Page 38 of Symphony for Lies (Tangled Truths #2)

His gaze softened slightly, and something unspoken flickered in the depths of his eyes like he was waiting for me to say something.

“And the flowers?” His voice was deceptively light, but there was an edge beneath it.

I hesitated. “Spencer brought them over.”

“So, he was just here. And you were… dressed like that?” His possessive gaze dipped lower.

“Of course not! I changed after—” I snapped my mouth shut, realizing too late that I was playing into his hands.

His smirk deepened.

He was enjoying teasing me.

Zane leaned forward slightly, his presence intoxicating and his voice a whisper of sin.“Step back.”

Before my mind could catch up, my body obeyed.

And then, he jumped.

A sharp gasp left my lips as he landed on my balcony with effortless grace, barely making a sound.

“Are you crazy?” I glanced at the dizzying drop between our balconies.

He closed the distance between us in a single step, his breath teasing the corner of my mouth. “For you? Completely.”

I swallowed hard.

He was close. Too close.

I could feel him, the heat radiating from his body and the raw energy rolling off him in waves. It wrapped around me like an invisible tether, pulling me deeper into his gravity.

“Were you worried I’d get hurt? ”

I scoffed, but the sound barely came out.

His gaze darkened, dragging over my lips, down my throat, and lower as if he were memorizing me.

“Zane,” I warned.

He tilted his head, exuding nothing but pure, unshakable confidence.

“You could’ve just used the front door,” I tried, hating how breathless I sounded.

“Where’s the thrill if I do?” He was silk and smoke, the kind of thing that tangled around you before you even realized you were caught.

The space between us had disappeared without me noticing.

My fingers curled involuntarily, itching to grab his shirt to pull him even closer. To let him ruin me the way only he could.

“How about a room tour?” he teasingly asked against my lips.

I held his gaze, heart hammering against my ribs.

I stepped back and motioned for him to follow me through the apartment, and for the most part, he stayed unusually quiet. His sharp eyes scanned the space, taking in every detail, but they kept returning to me—like I was the only thing in the room that truly mattered.

He stopped in the bedroom, gazing at my bed. “Looks a lot like your old room.”

I nodded, a small, wistful smile playing on my lips. “It does.”

His lips curved into something amused. “Your bed seems bigger, though.”

That knowing smirk widened as he watched realization dawn on my face.

Swallowing hard, I shoved him out of the room and practically forced him to sit on the couch. But his gaze never wavered, following me, burning through the space between us like an unspoken touch.

I brought him a drink and settled beside him. The moment I did, the air thickened with electricity. My skin tingled .

“Have you seen the news?”

I frowned.

He held out his hand. “Give me your phone.”

I hesitated but eventually passed it over.

“First of all…” he murmured, swiping across the screen. “…you’re going to unblock me.”

He pulled up my contacts, but when he saw that his name was already unblocked, he sent me a raw look. And in that moment, I knew I had just given him more than I intended.

“What was I supposed to see?” I asked, leaning back and trying to regain control of my breath.

It took him a second. Like he was physically restraining himself. Then, after a long pause, he tapped something on my phone and held it out to me.

A headline in bold, accusing letters stared back at me.

Aria Family Scandal. Engagement rumors with Zane Cole a distraction?

I skimmed the details, barely able to process what I was reading.

Fraud. Financial schemes. Possible bribery. The Aria family was drowning in debt, desperate to maintain their influence, and they had used the Cole family to do it.

“They tried to use you?”

“They tried to pull me into their business,” he explained coldly. “My mother owed them. And Ella—” He exhaled sharply, his tone dropping into something lethal. “Ella is obsessed with me.”

I stiffened, letting the new information sink in.

“Was this your doing?”

He leaned back, fingers tapping against the armrest as if weighing his words.“Not just mine.”

“Who helped you? ”

He didn’t answer immediately. His hands curled into fists before slowly releasing them. “I’ve been working on this for a long time with my assistant. Before you even got caught in this mess, Amelia.”

His words were like a confession waiting to be spoken. “They manipulated my mother, and they wanted to trap me. To force me into this engagement with Ella so they could own me.”

A slow exhale left my lips. “And you let them think they could?”

“I let them believe it…” he corrected. “…so I could destroy them from the inside. When I saw what they did to you… When I watched you lose everything because of their disgusting methods...”His fingers flexed again, knuckles turning white.

“I made them pay for it. And I warned Ella that if she ever tried to talk to you or even breathe in your direction, I’d ruin her. She knows I meant it.”

The words hung between us like a storm.

I didn’t realize I had moved closer until my fingers brushed against his. The warmth of his skin sent a ripple of heat up my arm, but he didn’t flinch. If anything, he looked like he was barely holding himself together.

“My mother went to see you. She said she wanted to apologize. And she claims she had nothing to do with getting you fired from the school, or the bribery attempt at the clinic.”

My brows furrowed.

Something wasn’t adding up.

“So it was the Aria family?”

He nodded.

But he wasn’t looking at my face anymore. His eyes drifted slowly down my body, tracing the bare skin of my thighs, lingering at my waist, and climbing higher. I felt his gaze like a touch, like heat curling around my ribs, stealing the breath from my lungs.

His lips parted slightly, and a muscle ticked in his jaw as his throat bobbed with a slow, controlled swallow.“Wow. ”

His hand was still beneath mine, warm and strong.

“Zane? Are you okay?”

His gaze snapped to mine, and the look in his eyes hit me like a slow-burning flame. An unapologetic, desperate yearning.

“I’ve never been better,” he vowed huskily.

Needing a moment to collect my thoughts, I said,“Thank you for your honesty, Zane.”

I stood up, trying to make space between us and whatever was happening. I grabbed a small, delicate knitted sweater my grandmother had made for Ivy before her passing.

“And thank you for taking Ivy in. For bringing her to Simon.”

When I turned back to him, I held the tiny garment out.

“Just a thank you?” His voice was a dangerous invitation.

I laughed, deciding to tease him back. Pressing my fingers to my lips, I blew him a playful kiss.

And that was a mistake.

The moment my lips left my hand, something snapped.

His expression changed, and he gripped the edge of the couch like he was physically restraining himself.

I unleashed something in him.

One breath.That was all it took.

He stood up and placed his firm, unyielding, and possessive hands on me. His grip stole the air from my lungs as they wrapped around my waist and effortlessly lifted me into his arms.

“Zane!”

His husky chuckle cut my protest short, sending heat over my spine.

He carried me with steady, purposeful strides, his fingers pressing into my skin as if he had been waiting for such a moment for far too long.

It all happened in an instant.

One second, I was over his shoulder. The next, I was on my mattress, breathless and caged beneath him.

His body hovered above mine, his gaze predatory and so unbearably intense. I couldn’t breathe.

And his lips… God, his lips. They curled into that knowing smirk. The one that made my stomach drop and my pulse quicken. The one that made my body heat up in ways I couldn’t control.

He kissed me.

His lips took mine with a hunger that shattered my senses. Like he was starving for me. Like he had spent every moment we were apart fighting the urge to claim my mouth.

His hands roamed my body, tracing, learning, and memorizing. As if he wanted to own every inch of me.

I was drowning in him, in his scent, in his taste, in the way he pressed against me, his body solid and unrelenting.

But I didn’t push him away.

I pulled him closer.

My fingers tangled in his hair, nails scraping light against his scalp as I dragged him deeper into the kiss, into me.

A deep, primal growl rumbled from his chest.

His tongue tangled with mine, coaxing and teasing, as his hands slid down my sides, worshipping my skin.

“Amelia.” My name was a whisper, a plea, a command.

He pulled back just enough to look at me, his eyes dark and stormy, pupils blown wide with something unrestrained.

“Do you still want me?”

I stared up at him, my pulse a frantic rhythm.

Zane Cole was hesitant. Because of me.

The realization made something deep inside my chest warm.

I trailed my fingers along the nape of his neck, feeling the tension of barely restrained need in his muscles.

I held his gaze and let him see the answer in my eyes before I spoke.

“Of course, I still want you.”