Locked Up Liars: A Dark Reverse Harem Romance (Saint View Prison Book 1)
Page 1
Locked Up Liars
Saint View Prison, #1
Elle Thorpe
www.ellethorpe.com
Copyright © 2021 by Elle Thorpe
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
#1
For Jira.
Not only the world’s best husband, but as it turns out, a pretty good plotting partner too. Thank you for all your input on this book.
Love you.
Elle x
Contents
Chapter 1
Mae
Chapter 2
Mae
Chapter 3
Mae
Chapter 4
Heath
Chapter 5
Mae
Chapter 6
Heath
Chapter 7
Heath
Chapter 8
Mae
Chapter 9
Mae
Chapter 10
Liam
Chapter 11
Mae
Chapter 12
Mae
Chapter 13
Mae
Chapter 14
Heath
Chapter 15
Mae
Chapter 16
Rowe
Chapter 17
Heath
Chapter 18
Mae
Chapter 19
Heath
Chapter 20
Mae
Chapter 21
Mae
Chapter 22
Mae
Chapter 23
Mae
Chapter 24
Mae
Chapter 25
Liam
Chapter 26
Rowe
Chapter 27
Mae
Chapter 28
Mae
Chapter 29
Mae
Chapter 30
Mae
Chapter 31
Mae
Chapter 32
Liam
Chapter 33
Mae
Chapter 34
Heath
Chapter 35
Rowe
Chapter 36
Rowe
Chapter 37
Mae
Chapter 38
Mae
Are you new to the Saint View world?
Chapter One
Lacey
Also by Elle Thorpe
Acknowledgments
About the Author
1
Mae
I would have recognized the tattoo creeping up his neck anywhere.
For years, I’d been slightly obsessed with the way it swirled across his skin and into his hairline. I’d dreamed of tracing my fingertips along the swells and patterns, chasing them beneath his shirt collar, over his shoulders, and finding out how low the intricate design actually went.
I could have asked my sister, of course. She could have told me exactly how far it snaked down the side of his body. But I’d never asked. I couldn’t.
Asking my sister about the tats on her boyfriend’s skin?
Just no. That would have been awkward.
So I kept my inappropriate curiosity locked away, tucked deep inside, and never voiced it to anyone.
Then they’d broken up.
And I hadn’t seen him since.
But one glimpse of that tattoo across a smoky bar was all it took for everything to come roaring back. The curiosity. The desire. The plain stupid, ridiculous fact that the man curled my toes even from this distance.
Inappropriate. Inappropriate. SO inappropriate.
Tori nudged me. “Who are you checking out?”
I jerked and turned to face her. “What? No one. It’s nothing.”
She gave me the sort of knowing grin only a best friend could. Then she peered through the crowd, past the waiters taking drinks and food to tables, over to the bar where he nursed a short glass full of an amber liquid with ice.
Her eyes widened. “Is that Heath?”
It was my automatic instinct to play dumb. “Heath? As in Jayela’s Heath?”
I wasn’t fooling anyone. Tori knew it just as well as I did.
Concern puckered her brow. “Please don’t tell me you’re still harboring that secret crush on him? It’s been four years, Mae.”
I knew exactly how long it had been. I’d thought I was done with the absurd crush. Who knew it was just simmering away under the surface, ready to explode back in full force at a single sighting? But sitting there, staring at his broad shoulders and the way they tapered down to his narrow waist, it felt like no time had passed at all. All those feelings I’d hidden from him, from my sister, from myself—they all swirled through my system, turning happy cartwheels because we were in his presence once more.
Traitorous frigging feelings. They needed to get their shit under control.
Tori let out a low whistle. “Don’t even bother denying it. It’s written all over your face.”
I didn’t want it to be. I tried to school my features into something that didn’t look like the heart eye emoji.
Tori’s concern morphed into something quizzical. “He’s not your sister’s man anymore, you know. He hasn’t been for a long time. Jaye is over him. She’s been over him for years. So, if you wanted to go there…”
A firm grip yanked the chair beside me out from beneath the table, scraping it along the floor. I jerked, the sound shuddering down my spine like nails on a chalkboard.
“Go where?” Jayela sat down heavily on the wooden chair and grinned at me and Tori.
Tori opened her mouth to answer, but I gave a shake of my head, praying she’d remember that I knew all her secrets as well. Even the one about what had happened with Todd Morsely at tenth grade church camp, which I’d never told anyone. So hopefully she’d keep my unhealthy little Heath obsession to herself, too.
She pressed her lips together, the deep crimson of her lipstick flattening into a line.
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Nowhere. It doesn’t matter. Where have you been? We were supposed to meet an hour ago. Tori and I are already halfway to tipsy.” We’d ordered two rounds of drinks, including some for Jayela, then polished off the lot while we waited for her. The alcohol was already pleasantly warming me from the inside out.
Jaye shrugged out of her leather jacket and draped it over the back of the bar chair. “I know, I know. But things at work went to shit. Boston and I had to debrief with the chief. He’s pissed. We let him down.”
Tori leaned forward, resting her elbows on the tabletop. “Ooh,” she singsonged. She was definitely a little tipsy, too. “What happened? Tell us all the cop drama.”
Jaye shrugged. “Same old shit as every other crappy day this month. We had another botched stakeout. And Boston is being a dick about it. He thinks it’s a coincidence we’ve had three with the exact same useless outcomes this month.”
Boston had been my sister’s partner at work ever since she left the academy. Normally the two of them were peas in a pod. It was extremely unlike them to argue, but this wasn’t the first time this month she’d seemed on edge after coming home from a day at work with him.
I made a slightly fuzzy mental note to prod her about it later and tried to keep my gaze from flickering in the direction of the bar. “If it’s not a coincidence, then what? W
hat’s your theory?”
Jaye raised a hand to signal our waitress over, but the woman was busy. She gave a nod, though, indicating she’d noticed, and Jaye turned her attention back to me. “I think three is too many. Something else is going on. Someone is tipping them off.” A muscle ticked at the corner of her eye. “I don’t know why Boston can’t see it. We kind of got into it tonight in front of the chief.”
I bit my lip. Even without her explaining further, I knew that would be eating my sister alive, slowly tearing at her conscience from the inside out. There was nothing more important to my sister than her job. Not socializing. Not men. She hadn’t really dated since Heath, putting her everything into being a cop.
I darted another glance over in his direction. I couldn’t help it. He hadn’t moved, though he’d drained his drink. I tore my gaze away. “I’m sure it happens all the time,” I told Jaye, trying to sound reassuring. “Just because you and Boston don’t normally disagree, doesn’t mean that other partners are as in sync, right? Your chief is probably used to sorting out things like this.”
The waitress came over, and Jaye ordered more cocktails for Tori and me, and a bourbon over ice for herself. The same drink Heath was probably having. Just another reason why the two of them should have been good together.
“I suppose you’re right. It’s just frustrating that Boston and I can’t get on the same page.” Jaye watched our waitress walk back to the bar with her drink order, her gaze sliding slightly to the left as the woman put down her empty tray.
I knew the exact moment she spotted Heath. Her entire body stiffened up, and she slunk down, trying to make herself smaller. “Is that Heath?” she hissed. “Fuck. I’m going to hide under the table.”
Tori giggled. “It’s him. He’s been there since we got in. I don’t think he’s noticed us, though, if you want to make a run for it.”
I laughed.
Jayela shot me an apologetic cringe. “Actually, I do.”
I stopped laughing. “You aren’t serious?”
“I’m dead serious. I can’t deal with him tonight. I can’t handle the puppy dog eyes, and the sad, ‘You broke my heart’ expression on his face.”
I blinked, trying to figure out exactly how she’d come to the conclusion that Heath was still cut up about their breakup when the man hadn’t even turned around. I parroted the lines that Tori had said to me earlier. “It’s been four years. And the two of you only dated for a few months. I’m sure he’s fine now.”
Jaye just shook her head. “You weren’t there when I broke up with him. It was horrific.”
The waitress chose that moment to deliver our drinks, setting a tray down on the table and placing our glasses in front of us. I used the distraction to glance over at Heath again, my view blocked when Jayela pushed to her feet, after swallowing her drink in a couple of rapid gulps. I peered around her. Sure, the man was drinking alone at a bar, looking a little like a heartbroken loser with no friends. But that didn’t mean he was sad still about their breakup. Maybe he’d been stood up? Maybe he just liked their nachos? Maybe his dog had farted so badly it drove him out of his apartment to seek refuge in a bar until it subsided? Point was, Heath drinking alone didn’t mean he was still as broken as she seemed to think he was. Jaye was beautiful and smart and athletic. But she had flaws, just like everyone else. Did she really expect him to still be hung up on her after all this time?
It kind of bugged me.
Of course he’s still hung up on her, the voice inside me that sounded just like my father, chanted in my ear.
Jaye threw a few dollar bills on the table, then pushed to her feet. “You coming?” She paused, waiting for me to answer her.
My cocktail was huge. I’d barely made a dent in it. And if I was being honest, I was still basking in the glow that being in Heath’s presence seemed to cast over me. I wasn’t ready for that to end. “No, I think I’ll stay. I’m not in the mood to go home yet.”
Jaye shrugged. “Suit yourself. I think I’ll go back to work, anyway. I just can’t let this thing go so easily. I want to go over some paperwork. I’ll catch you at home later, okay? But don’t wait up. I’ll probably be late.”
I nodded, picking up my drink again and taking a swallow.
Tori tilted her head, watching me for a second. Then she sprang to her feet. “Jaye? Can I get a ride?”
My mouth dropped open. “Wait. You’re ditching me, too?”
Tori gave me a pointed stare, her gaze flickering toward where Heath sat. “Baby at home, remember? And a husband who is probably freaking out that I’ve been gone this long already.”
“We’ve only been here an hour. What happened to girls’ night?”
Tori ignored my feeble protests, seeing through them easily. “I think you’ll be fine. Strong, independent woman and all that.”
I would kill her later. I opened my mouth to answer, but Jaye beat me to it. “Heath is here. If you have any problems, just give him the signal. He’s got that savior gene. He’d probably love to swoop in and rescue you.” She rolled her eyes.
Tori giggled, but I didn’t say anything. From where I’d been sitting, throughout their entire, disastrous relationship, Heath had been nothing but good to Jaye. They were just mismatched as a couple. Yeah, sure, he had a protector gene. But was there anything wrong with wanting to protect the ones you love? Was there anything wrong with wanting to keep your woman safe?
Sounded kind of romantic to me. And a hell of a lot better than my exes, who definitely seemed to be missing even the most basic of human decency genes.
But I did suspect it was this incompatibility that was the straw that broke the relationship camel’s back, though my tight-lipped sister would have never admitted it. He had stifled her. She had that urge to protect, too. But hers had been syphoned into her career. She’d taken an oath to protect lives and property, to help people when they were at their most vulnerable.
Heath had nowhere for his to go but onto her.
“I don’t need Heath to protect me.” Which was one-hundred-percent true. On the outside, I might have been the sweet elementary school teacher, who wore flowery dresses and braided her long blonde hair into Elsa-style twists, just because the little girls I taught loved it. But that wasn’t the only side of me. No, I didn’t need a man’s protection.
Though I probably wouldn’t mind if Heath wanted to scoop me up in his muscled arms and whisk me away.
I wasn’t going to tell my sister that, though. “I’ll be fine. I just want to have a drink and unwind a little bit. I had a hectic week. End of the school year and all.”
I don’t know if Jaye didn’t hear me or if she just was too preoccupied glancing over at Heath again, but she let out a low groan instead of answering. “Yeah, okay. He’s seen me. Time to leave. Tori, if you want a lift, I’m going now. See you later, Mae.”
Tori gave me a final pointed look, and I knew exactly what she was saying with her eyes.
You’ve had a crush on that man for four years. You’re single. You’re both alone in a bar. Make something happen.
The two of them weaved around the crowd at the bar and exited out the main doors. Through the glass windows, I watched them walk across the darkened parking lot with their arms linked, Tori laughing about something Jaye said, and then the two of them disappeared into her car.
A shadow fell across me.
“Hey, Mae.”
My heart rate went haywire at the sound of my name on his lips.
I swallowed hard. “Hi, Heath.”
2
Mae
“Jaye’s avoiding me, huh?”
The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood on end at the deep growl in his tone. God. Had his voice gotten deeper since the last time I’d heard it? It was so incredibly masculine.
Slowly I lifted my gaze, letting it trail up his mountain of a body until I reached his face. His gorgeous face that had frequented my dreams, even after he’d stopped being a regular presence in my life. Dar
k stubble covered his strong jawline, a new development since the last time I’d seen him. Jaye had always liked him clean-shaven, so I’d never seen him with any sort of beard. But I liked the scruff he wore now.
Nothing had changed about his eyes, though. Their blue was still the palest shade I’d ever seen. Every time I looked into them, I was reminded of snow and ice, of stormy days in a winter landscape. The cold color gave him a standoffish appearance, as did the tattoos, and the leather jacket that fit snugly across his shoulders. It all screamed, “Bad boy. Run.”
But I knew I wasn’t the only woman in this bar thinking she’d rather run right into his arms than from him.
Shit. I needed to get my hormones in check before I started dry humping the man’s leg.
I gave him a tiny smile. “I should probably lie for her and say she just had work stuff to do, but yeah. She’s avoiding you.”
“She didn’t have to. I could have left. It didn’t need to be awkward.”
“I know.”
Heath’s gaze ran over me for the tiniest of seconds, starting at my head, sweeping over my hair, lingering on my face and lips. “It’s been a while, huh? You look good.”
The breath punched out of me, and a distinct rush of attraction had me tingly all over. Had that been a flicker of heat in his eyes? I tried to come up with a response, something sexy and light and flirty. But my brain was short-circuiting, and I was pretty sure I was just gaping at him like a bug-eyed insect. Distinctly not sexy.