Treachery

The car lurches forward and begins the smooth ride to the front gates of the Governor’s estate, Luca’s focus out the side window instead of me.

I stare a hole in the side of her face, angry and also slightly turned on by a woman who challenges me to a point of driving me mad.

“Take the deal,” I finally say, breaking the deafening silence.

Her gaze crawls my direction in a slow path of pure disgust, finally locking on mine.

“You seem to have forgotten something about me, Ta

Not anymore. But she doesn’t need to know that yet.

I’m being generous right now. Giving her one last chance to walk away from this situation unscathed. It’s her last. If she doesn’t accept, I’ll be forced to take a different approach. One I’ll be sure to enjoy, only because she’ll hate it so much.

“At this point, I’ve won,” she states incorrectly.

I’m left with no choice but to correct her on the assumption.

“That’s what you thought last time, if I remember correctly. And look how that turned out. I seem to remember your face turning a lovely shade of red when I revealed what I had against you in the library the last time we saw each other at Yale.”

How she’s able to narrow her stare even more, I have no clue. But Luca manages it, a thousand razors shooting out from that glare that are shredding me to bits.

“The photos. I’d almost forgotten about those. Are you pla

What she doesn’t know is that the photos never went further than what I showed her that night. I may be an asshole, but I’m not the type to let women be taken advantage of in my house. Unless I’m the one taking advantage.

“I think we’re past petty college pranks at this point, don’t you? We’re talking about your life now, Luca. That money will go a long way to set you on your feet again. Don’t be stupid. Just hand over your father’s records and this is done.”

She goes back to looking out the window again, and my hand fists. Talking to her is like talking to a damn wall.

“Tell me what Everly did,” she says after a few minutes of silence.

My teeth grind at the demand. “Does it matter? What she did won’t change what I want.”

More silence and then, “It matters to me.”

Of course it does. Luca is searching for a reason to betray her friend. An excuse that will set her mind at ease. Unfortunately, I can’t give her one.

“I don’t know. Jase hasn’t told any of us what happened. But that’s not the point.”

Her eyes flick to me before turning to look out the window.

“Hand over the servers, Luca, and we’re done. You never hear from me again or see me. That alone should be enough to make this deal appealing.”

My words fall on deaf ears as the car turns into the parking lot of her apartment building. With only a few minutes left of having her as a captive audience, my impatience skyrockets to dangerous levels.

Fuck! Luca is the most frustrating person I’ve ever known. I should hate her. And I do. She has no idea the problem she’s been in my life.

But at the same damn time, it only makes me want her more. She’s a puzzle I can’t figure out, and I have the undeniable urge to tear her apart just so I can examine all the aggravating pieces.

Sliding across the seat so that my hip jams against hers, I catch her chin in my hand and pull that angry little stare my direction.

Her lips pull into a razor thin line, which only makes me grin.

“How can you possibly not jump on this? Think of yourself for once. Stop worrying about other people. You need this, and it shouldn’t matter who you have to step on to get it.”

She jerks her face from my fingers, her body going stiff.

Blue eyes lifting to pin mine in place, she scowls. “Maybe that’s the way you’ve always lived your life, Ta

I can’t argue, so I don’t.

“But that’s not the way I live my life. I’ll consider your deal. On my time. Not because you’re making demands you have no right to make. I’m not one of your peons, and I never joined your damn fan club. You might not remember that, so let me remind you now. I won’t do as I’m told. No matter what games you play.”

The car pulls to a stop just as she finishes spitting out her bitter response.

Without waiting for the driver to open her door, Luca’s hand slams on the handle, and she practically spills out onto the sidewalk, her body straightening as she brushes the skirt of her gown down her legs and turns to hate stare me one more time.

“I’ll be in touch,” she says in a way that tells me she has no intention of doing what she said.

Vacillating between allowing her to march away on her own or following after her to make all the demands I want, I take a breath. Relax. Remind myself that dealing with her takes precision and cold calculation.

She doesn’t bother to wait for a response before turning on her heel to walk inside, and as the door closes behind her and she disappears from view, I slam the car door closed and knock on the window between the driver and me to tell him to take off.

The car pulls away in one smooth movement, her building sliding out of view as my head falls against the back of the seat.

If I know Luca well enough, I can guess she’ll do anything she can to get out of this. Most likely as soon as she gets inside her apartment.

And I can’t let that happen. Not when I’m so close to finally getting what I want.

She is right about one thing, though. Our usual rules require someone to ask for a favor before paying our price, except this time, the rules are being bent. Just for her and only because she thinks she can fight.

Luca’s gauntlet begins now.

Regardless of whether she takes the deal or not.

The poor little thing will be exhausted by the time I’m done ru