Page 128 of The Scarab's Game
“Picking the lock might have been smarter,” Emmett continued, attempting a weak smile, “but Jayce would be proud of me.”
“I’m going to book my own flight home,” I said, trying to keep my voice as neutral as possible so he wouldn’t figure out how deep he’d gotten under my skin. I wouldn’t give the con artist that satisfaction. “And I’ll call a cab to take me to Nice.”
“Can I come in?” Emmett asked, his voice soft and hesitant.
“No.”
He shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable. “Can I apologize?”
“No.”
Emmett sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. “Explain?”
“Explain what?” My voice cracked, betraying the emotions I was trying so hard to hide. “About how my best friend is a complete stranger? Or how you’re exactly the same as every other man I’ve ever fallen for?”
‘You keep dating these bad boys, then you’re surprised when they treat you… badly,’Scarlett had once said to me. That’s why I didn’t tell her about Simon. Because she was right.
I lay back down and rolled away from him, wincing as my bruised cheek touched the pillow.
Fucking Enzo.
“Or maybe,” I continued, “you can explain how my father was right about you all along?”
There was a long pause. Long enough, I figured he’d given up and left.
But then his voice wrapped around me one more time. “That’s what I thought for most of my life. It’s why I stayed away from you.”
“Stayed away?” I scoffed. “Until you conned me into sharing a room with you. You probably staged the break-in, didn’t you?”
“Jenn, I wouldn’t?—”
“You and your little crew, pretending you were all protecting me.”
“That was Enzo,” Emmett said, desperation in his tone. “He thought you were an undercover agent using Dante to get to Massimo.”
I shot up again, spinning to face him. “That’s rich! Considering Dante and I are the only two honest people in this whole fucking country!”
Emmett raised his hand, placing a barrier between us. “Noah told me last night. And we found two bugs inside your room. That’s why I brought you here. I was afraid they…” He trailed off, looking down at the balcony floor and clenching his fist.
Feeling exposed in my little sleep tank, I pulled the cover up.
“I was afraid Fenix was here, and they might come for you.”
A weak laugh escaped me, tears pricking at my eyes. “And you were right, weren’t you? Except you threw me right in their path.”
“I’ve made a lot of stupid choices in my life, but trying to protect you was never one of them.” Emmett gripped the doorframe and looked up at me again. His eyes glistened. Tears? Seriously? From the con artist? “That’s where I failed last night. I chose the team over you, and I almost?—”
His voice broke, and some gullible part of me considered forgiving him.
I really, really wanted to.
But how could I? After everything that happened, all the lies and deception, how could Ievertrust him again?
“Despite everything, I almost lost you. When I realized they had you?—”
A sudden clatter above us, like cutlery on porcelain, interrupted his words. Someone above him was having breakfast.
“Can I come in?” he asked again. “Please?”