Tearing my gaze from Rebel’s, I glance at his mother and father before stopping with Ransom. His eyes hold a mixture of disbelief at what I said and hope that what I say next will be different.
It won’t be.
“I said I’m an exotic dancer.”
Silence reigns once more before Seraphim bravely speaks up. “You mean like a belly dancer, right? Or one of those Hawaiian girls?”
“No, I mean I’m a stripper,” I say firmly, and I witness the exact moment disgust enters Ransom’s mind. He looks like he just smelled something foul. Just to drive the point home, to make sure he’s really getting what I’m saying, I add, “Men pay me to take my clothes off.”
Seraphim releases a scandalized gasp. Ransom’s looking at me as if I’ve sprouted a second head.
“Well, I need a drink,” Vincent declares and leaves the table.
I officially feel like an outcast. This is the exact same scenario I always envisioned happening if I ever told my friends who I really am. They’d behave just as the Scotts were now. I’d watch their view of me shift before my eyes as they realized how unworthy I was of their friendship, and then they’d turn their backs on me. I’m just glad my parents are no longer around to see what I’ve become. Then again, if they were still alive, I’d probably be traveling a different path altogether.
My eyes burn and I feel like I might hyperventilate. As calmly as possible, I push my chair out and stand. “Excuse me. I need some fresh air.”
What I really mean to say is goodbye, because I have zero intention of coming back.
FIVE
“Where are you going?”
I pick up my pace, marching toward my car with purpose. Parked on the Scott property, surrounded by immaculate landscaping, my Toyota looks like it belongs in a junkyard. It’s the perfect analogy for how I feel right now, too. The way the Scotts looked at me was painful, but even more than that was the way Ransom looked at me.
I can’t shake that from my mind, no matter how hard I try. So I keep walking.
“I’m going home,” I call over my shoulder as I approach the door and reach for the handle. This is the last place I want to break down at.
I feel the firm grasp of a hand on my shoulder, and then my vision blurs as I am spun around and pushed up against the side of the car.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
I hate that the only way I know for sure which brother I am talking to is by his choice of clothes. Rebel. The jerk who just ruined my day. His face is inches from mine, and the look in his eyes is full of fierce determination. I have no doubt that if he doesn’t want me to leave, I’ll have no choice but to stay. Even so…
“That’s not your choice to make,” I snarl, pushing my face into his.
His dark eyes narrow at my tone and proximity, shifting between mine searchingly. After a moment, he blinks and pulls back, as though reaching a conclusion.
“Come on, we’re going back inside,” he declares. Taking my arm, he pulls me after him. Digging my heels into the ground, I tug myself free of his grasp.
My breathing is rapid, my blood flowing hot through my veins. At my sides, my hands ball into fists. “Why, so you can humiliate me again?”
Rebel’s head whips around and he gives me a stern look. “When did I do that exactly?”
My eyes widen to say are-you-kidding? He can’t be that obtuse. “You outted me to your family. No one knows what I do. No one. Now, because of you, they all think I’m just some piece of low-life trash.”
“That’s not true,” he says fiercely. “It caught them off-guard, sure, but they don’t judge people like that.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “Did you miss the deafening silence? Or the way your dad fled the room to have a drink? Your brother couldn’t even look at me!”
“Good!” Rebel shouts, catching me off-guard with his intensity.
“Good? Good? Well, I guess as long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters, right?” I throw my hands up. This conversation is over. I move to walk around him, but once again, Rebel grabs my arm. “Let me go.”
“Take a walk with me.” I try to tell him no, but we’re already moving. He pulls me along by the wrist, moving so fast I have to jog to keep up.
Guiding us along a path that circles the side of the house, I’m momentarily distracted when it breaks out onto the expansive backyard. The view is even more stunning in person. There are mature trees everywhere, and the sky hanging over us is of the purest blue, but I don’t have much time to soak it all in. The path we walk is flagstone until it reaches a length of waist-high picket fence, and then it turns rugged. It takes all my concentration to keep my feet beneath me.
It’s obvious by the worn trail that this path is often used, and I try my best to stick to it while keeping up with the quick pace Rebel has set. It’s not long before I hear the steady lapping of water ahead.
“Are you planning to drown me in the river?” I ask sarcastically, but you just never know. I watch movies. Who knows how much I’ve pissed him off? The question is, is it enough to want to kill me?
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rebel growls as he pauses to help me navigate the rocky terrain. “My parents don’t have enough bricks lying around to keep your body from floating back to the surface.”
“Oh, so digging holes is more your speed then.”
“You know me so well.” His smile and tone are mocking, but it makes me feel better. Rebel hardly ever smiles, at least, not when he’s with me. He’s always so serious, but right now, he’s teasing me, and I like it.
“I’d like to,” I reply honestly.
His gaze holds mine for what feels like forever. Down by the water, the house is far from view. It’s just the two of us here, the sounds of nature, and the sun reflecting off the river. The weather today is perfect, a balmy seventy-three, and once again I find myself daydreaming about what it would be like to live here. Only in this vision, I’m not reading a book, but in a boat, nestled in Rebel’s arms, as the current carries our canoe downriver.
“It wasn’t my intention to embarrass you,” Rebel says gruffly, shattering my fantasy.
The sad thing is I believe him, and it makes it difficult to stay adequately mad at him. “No, you just wanted to hurt your brother.”
His blank expression says it all. Being involved with both of them has put them in direct competition with each other. Ransom’s approach comes from a confident place of believing I belong to him. Rebel’s, on the other hand, comes from a position of jealously and determination. He wants to “win,” so he is taking the necessary measures to ensure it happens.
“The problem with that, though,” I say thoughtfully, “is that you sacrificed me to do it. So if you’re trying to get me to choose you, you’re already off on the wrong foot.”
His jaw flexes as he considers me. I can see the wheels turning behind those fathomless black eyes, and I wonder what he’s thinking—or plotting. Rebel’s kept me on my toes since day one. I have to admit, that’s part of his appeal. He’s calculating and I get the impression that he doesn’t make decisions lightly. Which is why his choice today hurts so damn much. It makes me wonder if and how much he cares about me, or if this is just some game to him.
Because I intend to choose, and if forced to do it now, he won’t like my decision.
“The problem here,” Rebel says as he casts his gaze out to the water, “is that you think you have a choice.”
“I don’t?” This is a surprise, considering the last time I checked, I lived in a free country.
“No, you don’t. I saw you first; therefore, you’re mine.”
I laugh. “You’re kidding me. We’re not in high school anymore, Rebel. Decisions aren’t made that way in the real world.”
“They are in mine.” Glaring at the water, Rebel’s profile appears to be set in stone. “How do you think I became so successful? I don’t negotiate, Josephine. I take what I want, whatever the cost.”
All humor flee
s from me as I come to realize that he’s completely serious. I always knew Rebel was a no nonsense guy, but I never understood how deep that quality ran until this very moment. “What about Ransom?”
“What about him?” The question is a growl, low and deep and menacing enough to make me question if I’m safe out here with him after all. At the mention of his brother, Rebel’s entire mood has plunged into darkness.
Hesitantly, I remind him about their agreement. “Ransom said you two are going to, I don’t know, try to win my hand.” Now that I’ve said it out loud, it sounds so stupid.
“I agreed to his stupid plan, yes,” Rebel confirms. “But that doesn’t mean I intend to play by the rules.”
He turns to face me, and I am held fast by the intensity in his eyes. He looks so…lonely. No, not lonely. He looks lost, but he also looks like a man who’s made up his mind. Unshakable.
“That hardly seems fair.”
“Fuck fair!” Rebel yells. “You were mine long before he entered the picture. The only reason he got any part of you was because of his face.”
“That’s not the only reason,” I tell him. Ransom and I have a connection. I know it. We’re more than just sex.
Rebel shoves his finger in my face. “If you say you like him for more than his dick, I swear to God…” He spins away, growling in frustration. I watch Rebel pace the shoreline, ruffling his fingers through his hair and cursing to himself. When he finally returns and rushes toward me, I flinch, unsure of what he’ll do.
Grasping my arms, he gives me a sharp shake. “Do you have any idea how much I want to kill him for touching you? To know he was inside you, in my place, drives me insane. And he has the nerve to tell me I have to play him for you?”
I can see his point. If I were in his shoes, I’d probably want to kill him, too. But I’m not. I can only deal with this from one angle, and that’s mine. “Put yourself in my shoes for a second,” I beg. “I thought I was with you, and then I find out there’s two of you? I’m confused. I need time to sort everything out.”
“What is there to sort out, Josephine? You said it yourself. You thought you were with me. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
“Yeah, that I can’t trust my instincts,” I huff, disgusted with myself and the situation. “I connected with both of you, Rebel. In different ways.”
Releasing me, Rebel crosses his arms over his broad chest. “Then tell me what I have to do. Tell me how to play the game so I come out on top.”
I narrow my eyes. “You don’t have to be such a smartass. I told you, it’s not a game.”
“You’re right. What was I thinking?” Rebel says, his voice thick with sarcasm. “What do I have to do to win the competition?”
Hanging my head, I shake it in disbelief. “This isn’t how I wanted this to go.”
“What, you thought it would be simple? Newsflash, Josephine! You can’t pit two alphas against each other and expect it not to end in bloodshed.”
My head snaps up and my mouth drops. “You’d hurt your brother?”
“Why not? What has he ever done for me?”
I can think of at least one thing right off the top. “He gave you a place to stay, for one.”
Rebel’s mouth pulls up in a crooked, condescending smirk. “That’s my apartment, toots. Ransom could never afford a place like that on a teacher’s salary.”
My thoughts are a whirlwind, spinning around in my head as I struggle to realign everything I thought I knew. “So he stays with you?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Oh.” I rub my fingers across my forehead. This is just too much. Arguing with Rebel, dealing with all of this, it’s giving me a headache.
“What if I told you that you’re not the first woman my brother has tried to steal out from under me? Would that make any difference in your decision?”
I glance up at him, my brows pinched together. “Wait, what?”
A cruel half-smile crests and he repeats himself. “What if I told you you’re not the first woman Ransom has done this with? That all my life, he’s tried to take my girlfriends. Would that help you make up your mind?”
I shake my head, unsure what to make of his words. “I’m not sure how to respond to that, Rebel.”
“Just tell me the first thing that comes to mind.”
I cast my gaze around, thinking. “Well, the first thing that comes to mind is you’re lying just to get your way,” I tell him, thinking about what he just said about taking what he wants no matter the cost. “The second thing that comes to mind is that you can’t steal what was never yours.”
“What makes you think you weren’t mine?” Rebel asks.
I throw my hands up in exasperation. “Gee, maybe it has something to do with how you hid us from the public eye, or how I never met your family until Ransom decided to introduce us?”
“I just told you my brother has made it his life’s work to steal every woman in my life. I’m sure you can understand my reluctance to share.” His eyes narrow to slits. “But none of that matters anymore, does it? That decision has been taken from me, too.”
I refuse to pity him. His words make sense in a twisted sort of way, but I choose to ignore them, too.
Rebel steps into my personal space, looking down at me with an unreadable expression. “I can see you’re going to be stubborn about this, so let me tell you how this is going to work, Josephine.” The way my name rolls off his tongue is like a sinful caress. I know I shouldn’t like it, but I can’t help wanting more. “You’ll spend time with both of us, and you’ll pretend to give us equal consideration, but at the end of the day, you belong to me. Do you remember what I told you about letting other men touch you?”
“Yes,” I say softly, glaring up at him as I think back to that night at Mirage when a patron touched me and Rebel dragged me into the men’s room and screwed me against the wall.
“Tell me,” he rumbles, his head dipping lower so his lips graze along my jawline.
My thoughts scatter as his warm breath fans over my cheek. I know what he’s doing. He’s using my body and my desire for him to influence me. But even knowing this, I can’t stop myself from falling into the trap. “Never let it happen,” I reply breathily.
“That’s right, and did you listen?”
“Yes.” As far as I knew, I was listening.
“No,” he says firmly. “No, you didn’t. You let my brother fuck you.”
“I didn’t know.” My voice is whiny and pleading and I immediately hate myself for sounding like a little girl asking for her daddy’s forgiveness. I’ve come too far in my life to reduce myself to some blithering idiot. “If you had told me you had a twin, it wouldn’t have happened.”
His chuckle is a dark, dangerous rasp against the side of my face as he lifts his head and aligns our mouths. I gasp as his hand closes around my throat, his thumb tracing the side of my neck lightly. “We can play the blame game all day, but it’ll get us nowhere fast. So how about this. From this moment on, your pussy is mine. On nights you go out with my brother, which will be few, I’ll be waiting for you when you get back to make sure you’ve behaved yourself.”
“You’re a psychopath.”
“When it comes to getting what I want, I’m a lot of things. So are we in agreement?”
“No.”
He laughs again. “You say that like you have a choice.” Rebel’s mouth crashes into mine, stealing any complaint or denial I may have made. He’s taking over my mouth like he intends to take over my life—thoroughly.
Fuck me, but I like it.
SIX
“Are you okay?” Annie whispers in my ear.
“Fine, just daydreaming,” I dodge.
In actuality, I most certainly am not okay. We’re sitting in our shared Art History class. Ransom is front and center, giving a lecture on who-the-hell-cares. I’m too busy trying to sort through everything that happened at his parents’ house yesterday.
I still feel burned over Reb
el throwing me under the bus. I don’t know how to feel about Ransom’s reaction to me being a stripper. Sure, logically, I understand why he’s upset. What man would be okay with his girlfriend taking her clothes off for other men? On the flip side, what kind of man is willing to share his girlfriend with his brother until she can decide which one she wants more?
The way I see it, we’re both in precarious positions. So shouldn’t that clear the slate? Make it Even Steven or something?
I press the tip of my pen firmer into the paper. I’ve spent most of the hour doodling instead of taking notes. I should be taking notes. The end of the semester is right around the corner and finals are next week.
“I bet I know who it’s about,” Annie teases. I frown, taking a second to catch her meaning.
“Oh, yeah.” I laugh under my breath, but it’s more out of duty and the need to preserve my privacy than anything. I don’t want Annie knowing about any of this. I know I shouldn’t, but I feel shameful. A part of me still insists that I should have known the difference. Two men. There’s no way in hell they’re that alike just because they share identical genes.
I’ve been over it a hundred times. I know all the times at the club and in the hotel were Rebel. I know all the times in the car and the apartment and in class were Ransom. That’s not the problem. The problem now is, say I do choose one? How will I ever know for sure which brother I’m with? How will I know for sure I’ve even made the right choice? My thoughts are too muddled to be certain of anything right now.
“Hey, Joe? Do you have time after class to hang out?”
Something in Annie’s voice makes me turn to look at her. Her green eyes are downcast, but there’s something about the sudden change in her demeanor that unsettles me. “Sure,” I say automatically. Even though I have to work tonight, I’ll make the time for her because she would do the same for me.
“’kay. Coffee?”
“How about lunch? I skipped breakfast, so I’m starving.”
Lie to You Page 4
