Page 150 of Beautiful Lies

“Sure, you are,” Levi drawls. “Except you haven’t ripped anyone’s head off in days. You haven’t threatened to fire anyone in, what, forty-eight hours? And at lunch, I actually saw yousmiling. Smiling, Knox.”

Locke taps his phone like he’s documenting evidence. “I’m taking notes for your future psychological evaluation.”

“You idiot. You don’t need to do that.”

“Oh, I think I do. Never know when these things will come in handy.”

I turn away, but they’re still talking, still dissecting me like I’m some rare lab specimen.

And then something shifts in the crowd. It rolls through me like a pulse under my skin.

I feel her.

I don’t hear her footsteps. I don’t see her walk in. But Iknowshe’s here.

My brothers keep bickering, but their voices fade into white noise. My attention drags toward the entrance like a magnet.

Levi notices my posture change and follows my gaze before Locke does.

“Oh,” he murmurs. “Look. Mystery solved.”

Locke whistles under his breath. “Yeah. You’re definitely pussy-whipped, Knox.”

I ignore them.

Because Isla just walked into the room, and everything inside me goes still.

She looks like she stepped straight out of a dream.My dream.

And suddenly, nothing else matters.

Nothing.

Unlike the engagement party, a sleek sleeveless black gown that looks like it was painted on her hugs her svelte figure. Her hair is swept back in a half-up/half-down style, and her lips are painted the kind of red that ruins men.

The sight of her shatters my cool façade and sends my fucking mind into a tailspin. Instantly, I’m yearning to touch her, to inhale her, to be close to her. To have her all to myself again.

I want to taste her, taste every inch of her body, and claim her like I never have before.

I don’t want to be here, in front of everyone, where I have to share her with the world.

People already know she’s mine. That’s enough.

This show for the crowd… I don’t want it anymore.

A group of photographers swarms Isla. She pauses on the top of the stairs for some pictures, then she looks across the room, and her eyes find mine.

That look hits me square in the chest, and I know there’s no fucking way I’ll be able to stick around for this party and keep my hands off her.

Her lips part, and something tightens in my gut. The world narrows to a single point, to this woman who became my undoing.

I step away from my brothers without a word. They’re still goading me, but I don’t care. They’re right. I’m different because of Isla. But I’m not pussy-whipped.

This feeling stirring inside me, taking over my every thought and action, isn’t that. It’s something bigger.

I’m aware of cameras swinging toward me, of whispers rippling, of the sudden sharpened interest in the air.

But she’s all I see.