Page 6 of Reveal

“Playing you?” Sell the lie, Lockhart. “Not you, Preston. You’d see right through it. Everybody else, though? Definitely.”

Your justification is bullshit.

“It looks like you might need the shit I dug up on her for yourself. You’ve played her well enough that I think she’s seeing forevers when all you’re seeing is what you want between her thighs. She’s going to be pissed when you stop calling.”

“True. I could definitely use the dirt you have on her. Two people knowing something is always better than just one. That way we’d both be protected.” I sit back down and force a laugh to play it all up when I’d rather down another goddamn drink in misery. “Since we’re looking out for each other and all.”

“And that’s why you’re offering her to me?”

“Like I said, it’s the least I can do, given the circumstances.”

“Pass the pussy, please.” The senator laughs, and I join in as my stomach churns at the thought of his fucking hands on her. At knowing everything she’s been through at the whim of her uncle and how men like them think it’s their right to take regardless of consent. “How do you know she’ll go along with it?”

“Tell me the time and place, and I’ll have her ready and willing for you,” I offer, ignoring the senator’s question and making his eyes light up. Now it’s time to tell him I want the info on Vaughn beforehand. Tit for fucking tat. “But first you’ll need to give me—”

“Just make sure she’s defiant. I love it when they fight.”

“Not going to happen.” I hear Vaughn’s voice before I see her, and every single part of me dies a miserable and painful death at the sound.

NO!

How much did she hear?

This is bad.

Fuck.

So goddamn bad.

Fuck.

She has to know that I’m lying.

Fuck!

Beside me, Carter turns to face her. He more than likes what he sees—his dick already dipping into her before he’s even touched her—and I force my hands to release the fists they’ve curled into.

“I fucking want her,” Preston murmurs beneath his breath so only I can hear it, his fingers fidgeting as if they’re itching to touch her.

What the hell am I going to do now? I take a beat as my mind spins and my thoughts tumble out of control.

I fucked up big time. Played the game, and now I’m so fucking far into it, I can’t back out. There’s nothing I can do but make sure Carter thinks it’s true. All of it. That I’d offer her up to him. That I buy his bullshit sex, power, and fear theory. That I need to know what he has on her to save us both from her later.

Sell the goddamn lie, Lockhart.

But at what cost?

I take a sip of my drink and set it down with a clink on the bar top before swiveling on my barstool to face her.

And I know the cost. It’s all right there in front of me, and it takes every goddamn thing I have to meet her eyes.

But so is protecting her. So is making sure Carter can never hurt her.

Sell the lie.

Make Carter believe you. Make him think he holds the power. Make him believe you’re going to help him get back what’s his.

But fuck if it’s not going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, as she stands there with hurt, shame, defeat, and defiance written all over every part of her.