“You didn’t notice me,” she says. “You were distracted.”
Her palms stay pressed to my chest, fingers gripping the fabric like she’s contemplating strangling me for insinuating what I am. I don’t trust her. Not since I learned about the twin switch. If she can commit such a crime, I put nothing past her. She would murder me in my sleep if she could get away with it.
I should keep my door locked tonight, just in case.
“You are thefirstthing I noticed,” I say.
She sucks in a sharp breath.
“I see,” she says slowly. She nods to herself, as if she is accepting a piece of unwanted news. “You like me.”
I frown, confused by the direction of the conversation.
“What are you talking about?”
“You like me,” she repeats with a smirk. “It explains everything. You are determined to over-analyze my impact on every situation that occurs, because you are obsessed with me.”
I straighten, forcing myself to put some space between us. Her fingers slip from my shirt.
“You’re evading the topic,” I say, unimpressed. “A cheap, amateurish tactic.”
Her lips rise in a knowing smile.
I can’tstandher.
“You were alone with them.” I step closer again before I can stop myself. “What did they promise you?”
Her chin lifts. “Maybe they asked me to kill you, and I took them up on it?”
“I’m being serious, Warrick,” I say.
“I’m telling you the truth, but you would rather accuse me, because you get some perverse enjoyment from taunting me. Like I said, you want me, Vale.Bad.”
Her lips curl in a sensual smile. She is trying to throw me off my game by flirting. It comes easily to her. I would not have believed it if I hadn’t witnessed her do it to Grayson Sullivan.
My jaw clenches at the thought of the boy.
“You’re enjoying this,” I say.
“The Supreme Director will not like that the rebels got away,” she says. “You need a scapegoat for your failures, and I’m an easy target.”
I do want someone to blame for it. Someone whose life is of little worth to me. Someone who’s already broken my trust. And Haven is the perfect target.
The rebel leader was within my grasp; if I had brought her back alive, Ansel would be sent away, and my victory would speak for itself. And if I were lucky, the Supreme Director would nullify this dumb engagement and free me from the shackles of the Warrick sisters.
But we captured one low-level rebel, and the rest got away.
At least if I feed Haven to the wolves, it will buy me some time. But she is too clever for her own good; she can tell my line of questioning is insubstantial at best and defamation at worst.
The air vibrates between us, taut as a drawn wire. I can feel her daring me to challenge her. With each day that passes, I despise her a little more.
Haven makes use of my distraction and tosses a pillow at my chest.
“Get out, Vale,” she says. “Come back with proof next time, or better yet, don’t waste my time with your stupid conspiracy theories.”
chapter
twenty-one
