seethed. “About what, exactly?”

“About why you want him.”

God, he sounded so fucking self-assured. Arrogant fucker.

A sharp thrill skittered down my spine.

“What could you possibly know about why I want him?”

“You don’t just want him because you’ve known him forever,” he purred.

I scowled.

“Is that so?”

“You don’t just want him because he’s been taking care of you, either.”

“How could you possibly know that? Have you been spying on me… on Knox… on us?”

Adrenaline hit my bloodstream hard, and I practically started vibrating on the spot.

“You want him because of how he makes you feel.”

I choked out a hysterical laugh.

“Yeah? How does he make me feel?”

“He makes you feel cherished. Protected. Possessed, even.”

My brain made busy signal noises as I tried to figure out how Nox Obscura knew what he knew.

“You think you’re untouchable when he’s around.”

A sharp ache bloomed dead center in my chest as I stared down at my feet, reeling from the way he’d knocked my whole world off its axis with a few well-placed words. He kept right on going.

“And maybe you are.”

I bit my lip and tried to think of something to say to throw Nox Obscura off, but nothing came to mind, so I stayed quiet.

“But tell me, sweetheart… If he made a move — if he pushed you the way I did last night — would you let him? Or would you push him away?”

Hot tears leaked down my cheeks.

“I don’t know.”

“Liar,” he growled. “You know exactly what you really want to do.”

I shook my head, even though I didn’t think he could see me. But then again, maybe he could. What did I know?

“And it’s not pulling away.”

A sharp pulse of heat burned low beneath my skin. Memories of how it felt when he threaded his fingers in my hair and kissed me set my blood on fire.

“Is it? Answer me.”

“…No. I don’t want to pull away from him. That’s what scares me. But what I want and the smart thing to do are two very different things.”

His reply came instantly.

“Good girl.”

My whole body tightened like a spring about to snap in half.

“Are you done torturing me yet?”

“Not even close. So here’s the real question, sweetheart…”

Fuck my life. I shuddered.

“If you want him so badly, why haven’t you let him have you yet?”

“Why do you care?”

“I’m going to let the backtalk slide just this once, but you’re on very thin ice. One more strike and I’ll message him and tell him everything.”

“Fine. Because I’m scared, okay?”

Fuck.

My stomach flipped violently, and my chest tightened.

“Scared of what?”

“Of what happens after I give in.”

There was a long pause, and I thought for a second that I might be off the hook. No such luck, unfortunately. His voice rumbled over the line again.

“Why?”

My throat closed up.

“Because I used to date his best friend. From the time I was eighteen until I was twenty-one. I was stupid and naive enough to believe in forever back then.”

“What happened?”

“Thayer cheated on me. Publicly. He humiliated me at a frat party where I caught him fucking another girl upstairs. And the idea of giving Knox that kind of power over me — the power to break me the same way Thayer did — terrifies the hell out of me.”

A long, charged silence stretched between us.

“Oh, sweetheart, it sounds to me like you just need to be broken properly.”

I pulled my phone away from my ear and stared at it in disbelief.

“And I’m just the man to do it.”

My heart hammered so violently I could feel it in my throat. My jaw locked.

“You’re one arrogant motherfucker, you know that?”

His laugh was downright insidious.

“Correct. But more importantly, I’m an arrogant motherfucker with a delightful amount of leverage over you now. You’re going to be a good girl and do as I say.”

My heart climbed up into my throat.

“Am I, though?”

“Of course you are,” he crooned. “Unless you want me to tell Philip Knox about all the dirty little secrets you just spilled to me during our delightful little game…”

My pulse spiked violently.

“You wouldn’t fucking dare.”

He gave a distorted, eerie hum.

“Wouldn’t I? I’m fairly certain Mr. Knox would love to hear how fiercely protective you are of him. And about how hard you came grinding on my thigh last night, not to mention that little… moment you had while staring at his portrait after it was over.”

My cheeks burned. My breath strangled in my throat.

“Please don’t tell him. I’m begging you.”

“If you’d prefer I keep those particular secrets between us, I’m going to need something from you in return, sweetheart.”

I rested my forehead against my steering wheel for a long moment before replying.

“What do you want from me?”

He chuckled.

“Oh, we’ll get to that eventually. But for now… be a good girl and behave for me the next time we see each other.”

I blinked.

“The next time we see each other?”

Nox Obscura hummed again.

“You and I have unfinished business, my sweet little liar, and I’m coming to collect.”

Motherfucker.

My jaw clenched. I hated him, and I hated how much I wanted him.