“Not over thephone.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in twenty.” Pulse skittering like claws on pavement, I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and tore down the streets toward myapartment.
Showered and changed,I banged on the gym doors. I hadn’t been convened to train, so I’d donned a plain crop top and a pair of overalls I’d purchased to work on the house. A small part of me was hoping the burned-plastic smell of the paint primer dappling the denim would conceal August’sscent.
But I quieted that small part ofme.
I wasn’t here to hide what I’d done; I was here to defend my actions. If this meeting was even aboutAugust.
Lucas opened the door, and I strode in, muttering a quick hello, but then I did a doubletake when I caught sight of a bruise purpling hisjaw.
“What happened to your face?” I asked. “Did you get in afight?”
His blue eyes shone like lapis. “No. I walked into Alex Morgan’s fist for the fun ofit.”
I stiffened. “Alex Morgan?” My gaze jumped to Liam to see if he, too, had gotten hit. His face was shiny with sweat butunblemished.
As he set down the weights he’d been curling, he speared me with a look that had my heart banging harder. “Thanks to your little message, the Creeks followed Lucas and Matt to where we’d stashed the Sillin, and ambushedthem.”
I gasped. “Ambushed?”
“It was a fucking set-up, Ness! They had no clue where we’d hidden it,” Lucashissed.
“Sarah sent you the message, didn’t she?” Liamasked.
My lips trembled too hard toanswer.
He rose from the weight bench and strode over to me, his gait so brutal I took a step back. “I told you she was using us, and youdidn’tlisten.”
“Sarah wouldn’t have done that . . .” Iwhispered.
“How can you still defend her?” Liamhollered.
I pressed my palms against my ears. “I can hear you fine. Don’tshout.”
“You didn’t hear me fine the first time I said it. Maybe this time, if I say it loud enough, you’ll listen!” Spittle smacked mynose.
I gritted my teeth. “Stop it,Liam!”
Would Sarah have set me up to gain the Creeks’ trust? I couldn’t imagine her doing such athing.
I prayed shehadn’t.
“I trust Sarah. She wouldn’t have betrayed us, not willingly anyway. Maybetheyset her up.Maybe—”
Liam’s eyes flashed like hammered copper. “Funny you should mentiontrust.”
I sucked in a breath. “What’s that supposed tomean?”
“You broke your promise.” His voice was chillingly flat, but his expression wasn’t. His expression was a medley of sharp angles. “I can smell him all overyou.”
My lungs contracted, but then I crossed my arms. “Don’t you think we have moreimportant—”
“We had a deal,” hesnapped.
“That deal went both ways.” Underneath the hot musk and fresh mint of Liam lay another scent, a feminine one. “I’m not the only one who spent the night with someone, so don’t you dare tell me off. You don’t get to tell meoff!”
His Adam’s apple jostled in his throat. He hadn’t shaved in days, which made him look older, moresevere.
