Page 188 of Tell Me Pucking Lies

Bloody hell.

I answer. “What?”

“Where the hell have you been?” Revan’s voice is tight, urgent. “I’ve been calling for an hour.”

“Busy.” I sit up, running a hand through my hair. “What’s so important?”

“Gilbert.” He pauses. “He’s playing at something. Wants me to bring him Koa to end the deal.”

My stomach drops. “Bring him how?”

“Alive. But I don’t like the sound of it. Something’s off.”

I stand, pacing to the window. “So what’s the play?”

“I’m calling the Reapers. Talking to Noah, seeing what we can do.”

“And what can you do?” I already know the answer.

Revan’s silence confirms it. “Nothing. Koa’s not a Reaper. A man handles his own shit. We don’t interfere in blood debts outside the organization.”

“That’s right.”

He exhales hard. “I’m coming to the house. We need to make a plan.”

“Fine. When?”

“Thirty minutes. Maybe less.”

I hang up and stare at the phone for a long moment, processing. Gilbert wants Koa. Revan’s caught between loyalty and duty. Koa is his stepbrother and together they setup both Vincent and Gilbert, so yes, loyalty is valid here. I run a hand through my hair, my dick still hard as a rock. Lexi’s in the shower, oblivious to what’s happening next.

I pull on my jeans, then head down the hall. The bathroom door is cracked open, steam pouring out into the hallway. I can hear the water running.

“Revan’s coming,” I say, pushing the door open wider. “We need to talk strategy when you’re out.”

No response.

I step closer, something prickly crawling up my spine. “Lexi?”

Nothing.

I grab the shower curtain and pull it back.

Empty.

The water’s running hot, steam filling the small space, but there’s no one in there. No Lexi. No clothes. Nothing.

I stare at the empty shower, my mind trying to catch up with what I’m seeing. She played me. Used the sex as a distraction, used my phone call as cover, and slipped out while I was occupied.

I should be angry. Should be raging at the manipulation.

Instead, I stare at the waste of water.

Clever girl.

I reach in and turn off the water.

When I walk into the living room and then the kitchen, she’s not there. I check the bedroom again just to be thorough. Nothing. She’s gone.