Page 10 of Tangled Lies

I felt his presence behind me before I realized he was there. This was the guy on the wall, the one watching everything. He seemed to be in charge.

He was so close I could smell the masculine scent that was uniquely him.

“Can we poison him?” I asked under my breath.

The chuckle wasn’t what I expected.

“You’re unexpected, little bird. But sorry. Fresh out of poison,” the guy said.

I stepped away from the guy, not paying much attention to anything else. I wanted to do something and I had very few skills.

Lucky me, Carrow seemed rather drunk and moved slowly. He’d taken a detour to the bathroom, just to finally head back toward the door. I had to move quickly to cut him off. When I did, I saw the lust in his eyes. This might be fun.

“Hey, leaving so soon?”

I ran my finger from his collar down to his fourth button.

“Hey, sexy. I’ve been trying to get your attention all night,” Carrow said.

I kept the fake smile on my face, hiding how much he grossed me out.

“Well, here I am. What were you thinking?”

Me? I was chasing ideas in my head. Get him naked and take incriminating photos and send them from his own phone to newspapers?

Or I could tie him up naked and leave him to rot for days or however long it might take for hotel staff to discover someone who wouldn’t be missed much.

Someone yanked me away.

“Not a chance, little bird.”

It was the same damn guy.

“Get the fuck out and take that bimbo with you.”

Said bimbo was eyeing me like I’d ruined Christmas. Whatever.

“Excuse me, buzz kill. You said you were out of poison. I have another plan.”

He carried me away, and I heard the guy at the door excuse them. I stopped fighting.

“Why did you go and spoil my fun? Who are you to care?”

He carried me back into the room, back toward the tables.

Ten minutes ago my feet ached and I wanted to leave. But when Mr. Tall, Dark and Broody planted my ass on the edge of the poker table, I realized there were only four men here. All four with matching masks, like they were all part of the same set. This one though, the one who had pointed out Carrow, I studied him as the night had progressed. All predators. The four of them were and something in me wanted to collect them all.

The way the jacket he wore clung to him, it wasn’t hard to imagine the muscles it no doubt hid.

I hoped the smile I plastered on my face looked seductive. I went to hop off the table, but he caged me between his arms. I should have been afraid, but maybe my uncle had killed that side of me long ago.

“Do I get extra if I stay?” I asked with confidence, because I had nothing to lose.

I liked the way his hand rose and grazed my cheek.

“Depends. You play a round with my guests and make it interesting, I can promise you more than even your little friend got.”

When I sucked in air, I couldn’t ignore the scent of him. Clean soap and musky male. His hair hung in almost perfect strands over his forehead, like even it didn’t dare not listen to this man.