Page 26 of Thorns of Deceit

“Mom does. She doesn’t drinkallthe time, you know.” It was pretty damn close, but I kept those words to myself. “At boarding school, I didn’t have to worry about cooking. We had the cafeteria.”

His brow furrowed. “Boarding school?”

“Yeah, you know, where you live on campus while going to school?”

He let out an impatient noise. “I know what boarding school is. I just didn’t… know you went to one.”

“Guess you didn’t do your homework as well as you thought,” I said, then bit into my sandwich.

“You didn’t grow up in the city?”

I finished chewing my food before answering. “No, we moved a lot. East Coast. West Coast. Name a place, and we probably lived there.”

I took another sip of water before biting into my sandwich again.

“How long has your mom had an alcohol problem?”

His question had me pausing my chewing and I narrowed my eyes at him. “None of your business.”

“I’m not judging, just trying to figure you out.” He spooned some caviar onto a cracker, and it struck me that this was a man who casually ate luxury food on a random Tuesday. That he had it sitting in his fridge at all stretched the chasm between us even more. When was the last time I indulged so freely?

“What is there to figure out?”

“Plenty.”

Eager to change the subject, I turned my attention to the opposite side of the space. “Can I use the pool sometimes?”

“This is your home now, not a prison. Feel free to do whatever you like.”

I returned my attention to him and tilted my face up, trying to gauge if he was serious. “How do you feel about this?”

“‘This’ being…?”

“Marriage.”

I didn’t know him well. Okay, I didn’t know him at all, but he already indicated that this rushed marriage wasn’t how he envisioned tying the knot. Although, he did force me into it.

He shrugged. “I’m sure I was going to get married one day. I could have done worse.”

Well,ouch.

I picked at the strawberries, resolving to seem unbothered. “Ah, yes. Indifference. Every woman’s dream.”

He chuckled. “Would you rather I lie to you and say I fell in love at first sight? Maybe right around the time you kicked off your heels and bolted?”

“Gosh, please no. If that’s the route of deceit you’re going to take, it’s best you don’t lie.”

He nodded as if pleased. “See. We have sensibility in common.”

“Why were you torturing the mayor?” The moment I asked the question, I knew I shouldn’t have, but it was already out there.

“I needed information and he had it.”

I gasped. “And that’s a reason to beat a man to death?”

“Yes. He collected a payment from the organization for protection of our shipment, and it’s on him to ensure it.”

I had a bad feeling that “shipment” entailed drugs and maybe even weapons.