Page 61 of His Trick

“Listen, Sunshine. My sister may be too stupid to realize what you meant by your mystery trip, but I’m not. And as the fucking mayor of daddy issues, I know you can’t do this alone. So save yourself the air it will take to argue with me, and just know, I’m going. And I will be on my best behavior if you blow.”

My jaw tightened, and I gave him a look of incredulity at his stupidity. But a part of me felt a twinge at the fact that he wanted to be with me because he knew this would hurt, no matter the outcome.

“Don’t you have fucking work to do? Like more of your dead bodies to clean up?”

Carrington snickered. “Actually, no, someone has the cops chasing their tails, and shockingly, the killers of this town are quiet. They must be preoccupied or being nice and shit.”

I rolled my eyes. It was not surprising at all that Carrington was the reason he was employed, by keeping bodies piling up. Profitable business if you were the damn executioner.

“Annnd,” he sang, grabbing something from his pocket. I grimaced at the crunched-up crackers with a candle on it. “I meant blow out your candle, birthday boy.”

“You do realize I work in healthcare and wouldn’t consume that if my life depended on it, right?” I said, unable to keep from laughing. “Not to mention the candle isn’t lit, idiot.”

Carrington smirked and stuck the crumbled mess near his crotch. “Hmm, Guess it needs a spark then.”

I sighed at the idiot and got into my car. I was too tired to fight with him. He wouldn’t leave my car even if I threatened bodily harm. Hell, he’d probably enjoy that more if I did. Silence was the most effective punishment for a man like Carrington Harding.

My mind, however, was screaming. I wouldn’t admit it, but having him here was probably for the best. If he wasn’t hereto keep me moving in the direction of the penitentiary, I might have veered off the road or a cliff, whichever came first.

“So,” Carrington shouted, disturbing the quiet peace of the humming engine and light music playing. We hadn’t even gotten far from the mansion, and he was already making incessantly annoying noises with his mouth. “What we doin’ for fun? I-spy? We’re going on a picnic?—Oh! I know, twenty questions.”

I scrubbed my hand down my face, wondering if I could make up an excuse to exile his ass at a gas station,

“I’ll go first. What’s your favorite color? Mine’s obviously red, like the color of your skin when I bite it. And blood.”

Of course, he was that predictable. Can’t say I’m surprised. Did I really think it would be fuchsia? But what was my favorite color? In truth, my answer was always green. But now, I couldn’t stop looking at the gold of Carrington’s eyes.

“Uh. Yellow. I guess.”

Carrington mulled that over and snickered. “Heh. Makes sense. Sunshine is yellow.”

I shook my head and kept driving.

“Your turn. What burning questions do you want to ask me?”

What was there to ask? Why me? Why did you choose me to break open, causing me constantly to lose my own sanity? Am I fucking gay?

I guess…bisexual.

“Why are you so damn annoying?”

Carrington laughed and waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, that’s too easy. Years of solitude with only my own chaotic mind to entertain me. Pick something real, Sunshine.”

We had too much in common. He lived in a fucking mansion, and I lived in an orphanage, but we were both just as alone growing up. Xanthy had to have been immune to everything, sheltered by their mother, and distracted by all the flashy gifts that replaced the love she didn’t get from anyone…other thantheir maids and servants. Carrington didn’t seem to be fazed by anything new and shiny, except for, well, me.

“Fine. Why me, Care Bear? Why have you chased me down and unraveled me since I stepped through the door of your family’s mansion?”

Unlike the other times, he sat there and contemplated his answer long enough that I looked over at him and watched as he chewed his bottom lip and ran his tongue over those damn piercings.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, a foreign sense of something equivalent to shyness laced through his soft tone. “You are the first person I have ever met who puts on the same mask I do. I guess it feels…good to be with you. I don’t have to put on a show, and I enjoy watching your façade break little by little for me. I want to see the real you.”

To an extent, I understood exactly what he meant. He was the only person who ever knew what I was capable of. He could see the darkness I tried so hard to hide because he was just as fucking dark.

“Why do you call me, Sunshine?”

“Hey, it’s my turn. No rule-breaking, rebel.”

I growled and rolled my eyes. Of course, Carrington fucking Harding would bitch about not breaking rules.