Page 77 of Wicked Fortune

I whirl around to see the back window of the limo descending to reveal Matthew’s face even as the door is pushed open. He extends a hand, his eyes hard on mine. “Get in.”

TWENTY-SIX

I stand there, frozen. Not sure if I’m shocked or confused or terrified or what.

“Matthew?”

His name comes out a question, but the truth is I don’t even know what I’m asking. What the fuck? more or less sums it up, but I can’t seem to push that question past my reality-muddled lips.

“Aria, baby, do you trust me?”

Slowly, I lift my chin. “I—I thought I did,” I whisper. I thought I loved you.

“Well, I trust you,” he says. “Enough to tell you everything now. But you have to get in the car.”

I don’t move.

I hear his sigh of exasperation, and it almost makes me smile. But nothing’s funny right now. I feel like that little girl all over again. That same young Ariadne when she learned that the Stair Man who’d rescued and protected her was really The Cat. And he hadn’t come to help her at all. He’d only come to steal the diadem her parents loved. To steal it … and to shatter every good thing in her family for years and years and years.

“Aria? Baby, are you listening?”

I shake myself, lifting my head again to face him.

“I won’t hurt you. No one’s going to hurt you. I love you,” he adds, the words coming so casually that it makes my heart ache. As if he says them every day. As if this isn’t the very first time I’ve heard him say that.

“I love you,” he repeats. “But you opened a door, and now the clock’s ticking.”

I blink. “Clock?”

“Department heads can see when a personnel file is accessed. And who accessed it.”

I shake my head, still confused.

“Dammit, Ari. You pulled Joel’s file. Elias would have been notified. And he would have assumed that you pulled it for me. He may not have figured out the truth about Joel yet, but he would at least know that we’ve been watching.”

It’s as if he’s speaking Latin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Get in the damn car. You, too, Joel.”

“But if she⁠—”

“If we have to leave her behind, we do. But we’re under the gun here.”

They’re still speaking Latin, but I’m starting to catch the gist. Especially when Joel circles the limo and climbs in from the other side.

“Thirty more seconds,” Matthew says. “Then explanations will have to wait.”

I look around, trying to decide what to do. That’s when Matthew extends his hand. “Do you trust me?” he asks again.

And, dammit, I do. I have no idea what the fuck is going on, but I know with absolute certainty that Matthew won’t hurt me. Not physically, anyway. But I’m starting to fear that he’s going to break my heart.

“I trust you,” I say, climbing in beside him and pulling the door shut. “But Clive doesn’t. If I don’t come back soon, he’s probably going to call the police.”

Matthew shakes his head. “Don’t worry. Wyatt will explain everything to him.”

“Wyatt? He’s in all of this?” Whatever the hell this is.

“He’s a good friend. He knows almost all my secrets. Including how I feel about you.”