Page 96 of Beauty and the Daddy

Declan, the staff, Sofia, and most importantly, the very gorgeous man who knocked me up.

I've got it all figured out. Appointment at two-thirty p.m., cab waiting just outside, and a lie so believable I almost bought it myself.

Three weeks of morning sickness and popping vitamins when nobody's looking have turned me into a walking NDA.

Sadly, honesty's cleaner, and I'm terrible at lying. Even my tells have tells. So, I better go out quiet into the afternoon. All I needto do is walk out the front door without running into anyone. Simple, right?

Yeah, sure. Be delusional while you're at it, Belle. It's not like there are twenty goons with pistols milling around.

The hallway's clear. Step one, check.

Since the attack three nights ago, the security in this house has tripled. Everyone's on edge, especially Luca. He's been watching me like I might disappear if he blinks too long.

I make it down the stairs without banging into anyone. Step two, check.

I rehearse my lie as I walk: "Going to see my dad. Won't be long."

Simple. Vague. Impossible to fact-check while I'm gone.

I hear Bruno's nails clicking on the marble before I see him, the giant dog rounding the corner with his tongue lolling out. He spots me and changes course.

"Hey, big guy," I whisper, scratching behind his ears. "Don't rat me out, okay?"

Bruno woofs softly. Traitor.

I'm almost at the front door when?—

"Going somewhere?"

I wince and turn around, putting on a smile for Luca. Just looking at him is a slap to the ribs. Dark hair slicked back, jaw freshly shaved, eyebrow raised like I'm the most amusing thing in the world.

Get it together, Belle. He's hot, yeah… but you could be in real trouble.

"Just to see my dad. I…I need to put the past to rest."

"Is that so?" Luca steps closer. "That's interesting, because I just got off the phone with him and he said something about going in for a meeting."

Well, shit.

"Oh, is he?" I backpedal. "I meant, um, I thought I'd just drop in. Haven't been able to forget the things he did and every time I've tried to bring it up, he finds an excuse."

Even I don't believe me, and I'm the one talking.

Luca's eyes narrow.

"Try again," he says, stepping closer until I can smell his cologne—dark and expensive and dangerous.

Smile,my brain screams.Use those dimples. Bat your eyes. Do something before he sees straight through you.

"I just need some space to—" The lie dies on my tongue like roadkill. "To clear my head."

"Clear your head." His voice carries the deadly calm of a man who already knows the answer to every question he's asking.

"By visiting your father who's in a meeting he can't leave?" His eyebrow ticks up. He's calm, which is so much worse than yelling. Calm Luca is the Luca who already has the answers and is making me hang myself with the rope of my own nonsense.

*Lie better, *my brain hisses. Or shut up entirely.

"I thought maybe I'd wait in his lobby," I hear myself say, like a lunatic. "You know, stage an ambush."