Page 119 of Tell Me Pucking Lies

I was expecting frat-house chaos. Beer cans and broken furniture.

Not this.

This is deadly. Controlled. Expensive. Intimidating.

The sedan drives around me and pulls ahead at the gate. It opens automatically, smooth and silent.

I follow, heart pounding so hard I can hear it in my ears.

The gate clanks shut behind me.

This isn’t a mansion. It’s a trap.

I park behind the sedan and kill the engine.

For a moment, I just sit there, hands still on the wheel, staring at the mansion through the windshield.

The driver’s side door of the sedan opens.

A man steps out.

And I forget how to breathe.

He’s sin wrapped in olive skin. Tattoos cover his arms, disappearing under the sleeves of his black shirt. Dark hair. Sharp jawline. The kind of face that makes you forget your own name.

I swallow hard, forcing myself to look away.

Revan gets out next. He’s covered in ink with brown waves that land on his forehead. His eyes find mine, and they bite me awake, shocking my system until I look down at the ground.

They walk around the car, waiting for me to get out. I step out of the Charger, tucking the keys in my pocket.

I don’t know where to keep my eyes, but when I look up again, my eyes know exactly where they want to go. The taller one. The one that was driving like a maniac.

Revan glances back at his friend, then back at me.

“Do you know him?” Revan asks.

I shake my head quickly, meeting Revan’s eyes. “No.”

The tattooed man doesn’t acknowledge me. Just walks toward the mansion without a word.

I follow Revan inside with shaky legs.

The mansion smells like steel, motor oil, and expensive cologne. It’s beautiful in a cold, lonely way. High ceilings. Dark wood. Chandeliers that cast shadows instead of light.

My footsteps echo on the marble floor.

Then a group of men walk into the hallway ahead of us—tall, broad, moving with the kind of confidence that comes from never being afraid.

They glance at me, then at Revan.

“Who the fuck is this?”

I stare at them, intimidated, yes. I don’t know what kind of hell I walked into, so I decide to be respectful.

“Lexi,” I answer for myself before Revan can.

He walks up to me, eyeing me up and down. “What are you doing in the Reaper’s home, Lexi?”