Fraud (Antihero Inferno Book 2)

by Lily White

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Epilogue

  This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and storylines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Fraud: Copyright © 2020 by Lily White

  Proofreader: Kim BookJunkie

  Cover Design: Lori Jackson Design

  Photographer: Michelle Lancaster, www.michellelancaster.com

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced, scanned, distributed in any printed or electronic form or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Antihero Inferno Book 2

  by Lily White

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  OTHER BOOKS BY LILY WHITE

  MASTERS SERIES:

  Her Master’s Courtesan

  (Book 1 of the Masters Series)

  (Available on Smashwords and lilywhitebooks.com)

  Her Master’s Teacher

  (Book 2 of the Masters Series)

  Her Master’s Christmas

  (Novella in the Masters Series)

  Her Master’s Redemption

  (Book 3 of the Masters Series)

  Her Master’s Reckoning

  (Book 4 of the Masters Series)

  STANDALONE NOVELS:

  Target This

  Hard Roads

  Asylum

  Wake to Dream

  Four Crows

  Crazy Madly Deeply

  Rules of Engagement

  Wishing Well

  The Five (Also available in Audio)

  Sin and Discipline

  Dirty Girls

  In the Garden of Discontent

  The Vanity of Roses

  The Danger You Know

  ILLUSIONS DUET

  Illusions of Evil

  (Book 1 of the Illusions Duet)

  Fear the Wicked

  (Book 2 of the Illusions Duet)

  ANTIHERO INFERNO SERIES

  Treachery

  Fraud

  Violence – coming July 2020

  Heresy – coming soon

  Anger – coming soon

  Greed – coming soon

  Gluttony – coming soon

  Lust – coming soon

  Limbo – coming soon

  DARK EXCLUSIVE - Available only on LilyWhiteBooks.com:

  The Director

  NINE CIRCLES

  FIRST CIRCLE (LIMBO)

  MASON STROM

  SECOND CIRCLE (LUST)

  JASE KESSON

  THIRD CIRCLE (GLUTTONY)

  SAWYER BLACK

  FOURTH CIRCLE (GREED)

  TAYLOR MARKS

  FIFTH CIRCLE (ANGER)

  DAMON CROSS

  SIXTH CIRCLE (HERESY)

  SHANE CARTER

  SEVENTH CIRCLE (VIOLENCE)

  EZRA CROSS

  EIGHT CIRCLE (FRAUD)

  GABRIEL DANE

  NINTH CIRCLE (TREACHERY)

  TANNER CAINE

  fraud

  noun

  A person who intends to deceive others

  I’m going to start this story with a warning.

  You all deserve it.

  Every woman does.

  We have to look out for each other when it comes to men, and I’m doing you all a huge favor by telling you this.

  Jerome Gabriel Dane, IV is a two-faced liar.

  Oh, sure, he’ll walk up to you with his peacock strut, his tail so high and wide that you are mesmerized by all his pretty colors. But I can promise you, that behind his charming smile and those bright green eyes, there’s a man who plans to wreck your world without one ounce of guilt for doing it.

  I should know.

  He’s wrecked mine more than once.

  It’s okay, though.

  I’ve wrecked his back.

  The sad truth is I have no idea why all of this started.

  He’s hated me since the day we met.

  What I do know is that he’s locked me in his sights again with a promise to destroy me. Maybe it’s my fault he’s out for blood this time.

  Maybe not.

  I like to think we’re both to blame. But that’s because I’m fair.

  Not Gabriel.

  He’s just a monster disguised in gorgeous wrappings.

  A man that wouldn’t know the truth if it slapped him in the face.

  Don’t believe anything he tells you. About me or anybody else. And whatever you do, don’t fall for him. I’m telling you now, you’ll live to regret it.

  If you do fall - if you believe his pretty lies - don’t come back to me looking for a shoulder to cry on.

  I told you the truth.

  I warned you.

  It’s not my fault if you choose not to listen.

  . . .

  Ivy

  Pasting on a fake smile to flash at Mrs. Gilmore as she passes by in her sparkling, vintage gown, her arm wrapped with that of her elitist
husband, Reginald Paul Gilmore, I can only think one thing:

  If I don’t get out of this party soon, I’ll scream and lose my mind.

  I can’t take it anymore.

  The pretending.

  The pandering.

  This ridiculous group of wealthy, snobby people with their noses tipped up and their elbows rubbing.

  They all have greased palms and wear paper-thin masks. Not one of them caring about the world beyond their stock portfolios, bank accounts and illustrious assets that are nothing more than convenient toys.

  It’s always the same with them. And I often think that if they were stripped of their finery, of their cosmetic surgery, of the diamonds that sparkle and their tailored clothes, these people would wither under the stare of true public scrutiny.

  Then again, I’m one of them. Always have been.

  Being the daughter of a high-power attorney turned career politician has rooted me to this life, regardless of whether I’ve wanted it.

  My existence comes with a rulebook that not many have to follow. I was bottle-fed expectations as an infant, weighed down with highbrow manners and proper behavior growing up.

  By the time I hit high school, my life felt more like a constant audition than anything resembling freedom.

  Although, I’m not quite sure what I was auditioning for.

  Certainly not to be the center of attention like I’ve become. I never asked to be a miniature model of the socialite heiress who pretended to raise me, but only when people were watching.

  Yet here I am, standing among my many admirers, a fake smile plastered to my face, my gown shimmering just like theirs, as I say all the expected things so that my parents will be proud of me.

  Just like always.

  “Did you hear about Julie Cotter?”

  My eyes slide right at Emily’s question. I’m not sure I want to know what she’ll say next.

  Julie is second tier to our first, a girl we met in prep school who was fighting to work her way up the social ladder but could never quite make it. Her family didn’t have enough money, and she never wore the right clothes. Yet, she’d always been in the periphery of our view, like a wildflower most considered a weed where she grew among the precious, prized roses.

  In truth, I always kind of liked Julie, and I was jealous of her in a way. While I was forced to walk a line that was frustratingly straight and narrow, she could afford to veer off the path without catching too much hell for it.

  She was also a wild child like me, except she never had to hide it.

  “What did she do now?”

  Emily smirks, her turquoise eyes glimmering as much as the black strapless gown she’s wearing.

  “Got knocked up by a biker.”

  My head snaps her direction. “What?”

  While her gaze scans the small grouping of people around us, Emily grins.

  “I shit you not. And get this. She left her family to take off with him.”

  “Lucky bitch,” I mutter. “My father would kill me if I tried something like that.”

  Eyes meeting mine, she shakes her head, her dark red hair sliding over a shoulder.

  “Yours and mine both. Girl, we’d be chopped up and dropped in the ocean. They’d never find our bodies.”

  We laugh, but inside I’m crying, my jealousy sinking deeper for a girl that didn’t know how lucky she was to never stand among our crowd.

  I may not have the freedom to run off with bikers, but at least my life isn’t as bad as Emily’s.

  Not yet, anyway.

  “You nervous about tonight?”

  “I hate this,” she admits softly.

  Emily’s expression drops, the fake smile she’s been wearing all night curling down at the corners as worry lines cut across her forehead.

  Unable to see the obvious pain without wanting to march over and murder her father, I glance away and scan the crowd.

  As usual, my parents’ backyard is decked out to the extreme, my mother’s demand for glamour happily appeased by the party planners she’d hired.

  White tents are situated throughout, the interiors lit by the glow of flickering candles. Above our heads, the tree branches are strung with delicate white lights that resemble twinkling stars.

  Everywhere you look, crystal embellishments add elegance to the design, their multi-faceted surfaces sparkling just as brightly as the gowns of the female guests.

  It’s money as far as the eye can see, people mingling and bragging about their lives as the waitstaff carry around hors d’oeuvres and flutes of expensive champagne on polished silver trays.

  I hate everything about it. Still, I stand among my peers, preening like the ornament I am, while my social butterfly mother flutters about here and there to ensure the guests are happy.

  Of all the people surrounding me now, Emily is the only one I care about. The third member of our trio refused to come to the party tonight. Given the reason for this event, I can’t blame her.

  We try to appear engaged in the conversation around us, and I laugh at something Paul Rollings has to say, even though I didn’t hear a word of the joke. Touching his shoulder, I pretend I actually want him nearby.

  Emily turns to say something to me, but her gaze cuts over my shoulder, her beautiful turquoise eyes widening at what she sees.

  “Don’t look now, but the biggest asshole known to man just walked in.” Her head tilts, “But I don’t recognize the woman he has on his arm.”

  Knowing better than to acknowledge the devil when he appears, I glance quickly over my shoulder to see Tanner Caine leading around his latest victim.

  His date is wearing a beautiful white to black hombre gown, her light brown hair pulled up to expose her shoulders.

  “That poor woman probably has no idea what kind of man she’s with tonight. Somebody should warn her.”

  “She’s pretty,” Emily remarks, her eyes still tracking them across the distance.

  “And an idiot if she’s willing to spend time with him.”

  Emily’s eyes round wider. “Oh shit.”

  I turn to look, but she grabs my face and tugs it back. “He’s walking over here.”

  My heart jumps into my throat, the rate of my pulse a freaking jackhammer. “What?”

  “Act natural.”

  People move out of the way as Tanner approaches.

  All of us went to prep school together, and everybody here knows not to get in his way. I studiously keep my eyes trained on Emily’s smiling face, but it doesn’t make me invisible like I hoped.

  Within seconds, Tanner’s hand clamps over my elbow, and he leans down to whisper quietly. “We need to talk.”

  No.

  This is bad.

  I briefly wonder how awful it would look if I screamed and ran away.

  Smiling despite the ice coating my spine, I ask, “What about?”

  Dark green eyes meet mine. “I think you know.”

  I’m wearing a bright smile like it is a life jacket. Clinging to it as if it’s the door in Titanic that Jack could have fit on if Rose would have moved over.

  You have to around Tanner. This man has the ability to suck you down beneath churning waters, and there’s not much you can do when he’s caught you.

  “This is a bad time. Can we talk about it later?”

  The corner of his mouth crooks, pure evil in that look.

  “We can discuss it right here in front of everybody, if you’d like.”

  Damn it.

  “If you all will excuse me,” I say, my terrified gaze meeting Emily’s as I allow Tanner to lead me away.

  People are staring, so I play it off that we’re only flirting, that I actually want to be near a man who should never be trusted. My body leans into him, the easy confidence I have with men on display even if my nerves are scraped raw and panic is trickling like rain in my head.

  “You owe me something, and it’s time you pay up.”

  Voice low, Tanner brushes his mouth against my ear. Thankfully
he’s playing along that this conversation isn’t a nightmare come to life.

  To the outside, we’re nothing more than two people enjoying each other’s company. But the truth is that I made a mistake a long time ago, and the devil at the crossroads has finally come along to collect on the contract I signed.

  From across the party, my mother turns our direction, her glossed lips stretching into a smile because she would love nothing more than to see me with one of the Inferno boys.

  Except, that will never happen. I don’t care how influential their families are. None of them are worth the wreckage they cause.

  Except for maybe one in particular.

  Or maybe not…

  “I need information on your father. Something I can use against him.”

  More panic rains down inside me, a light storm becoming a violent hurricane.

  “No.” I look up at him, my body shivering as the blood drains to my feet. “He’s my dad. I can’t do that to him.”

  Tanner grins, his lack of concern for my loyalties apparent.

  “That’s not my problem. I need the information, and you’ll give it to me. That’s my price for what I did for you.”

  “That was in high school. Are you seriously holding that over my head?”

  His eyes meet mine, no humor behind them.

  “I never do a favor for free,” he answers softly. It’s a lover’s voice, only instead of seducing me, he’s ripping me to shreds.

  “And if I don’t pay up?”

  Giving me a slight smile, something polite and cordial to an outside observer, Tanner steps away from me. “I’ll let you think about it. I know you’re smarter than that.”

  Tanner walks off with his usual confidence. Meanwhile, my world is crumbling down.

  When I step up to my group, my knees weaken. My legs unsteady.

  Emily catches me by wrapping her arm through mine, and I turn my head to watch Tanner leave, his date peering back at me with concern in her expression.