Treachery Prequel

“No thanks,” I answered without bothering to let him extend the invitation.

“I have no reason to go there. I’m supposed to meet up with Clayton and Everly later, and the last person Everly wants to see is Jase.”

His brows lifted, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Is that so? Because last I saw, she was straddling his lap back at the house as I was leaving.”

He paused, his grin widening to see I was clueless when it came to the constant back and forth between those two.

“It seems they’ve made up. And as for Clayton...”

Holding up a finger as if to ask me to give him a second, Gabriel pulled his phone from his pocket, dialed a number and hit the screen to put the call on speaker. Clayton’s voice rolled over the line a second later.

“Gabriel. What’s up, man?”

Rolling my eyes, I glanced down at my books, the legal jargon glaring back at me as if daring me to process and understand it while my head was such a mess.

Gabriel ignored my feigned inattention. He knew damn well that I was listening despite my attempt to pretend I wasn’t.

“I wanted to know if you’re coming out to the house tonight.”

Clayton’s answer surprised me.

“I’m supposed to hook up with Luca later, but I was going to convince her to tag along. I’ll give her a call when I’m done with these papers -“

“No need,” Gabriel interrupted, his eyes like lasers burning holes in the side of my face.

“I have Luca here with me. You’re on speaker, by the way. So, why don’t I strip her away from the library tonight and you can just meet us there?”

My teeth gnashed together, a

Clayton took a second to answer, the sound of shuffling paper and a stapler slamming down before he said, “Sounds good.”

Hanging up, Gabriel’s eyes danced in my direction.

“All solved. It looks like your bestie and your man will be at our house. Now you have no reason not to come along.”

Clayton wasn’t exactly my man. We were dating, yes, but hadn’t discussed exclusivity. I wasn’t sure I wanted anything more with him than what we already had. He didn’t call to me in any way, didn’t make my heart hammer in my chest like another particular asshole did.

Speaking of which...

“Actually,” I answered, anger glaring back to life to replace the pain of my mother’s condition, “I have a lot of work to get done.”

I flipped a page of the book as if I had the capability of reading what was on the paper.

Turning to look at him, I tilted my head.

“Thanks to your dickhead of a friend, I’m on my own when it comes to this tort project. Considering how much work needs to be put into it, I don’t think I’ll be available in the next few weeks for anything.”

Tsking, Gabriel shook his head. “You do know lying is an art form, correct?”

“You should know,” I scoffed. “You’re practically Michelangelo when it comes to that particular art.”

“More like Jackson Pollock. I just splash that shit around while laughing at how idiots drool over it. But that’s not the point.”

I rolled my eyes. “What is your point?”

“My point is you’ve already admitted you had no plans on staying here all night to finish your project. And unless you intend to hang around and do something useful, like finding the cure to cancer-“

My eyes narrowed on him for making light of what I’d said about my mom. He only gri

“-That means you can put these books aside for a few hours and come have some fun with me.”

“Except I don’t want to see Ta

“And he doesn’t want to see you. But, you can rest assured that unless you trip and land on his dick somehow, he’ll leave you alone while you’re under my invite and protection. I’m giving you my word that all will remain copacetic because you’re there as my guest looking to have a good time.”

Damn it. I wanted to argue with him, but Gabriel made it difficult to say no. He was gorgeous with straight white teeth and adorable dimples, a face of i

The truth was I needed to get out and not think about my mother or the project I wouldn’t find the focus to work on tonight. And if Everly would be there, I was sure I could relax a touch in Ta

Most likely, he’d be so busy with his gaggle of willing girls, he wouldn’t even notice me. But then again, Ta

“Do you promise you’ll keep Ta

He lifted three fingers and answered, “Scout’s honor.”

Breathing out a heavy sigh, I caved and accepted the offer.

“Fine. But only if you make a deal with me.”

I highly doubted Ta

The corners of his lips twitched, his eyes meeting mine with interest.

“What’s the deal?”

“If Ta

Brows lifting, his mouth pursed, but then pulled into a Cheshire grin.

“I would have thought better of you, Luca. Who knew a girl of such a high caliber could drop down and roll in the muck with the rest of us?”

“I learned from the best.”

Nodding his head, he stood to help me collect my books and stuff them in my bag.

“Consider it a deal. But just know there may be repercussions for playing our dirty, dirty games.”