Fraud (Antihero Inferno Book 2)

by Lily White

  I cross my arms over my chest and stand my ground instead.

  Screw him. I refuse to be intimidated by a crazy man.

  “Back to what I was saying.”

  Ezra reaches out as if to shove me aside, and I have one of those split-second moments where my life flashes in front of my eyes. Sadly, the memory that sticks out the most is a nine-year-old boy with bruised eyes and a busted lip, the image haunting me like it’s burned into my retinas.

  My breath catches in my lungs waiting to be knocked out of the way, but before he can make contact, another hand locks over Ezra’s arm preventing him from laying even a finger on me.

  Both our heads turn to see Gabriel standing next to us, his expression just as lethal as Ezra’s.

  I take a slight step back, surprise widening my eyes that Gabriel has...again...stepped between one of the Inferno members and me.

  Something unsaid occurs between the two men before Gabriel releases Ezra’s arm to grab mine instead. My feet trip over themselves as he drags me through the living room, past the stairs and to a small library in back.

  He doesn’t bother turning on a light before spinning my back to a wall and caging me against it, his green eyes staring down at me with an odd blend of anger and amusement.

  “Just how many of my friends are you going to make me fight to keep them from killing you?”

  I do a mental count. So far, we’re at three. It’s not bad. Not even half, really. And I had every right to get in Ezra’s face.

  “He’s doing something to Emily.”

  Gabriel lowers his face to mine, his palms braced on the wall on either side of my head. Standing like this only makes him feel insanely large, like he’s Goliath and I’m David, armed with nothing more than a feather.

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “Like hell it isn’t.”

  I tip a defiant chin at that, my arms crossing over my chest.

  Slowly, the corners of his mouth stretch apart, just a slight tilt at the corners.

  “You have no idea what it does to me when you act like this.”

  Judging by the heat behind his eyes, I can take an educated guess. A shiver courses down me, the reaction only made worse when he clasps my chin between his fingers and holds my face still.

  Gabriel’s lips part just slightly as his gaze dips to my mouth. His voice is seductively soft when he explains, “I love the fight in you. So much, in fact, that it’s always made me think of just how much fun it would be to fuck it right out of you.”

  His eyes lift to mine.

  “I’ve always felt that way. Even when I couldn’t stand you.”

  My breath catches at his words, a knot forming in my throat that I struggle to swallow down. It doesn’t work. My voice still cracks apart when I speak.

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  He searches my eyes for a few seconds before answering.

  “The other guys don’t feel the same way. So I’m going to need for you to dial it down a notch. If one of them pisses you off and you feel the need to fight, bring it to me. I’ll be more than happy to work it out of you.”

  I won’t deny the thought sounds fun, but that doesn’t solve the problem with Emily.

  “They’re doing something to her,” I remind him, my voice far softer than I’d intended.

  Understanding smooths the lines of his face. “It doesn’t matter.”

  When I open my mouth to argue, he presses a finger against my lips.

  “At least for right now, it doesn’t. We’re leaving to go home in a few minutes, and she’ll be away from them at her place.”

  That appeases me some, especially since I have every intention of going back to her house with her.

  Relaxing against the wall, I stare up at him.

  “That’s fine. I’ll just ask her what’s up when I go with her back to her place.”

  That damn smile returns, the charming one that hides everything he’s thinking.

  “You’re coming home with me. We have a show to put on.”

  Laughing at that, I roll my eyes. “We don’t have to be staying in the same place in order to pretend we’re actually engaged.”

  His smile widens. “Fine. Then you’re coming with me because you still have a lot of work to do to pay me back for what you did to my house.”

  My eyes narrow in refusal. Partly because of the way he’s looking at me, but mostly because there’s not a drop of humor in the way he said it.

  “Are you telling me I’m still a prisoner? I thought I’d escaped my prison when I joined Team Inferno.”

  Tilting his head, his brows tug together. “Team Inferno?”

  “Yeah, I was going to have t-shirts made.”

  Gabe laughs at that, his forehead lowering to rest against mine, his eyes trapping me in place.

  “You’re coming with me because I can’t let you out of my sight.”

  “And why’s that?” I ask.

  It’s killing me that he’s so close, our breath mingling, our mouths a tempting inch apart.

  “Would you trust you out in the wild?”

  I can’t help my smile. “No.”

  Softly brushing my mouth with his, Gabe whispers, “That’s why.”

  Gabriel

  The ride back to town was spent in silence. I insisted Ivy sit up front with me - mainly so I could grab her if she tried to jump out at a light and make a run for it - while Emily sat between the twins in the back seat.

  The car felt like a stew of negativity, a sticky film coating my skin made from the tears Emily was attempting to hide, the pissed off glares of Damon and Ezra and the contempt written into Ivy’s expression because I’d forbidden her from confronting them about it the entire way home.

  It was annoying the fuck out of me, and I’d briefly considered ditching out myself at a high rate of speed just to end the misery.

  Thankfully, I was able to drop Emily off at her house, and the twins at theirs, which left just Ivy and me as we headed in the direction of my office.

  Tanner was supposed to go in this morning, and I’d been too afraid to check my emails. There’s no telling what I’ll walk into when we get there, but I suspect it’ll be grown men crying and a seriously pissed off legal assistant demanding yet another pay raise.

  We come up to a red light and as we pull to a slow stop, my body tenses in wait for Ivy to do something shifty. I’ve been eyeing her the entire time, the tiny amount of trust we’ve established still balanced on a razor thin precipice.

  She glances at me while we wait for the light to turn green, her eyes narrowing on the side of my head for a brief second before, “How’d you do it?”

  “There’s a thing called the brake pedal on the left of the gas. If you press it with your foot hard enough, the car comes to a stop.”

  Her eyes narrow more.

  “Not that, jackass. How’d you make it sound like you were at the office when you were really outside the cabin? You never answered me last night.”

  Smiling, I lay my head back against the seat, my eyes locked on the red light that is taking its dear sweet time.

  “It’s taken you this long to realize that? I’m sorry, but your question has expired, and I’m no longer required to give you an answer.”

  “Questions don’t have an expiration date.”

  “They do now.”

  “Just answer the question, and stop evading.”

  The light turns green, and I slam on the gas. Ivy grips the door handle, her stare still locked on my face.

  “Doesn’t matter how fast you drive, Gabe. You can’t escape it. I’m still here waiting for an answer.”

  My lips curl. “What if I open your door and shove you out?”

  She rolls her eyes and turns to look out the front windshield.

  A minute passes before she sinks down in her seat and lifts her feet to the dashboard.

  Leaning sideways, I slap at her legs.

  “Do you mind? I don’t want your dirty feet
all over my dash.”

  Her eyebrows shoot up. “Oh? This bothers you?”

  “Yes,” I bark and smack at her legs again.

  Fuck. I shouldn’t have told her that. Ivy’s lips pull into an evil smirk.

  “Would it bother you if I rubbed them over all the expensive leather and chrome?”

  Sliding the bottom of her foot across half her portion of the dash, she watches me closely. My eye twitches in response, my lips pulling into a thin line.

  Her foot stops.

  “I might be willing to pull them down if you tell me how you made me think you were at the office.”

  I shoot her a look. “Is that your game?”

  Ivy nods, her foot sliding higher up the dash.

  “Whatever. I’m not playing.”

  Grinning at my refusal, Ivy stretches her body.

  “That’s good to know. Because I just can’t get comfortable, and I need more room. Would be a shame if I pressed one of my dirty feet right up against the windshield -“

  “Fine,” I growl as my hand clamps down on her knee. “Open the glove box.”

  Quickly removing her feet from the dash, Ivy pulls the lever to open it.

  I don’t keep much in there so it isn’t hard for her to find the small digital recorder. She straightens her posture and hits the button on the side, the general office sounds I’d recorded in prep for surprising her at the cabin blaring.

  Swinging a left, the car dips as I drive down into the underground garage at my office.

  “I’d already stolen my car back when you called. I was sitting in it while talking to you, with that playing in the background.”

  I pull into my reserved spot and throw the car in park, her eyes meeting mine. Ivy has a funny smirk on her face, her head slightly shaking in disbelief.

  “You planned the entire thing.”

  “Of course, I did.”

  Tossing the recorder back into the glove box, she shrugs. “As far as pranks go, that was weak. I expected better of you.”

  “You weren’t saying that when you were hauling ass my direction in the woods.”

  Another slight smirk and shrug. Her eyes scan the garage, as if noticing for the first time we’re no longer on the road.

  “Where are we?”

  “My office. I expect you to behave like a grownup while we’re here.”

  I’m unbuckling my seatbelt when she asks, “Why are we here?”

  “I have to check on a few things.”

  “Like?”

  A groan crawls up my throat. “Like whether Tanner is behaving like a grownup.”

  Quickly, I let myself out of the car and round the front to open Ivy’s door for her. As soon as I offer a hand to help her out, her eyes lift to mine. That spark jumps the second she accepts my hand, the same one that has been there since we were children.

  I wonder now if I’d misinterpreted it through the years. If the spark had become fire and I’d chosen to see the destruction instead of what it really is.

  That’s the problem with fire, I guess. It’s duplicitous. And while it’s violent enough to raze the world around you, angry enough to burn everything you know to the ground, it’s also necessary to clear out what’s useless and dead so that something beautiful and new can be born among the ashes.

  I saw the world burning, but I never recognized what sprang to life once the light from the flames went out and the ash cooled.

  Seeing it now, my fingers curl over Ivy’s hand, and I tug her to her feet. A breath blows over her lips when I pull her against my body, close her door and then pin her to the side of the car.

  Ivy laughs, her voice a rough whisper.

  “You’d better be careful, Gabriel. The world doesn’t want us together. One wrong move and the building will collapse over our heads.”

  I watch her lips move, my voice just as rough as hers. “Why do you think that is?”

  When I look up into her eyes, all I see is truth.

  “Maybe because we’re two opposing forces. We may have a ceasefire now, but will it last?”

  I fucking hope so...

  And at the same time, I don’t. Nobody has ever challenged me as much as Ivy.

  Stepping away from her, I release her hand and walk to the private elevator that leads directly to the floor where our personal offices are.

  Thankful for it, only because is means I won’t have to walk Ivy through the lobby, I tap the button and enter my code. The motor hums to life.

  Ivy breaks the stiff silence. “Is my price to Tanner paid now? Am I done?”

  “No,” I answer far too quickly. It’s not a lie. Even if she should be done. I’m not willing to let this go yet.

  “Why not? I told you what I know about my dad.”

  Slipping my hands into my pockets, I stare at the metal doors, waiting for them to open.

  “What you told us isn’t something we can use against him. So it doesn’t count.”

  She grows quiet, the doors sliding open a second later. After we step inside and the car lifts, Ivy breaks the silence with another aggravating question.

  “Do you know what Tanner has on me? What I did that left me with no choice but to go to him for a favor?”

  Of course I know. I’m the one who set it up. The end of our senior year was fast approaching, and my hatred of her was driving everything I did. I needed one last slap, one last fuck you that would become a long game I could use to finally win this war.

  It was the perfect game, one she never saw coming and hadn’t even known occurred after the trap snapped closed to catch her in it.

  For ten years, I waited for the day the price for the favor would be called in. Tanner was the only other person who knew it.

  I knew the day would come when I could look her in the eyes and explain how I did this to her. That I’d played a long game that was better than all the stupid and cruel pranks we’d played as kids.

  And now that our relationship has twisted to become something other than the hatred it’s always been, I have no idea how to admit what I’ve done.

  “No clue,” I casually answer, my eyes locked on the numbers at the side of the door, my hands sliding into my pockets again as we draw close to my floor.

  “None at all? I find that hard to believe.”

  Glancing at her for only a second, I grin.

  “You weren’t exactly important enough for Tanner and I to talk about over the past ten years.”

  I can feel her staring at me, and it takes effort to keep from looking back.

  The elevator comes to a stop, the doors rolling open smoothly. Reaching out, I hold them open while waiting for Ivy to walk ahead.

  I run into her back when she stops suddenly, my eyes lifting over her head to see what caused her to pause.

  Warbucks steps up to stand in front of us with Daddy Dearest and Tanner behind him. My gaze cuts to Tanner wondering why the fuck he didn’t call to warn me they’re here.

  My stare returns to our fathers. As usual, they’re dressed to the nines, their mouths held in disapproving lines as they glare in my direction.

  My hand grips Ivy’s wrist to tug her behind me as I step forward, anger slicing down my spine at the way Warbucks slides his eyes her direction.

  Both of these pricks see women as nothing more than a pussy to fuck or a pretty face to make them look good, and I’ll slice both of their throats if they so much as think about touching Ivy.

  “I’m surprised to see you here.”

  My voice is smooth as butter, my fake persona slamming down so hard, I can feel it rattle at my feet.

  Warbucks’s eyes turn back to me, the same green as mine.

  “Yes, well, I haven’t heard from you since you got engaged. Unfortunately, I also saw that engagement fell through. Imagine my surprise to discover both those details about my son through the news and not from his mouth specifically.”

  “I’ve been busy.”

  He grins, the expression cutting.

  “I came t
o make sure you’re okay since the article I read mentioned how pathetically sad you are to have broken up with your fiancée.”

  He glances back at Ivy, and I have to suppress a growl.

  “Apparently you two have made up.” Eyes back to me. “How interesting.”

  Rather than playing his game according to his rules, I return the bullshit smile he’s giving me.

  “It was all very dramatic and sad, but-“

  Ivy steps around me before I realize she’s moving, her hand extended to shake Warbucks’s before I can finish rattling off the crap I was about to spew. Voice dying mid-sentence, I resist the urge to grab her and drag her right the fuck back behind me.

  Ivy’s voice is so sweet, it makes my teeth ache.

  “Mr. Dane, I don’t think we’ve seen each other since Emily and Mason’s engagement party. You’re looking as dapper as ever.”

  I’d almost forgotten how well-versed Ivy is in our social circle’s fake conversations. Which is stupid of me. Of course, she knows exactly what to say.

  However, when she suddenly switches into the pampered princess act she’d used on me on our first date, my brow cocks to recognize it.

  “And Mr. Caine. It’s good to see you as well.”

  Ivy lets out a giggle that makes my ears bleed, a stupid sound you’d expect from a pre-teen more than a woman.

  “You know, I never realized how your names rhyme. Dane and Caine. That’s funny. Don’t you think? Someone should write a poem or a song about you two.”

  All of us stand frozen as she tilts her head and twirls a strand of hair, her blue eyes batting in Warbucks’s direction.

  “Anyway, I’m so sorry Gabriel hasn’t been in touch. I told him to let you know. It’s just that everything was so sudden, and your son is such a romantic. Does he get that from you?”

  Biting my cheek to keep from laughing, I relax to see the act she’s putting on is causing Warbucks’s blood pressure to skyrocket. His ruddy cheeks darken in color, his green eyes glaring down at what he assumes is the dumbest woman in the world.

  I find it telling that Warbucks never shook her hand despite her reaching out to him, and hasn’t said a word to her in response.

  It doesn’t stop Ivy from rushing forward with her one-sided conversation.

  “Gabriel and I are just getting back from my father’s office.”