Deceit in Bloom (The Love Unauthorized Series Book 1)

by Jennifer Michael

  “What? Did she let you hold her after one of her nightmares? Did she get you to open up while you tattooed her skin? You’re an idiot, Burke. She doesn’t have nightmares, and she never has, but you fell for the damsel in distress act hook, line, and sinker. We never had a falling out! It was all a farce to get you and her closer, to give her twenty-four-hour access to your every move, and to help us always remain two steps ahead of you.” No way. Braelyn is a lying fucking bitch. There is no way this is truth. She’s trying to fuck with my head. That has to be it. I can’t see Paisley as the person Braelyn is trying to tell me she is.

  “The flowers you put on her skin? A sacrifice and a token from her biggest target. Ever hear of those serial killers who keep mementos from their victims? The tattoo is like that. Your artwork is a permanent reminder of our biggest con to date, our biggest victory. This is our biggest game with the highest reward.” Braelyn has malice in her eyes. Her lip is turned up in a sneer. She seems a little crazy as her garbage seeps into the subconscious of my mind.

  “You were a pay day for her, Burke. Nothing more. You’re like every other man—fooled by cheap tricks and good pussy. Struck dumb with lust for a girl who was playing you. Ask yourself how I even know these things happened between the two of you. Because she’s been reporting back to me and we’ve had more than a few good laughs at your expense.”

  Sitting in this car with her, listening to what’s coming out of her mouth, poison is running through my veins. Her venomous words hit the intended sore spot she was aiming for. It takes all of my restraint to not cold cock her with the gun across her temple to stop the words spewing from her lips. She’s gotten a rise out of me, and I’m more than certain it’s obvious from my demeanor. With pretense gone, I let my anger show as I respond to her. “Enough! Shut up and don’t utter another fucking word unless it’s directions to my sister.”

  We drive on, and I can sense from Braelyn’s discomfort that we’re not far away. With each second that goes by, her posture becomes more rigid, if that’s even possible with the restraints. She’s trying to covertly escape the cords wrapped around her. I’m not worried because it doesn’t seem like she’s having much success. Her phone dings and both of our eyes are drawn to the incoming text that lights up the screen. I reach for it while Braelyn pulls harder against her restraints. The text is from the contact Sonnelion and simply reads, “Text me when the job is done.” I don’t comment on what I find and place the phone back in the cup holder.

  Sensing her defeat and probably worried about whatever I saw on her phone, she speaks again for the first time since my outburst. “Isn’t there something I could do? Couldn’t we come to some sort of agreement? Earlier you saw how good I am with my mouth. I could make you feel good, really good.” Her mood changes give me whiplash. Is she really using me shoving a gun down her throat as motivation of persuasion? All the time spent in the world and countless hours of questioning, and I still don’t think I’d come to understand how this girl works. “What’s wrong with your twisted fucking brain? Is that really how easy conflict resolution normally is for you? Stick a dick in your mouth? My fucking sister is missing and you think I’ll forget about that if you suck on my nuts? How did you and . . .” My words trail off as I realize what I was about to say.

  “Me and Paisley? How did she see me as a sister? How were we raised in the same house? We’ve covered that already. Paisley and I are one in the same. Fucking forget whatever fairy tale you have in your head for how this will end. You’ve no idea how I was raised or what it was like for me growing up. So don’t you fucking judge me. Take the next exit, and you’ll see for yourself.”

  Burke

  Minutes later, we’re taking a long dirt road into what looks like nothing but darkness, and the tall trees create a canopy that blocks the night sky. We’re jostled within the car, shifting back and forth each time the tires hit a hole in the road or a mound of dirt. It doesn’t make for the silent entrance I was hoping for.

  It’s dark without so much as a porch light on anywhere in sight. It makes navigating the car down the path much more difficult. I’m on guard, and the blackness of the night isn’t calming my nerves. I don’t know where to look. My head swivels on my shoulders, trying to see from all angles at the same time in order to scout my surroundings. I keep the gun pointed at Braelyn and drive slowly, tamping down my need to get to Teagan as fast as possible. I’m a one-man army, and I’m betting on them thinking it’s just Braelyn coming if they do hear me, business as usual.

  The farmhouse comes into view, and I finally see the only light in miles, flickering from behind drawn shades. This abandoned house probably doesn’t have electricity, so it’s most likely some sort of lantern or candles.

  I pull to the side of the road and cut the ignition before turning to Braelyn. She seems even more uncomfortable in her skin, and that causes my anxiety to rise. I make one attempt to get Braelyn to show some compassion and ask her for some info. “Probably a stupid question, but since you’re already in an awful position, want to do some sharing and give me a heads up on what I’m walking into?” She’s been hostile at best and maniacal at her worst during this drive, and her mood switches on and off like a light, so I highly doubt she’ll give me anything to go on, but it’s worth a shot. For the first time, there is what seems like human emotion on her face as she answers.

  “I honestly have no idea.” She quickly shrugs and any sign of her humanity leaves her body as the words die on her tongue. Her features go back to stone as she continues trying to free herself from the restraints that hold her hostage.

  I pick her phone back up from the cup holder and open up the last received text from undoubtedly the person who’s behind all of my troubles. I send a simple message back, typing, “The job is done” before I hit send. It’s about time whoever this is gets some misleading information for a change. I take a picture of the evidence from my own phone, including the phone number, and send the images to Kai for backup before I pocket both phones.

  I let the air out from my lungs in one long exhale before exiting the car. Brush and trees surround the property, and from what I saw on the drive there isn’t anything around for miles. This is backwoods Florida that knows nothing of tourists or traffic. No one is coming here for their sunny beach vacation. The dirt road we came in on didn’t even have a street sign. An old barn sits off to the side, but from its appearance it’s been a long time since it was home to any farm animals.

  Farm land stretches all around the buildings, and I assume it used to be covered in some sort of fresh produce. It’s nothing more than dry, overgrown grass and dead trees. The smell of dirt, wood, and the copious rotting life fills my sense of smell. The humidity hangs in the night air while dampening my skin. We’re inland, miles from the coast, and not so much as a breeze moves through the area, creating a stillness in the early morning hours that doesn’t help with the sticky heat.

  I leave Braelyn in the car for obvious reasons. She can’t be trusted when untied, and she will only be a distraction if I lead her in with me at gunpoint. She could, however, be useful as a bargaining chip or a human shield, but I have a feeling she’s probably not worth much to whoever is running the show. She’s in this for the money, so whatever or whoever I face in there won’t have loyalty to her or care about her fate. So, in the car she stays.

  As I’m approaching the house, the front door swings open and someone flies out of it. The person is alone and their frame is small. I quickly take in the appearance of the girl as she dashes out of the house. At first I have hope it’s Teagan but quickly recognize I’m not that lucky tonight. I notice the legs I’ve had wrapped around me and the long hair that smells like vanilla. Paisley. She carries a lantern in one hand and some kind of jug in the other.

  I draw my gun and aim it in her direction. What’s she doing? She seems to be focused on the ground. I move closer as quietly as I can and keep a steady pace forward. When I’m close enough to see what she’s holding, it da
wns on me what she’s about to do. The container she’s holding is red and her focus is cast downward because she’s dousing liquid from where she exited the house to where she stands. She’s about to light this fucking place on fire.

  Teagan is inside, and the girl I love is about to burn the place down. The first time I saw Paisley, I held her eyes across the room of a crowded party I didn’t want to be at, in my own home. Regardless of my reservations about her, I knew right then I’d never seen a girl more beautiful than her in all my life. What was it Braelyn said? Fooled by pussy and cheap tricks. Never did I think we’d end up here. I thought she was a whore looking for her next john. Turns out she was looking for her next mark, and she found it with me. She convinced me she wasn’t who I thought she was with her spunk and her smart mouth. She conned me into opening up my world to her in a way I never had before and never thought I would. Turns out she was worse than I ever thought when I saw her there with Braelyn in my living room. I thought she was a whore hungry for easy money, but she’ a con who doesn’t care who she hurts along the way as long as she gets what she wants. Just like Braelyn.

  I’m maybe only ten feet behind her, and she still hasn’t noticed me. Her focus on the task at hand has worked to my advantage. She must be here alone if she’s about to light the place on fire. Meaning Paisley has been the one helping to keep my sister locked away.

  I can’t believe she’d do that. Paisley hasn’t just been spending time with me, but with Kai and Teagan too. Those two girls have spent countless hours up in Teagan’s room doing who knows what with music blaring. Their laughter and good times could be heard throughout the house when they spent time together. It was another thing I loved about Paisley. I loved how well she fit in with Kai and Teagan, and how they both seemed to like her too.

  Paisley missed her calling for Hollywood because her performance was epic. She could capture any audience on big screens all over the world if she weren’t so busy fucking up my life. I have a clear shot at her as she stands in the wide open, but even after all this, after everything she’s done, I’m not sure I’ll be able to shoot her without talking to her first. Who am I kidding? I’m not sure I’ll be able to shoot her at all.

  I need to hear her tell me what this is. I need to hear the words out of her mouth. Call it closure if you will, but that feels like something a pussy would say. However, one fact remains: I can’t let her light this place on fire—not with Teagan inside. Getting her out once the place is going down in flames wouldn’t be a sure thing, so I might need to grow a pair of fucking balls and shoot her.

  “Don’t do it, Paisley.”

  Her head whips back as my voice cracks on her name. That hasn’t happened since I was twelve years old. This girl is going to break me . . . maybe she already has. Never did I think I’d be looking down the barrel of a gun at those perfect pink lips. Well, never again did I think I’d be taking aim at her. It’s her who has put us in this position, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Her lips part, and it reminds me of how her face looks just before she comes. My head is a fucking mess. Clearly, since I’m thinking about how she looks during sex, while I aim a gun at her because she’s about to try to kill my sister. Could this really be my life? It sounds like the shit daytime television is made of, even to my own ears.

  Her eyes are filled with ghosts as they stare back at me. She holds my penetrating gaze and gives me nothing. She shows no remorse and gives nothing away as he eyes stay locked on mine. That night in the kitchen I thought was playful comes back to haunt me. Paisley joked about “being out to get me” when I asked her how she ended up with Teagan. She told me she had an elaborate plan to take me down. Maybe she was more honest with me than I thought. Maybe she told me exactly what her intentions were.

  We’re both distracted by a car pulling up like a bat out of hell. I can tell from the exhaust it’s Kai without even looking. His GPS and manic driving tendencies got him here quickly. She glances over my shoulder, and the size of her eyes widen impossibly farther. She feels outnumbered. Why that really bothers her, I’m not sure, because alone I could easily overpower her, and I have a gun aimed at her chest.

  Kai’s footsteps head in our direction as he utters a few mumbled curses while he takes in the scene he’s arrived to. Kai doesn’t speak or ask for information. Without question, he’s by my side with his own gun following in my lead. Both our weapons aimed at a girl we’ve come to trust. Her hands shake as she grips the lantern she holds high in the air. Her eyes bounce back and forth between my friend and me. The night is so quiet I can hear the crackle of the lantern she holds until the silence is broken by a loud pounding from inside the house. I’m surprised the rundown frame isn’t shaking with the force behind those hammering thumps. Is that Teagan trying to get out?

  Paisley jumps at the racket and turns to the offending noise. With her back to us, she holds the lantern up higher and takes a few steps back. She looks back and forth between us and the house, and then without warning, she drops the lantern, causing a trail of fire that roars to life heading straight toward the building.

  The overwhelming smell of burning gasoline hits my senses instantly. Fire that burns bright races in a jagged line, lighting the dead grassy area all the way to the front door. The flames burst to life. Flames so hot the orange twists with blue. My mind is blown that she really did it. She lit the fucking place on fire with my sister inside.

  I take off toward the chaos, and Paisley jolts back as I do. There is no time for me to deal with her when I have a much bigger issue. Without breaking pace, I yell to Kai, “Grab her but don’t shoot if you don’t have to!” as I head straight toward the flames that have reached the old farmhouse.

  Nothing is jarring me from the task at hand, and it only slightly registers as sirens fill the night. The noise enters my subconscious and some part of me realizes we have company. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. The noise level of these sirens tells me there are about to be a lot of fucking cops on the scene and they are really close. Then red and blue lights fill my vision causing the flames to dance even brighter as they grow in height and engulf more of the building. The cops’ arrival won’t stop me from entering this burning building. Who knows if they’d get Teagan out in time, but I won’t stop until I find her.

  A voice over an amplifier rings clearly throughout the night. It’s loud and demanding. It calls for attention and order. I recognize it as the guy in charge from earlier today when they arrested Kai. That bastard couldn’t leave well enough alone.

  “Everybody on the ground now!”

  No chance, buddy. I look behind me before I reach the house and see Kai tackle Paisley. Her shriek can be heard echoing throughout the night. Well, they are on the ground like they were ordered. Behind them, cop cars line the dusty road, and dozens of officers stand using their doors as shields with their weapons aimed. All aimed at me since I’m the only one still up and moving.

  It’s extremely obvious to me this looks bad for us, which is actually the biggest understatement of my lifetime. Braelyn is tied up with a jumper cable in my front seat. Kai has tackled a girl to the ground as the cops arrive, and both girls are without weapons from what I could tell when I saw Paisley. We’re three times their size and the ones carrying weapons in an abandoned part of whatever backwoods town Braelyn directed me to. From what I can gather, there is also no one else who was involved in this sordid scheme here. From the cop’s perspective, it’s going to look like their suspect in a missing person crime took a couple more victims and needed a helping hand from his best friend. Hopefully, Teagan will be able to shed some more light on what’s really going on when she gives her side of the story to the law. If she’s here and she’s safe, then she’ll be able to tell them Kai isn’t the person that did this to her.

  It’s then I hear it. My name. She’s alive. Her voice is strained and tired, but it’s clear as day it’s her and what she’s saying. It’s Teagan calling my name as I enter the house that’s going down in fla
mes.

  To be continued…

  This is my first book baby and my first acknowledgment section. Somehow, this part feels just as overwhelming as writing my first novel did. So here it goes . . .

  Audrey, you’re my biggest cheerleader. The light to my dark. You’re my person. I couldn’t have done this without you in my corner cheering me on. You jumped head first into my romance world and accepted every part. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without you and your unwavering confidence in me. Thank you for being you, my sister.

  Jeremy and Alex, I would have ended up stranded, lost on the side of the road a long time ago if it weren’t for you two. I’m sorry for every time you both have had to play savior, but I’m forever grateful for everything you’ve ever done for me. Thank you to both of you for being knowledgeable about cars and guns and being willing to field my questions about both of those topics.

  Casey, I’m not positive you’ll ever read this, but if you do, I’ll know it was just for me. This isn’t your thing, and I know that. Distance can’t destroy a friendship like ours. We’ve been through hell and back. Thank you for all the years we should never talk about. Through the good and the bad we experienced growing up, I gained more than others will ever have in my friendship with you.

  Jamie, we couldn’t be more opposites but somehow we connected fast. We’ve been through a lot over the years, and I’ll forever be grateful that opposites attract. Thank you for being my friend.

  Andrea, thank you for being my funny friend and always making me laugh. Thank you for reading the first attempt at a novel I ever wrote and filling me with the confidence I needed to write this one.