Page 49 of Venom and Lace

Crap, it was the same thing Cian had asked me last week. Something I didn’t know the answer to.

She took my silence as a no and snickered. “See, he didn’t even tell you his real first name. How could you possibly trust a man like that? It’s Hymen, by the way. H-Y-M-E-N. He changed it in high school because of the bullying. But you wouldn’t know that, because he wiped all history of it off the face of the earth. You can do that kind of thing when you’re loaded. You know what other things you can do? You can steal. You can rob. You can hurt people. You can ruin their lives. Which is exactly what he did.”

Juliet’s mouth hung open, her expression matching mine. I didn’t know what to say. Thora had left me speechless, something her family was pretty good at doing, it seemed. How could I know if she was telling the truth and not just trying to protect her family? There was no way to know for sure. Except listening to my gut, and my gut was saying she was telling the truth.

“I’m out of here.” Thora turned to Juliet, her face softening. “I don’t want to leave you in a jam, but I can’t work here. This is a total betrayal of my brother. I’ll email Owen all the details of what to do.” She squeezed Juliet’s forearm and slammed the door behind her.

“Holy shit!” Juliet covered her mouth with her hand. “That was intense. Do you think she’s telling the truth?”

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. If she was telling the truth, then I was in a load of shit for getting involved with Ryzen. I didn’t know what to do, who to believe. I knew Ryzen had been a little shit the last few days, but was he capable of doing the things Thora had said?

“I could, um, ask his brother. Riddick.” Juliet chewed on her bottom lip.

“Why would you—oh, Juliet, no, you didn’t.” I gasped. “How? When? Why?”

She giggled, her cheeks turning slightly red. “Well, it’s a long story and irrelevant right now. But I could ask him and see what he says.” She shrugged.

“No, no.” I shook my head. “This is my mess, and I don’t want to drag you and whatever kinky stuff you’re doing with his brother into it.” She threw a stack of Post-it notes at me and laughed. “I’ll have to go directly to the source for this one.”

“You’re going to ask Ryzen?”

“No.” I laid my head on my desk, a pencil poking my forehead. “Cian.”

********

“I look ridiculous.” Juliet swatted my hands away and adjusted the stuffing in her pants. I couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the sight of her.

“You look good, just like me.” I spanked her fake butt and grinned in the mirror.

“This is a bad idea, Nova. I don’t know if we can pull this off.” She chewed on her fingernails, and it was my turn to swat at her hands.

“It’s going to work. Owen will be here any minute to take you to my apartment at Goodacre Estates. Just walk how I walk, you know, like a bad bitch.” I strutted back and forth in the tiny living room, doing my best sexy walk that, if I was being honest, I had never done in my life.

She scoffed. “You don’t walk like that. You walk like this.” She swiveled her hips dramatically and pushed her butt out. We landed in a heap on the couch, a fit of laughter coming over us.

It was good to laugh. We needed it after the talk with Thora earlier. I was adamant about going to see Cian. The only problem was that I was pretty sure at least one of Ryzen’s bodyguards was following me around—keeping tabs on me, most likely. So the obvious solution was for Juliet to dress up as me and go back to my apartment at Goodacre Estates, where Ryzen would be notified that I was home. Meanwhile, I would go see Cian, get the truth, then come home. Easy-peasy.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” She scrunched up her nose and pushed the stuffing back down into her bra.

I nodded and stood, adjusting my wig. Juliet wasn’t the only one playing dress-up. If I was going to sneak out and not get caught, I had to make sure I was in a disguise as well. A red wig with black streaks really did wonders for hiding my face. And, for dramatic effect, I wore a black trenchcoat. With clothes underneath, of course. There would be none ofthathappening tonight.

Owen texted that he was out front, and I hurried up to finish Juliet’s look. “You’re gonna do great. Owen will go up and hang out with you, and I know that Ryzen won’t like that. If he’s watching, he’ll let me know.” I squeezed her in a tight hug. “I’ll let you know when I’m coming back.”

She held up her fingers in our secret code, put her hood up, and walked out into Owen’s waiting car. She could do this. We had been friends for so long. She knew exactly how to pull this off.

I bounced my leg up and down and checked my phone again. It had been twenty minutes since she had left, and still no text from Ryzen. Maybe I had been paranoid this whole time and his security guards weren’t following me around. My shoulders sagged, and I waited.

A few minutes later, I got the text I was waiting for.

Nova, hope you’re well. Sorry for the way we left things. Have you had a chance to think over my proposal?

I’d known it. I’d known deep in my gut that I wasn’t crazy. He was definitely having me followed.

Hi, been busy with work. Can we talk later this week? I need a few days to wrap my head around things.

I waited patiently, watching the three dots flash across my phone.

Of course. Take your time. Are you busy working tonight? Would you like some food delivered to your office?