Page 38 of Perfect Liar

“Upset me how? I’ve seen blood before.”

“Don’t play games with me, Elle. You know what I mean.”

“Say it,” I whispered.

We stared into each other’s eyes. And this time, neither of us dared to look away.

“It doesn’t unsettle you to see my busted-up hand when you know I’ve just beat someone to death with it.”

Without looking away, I took his hand and put it under the cold running water.

“No, and I don’t know why. Maybe it should bother me, but it just doesn’t.”

Nothing he did could change how much I wanted him, and I couldn’t offer him or even myself an explanation for it.

He stared at my face while I focused on cleaning the wounds and wrapping his hand.

“Why are you good at this—have you had practice with someone else?” he snapped.

But instead of verbally responding to his jealous assumption, I pressed hard on his hand with an ice compress and smiled.

He winced.

“There you go. Ice for fifteen minutes. Repeat every hour.”

His mouth twitched until he let his lips curve into a smile, and then he winked.

“Merciless woman.”

I shrugged, still smiling.

“Okay, Will. I agree to go to England with you.”

Our grins faded, and he nodded.

“Good.”

I couldn’t see another path forward. Our family was gone. I had nothing more to lose, but Lissie did have something to lose. If she was a Hastings, then she had a family. A father, a grandmother, three uncles.

How could I keep that from her?

And going to the UK meant I could sort through the mess and find some answers. I could learn more about my family and their lies. I could learn to protect myself.

Then there was Will, the man I craved from the moment the whispers about a love story found their way into my soul at that damn fucking parade.

“We’ll need our passports. I’m not going back there, but I’ll tell you where to find them. And grab more clothes for us, too?”

Will checked his watch and nodded again.

“Start packing what you have here. I want to leave the country quickly and quietly.”

As I finished packing our things, Will rushed into my bedroom.

“Police are here, Elle.”

I ran to the living room and peeked out the window.

Josh Mendes was getting out of his car.