Secrets and Lies 2
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Secrets & Lies 2
A Ferro Family Serial
By:
H.M. Ward
COPYRIGHT
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by H.M. Ward
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form.
H.M. WARD PRESS
First Edition: October 2014
ISBN: 9781630350444
Secrets & Lies 2
Chapter 1
I move away from Nathan to talk to Carter, but Emily intercepts my path by clumsily bumping into me. With my eyes still on Carter, I ask, “What’s up with the two of them?” I assume she knows. They’re both artists and the community around here is small. Once you’re into the upper level classes, anyway.
Emily’s brow furrows, making one of her eyebrow rings dance. She crosses her boot-clad legs at the ankle and nearly falls over. She’s sipping a drink that looks like mud. I giggle nervously. It’s hard to tell, but I’m guessing she’s not drinking coffee.
“Who? Carter and Cream Puff?” Emily knocks back more of her drink.
“Who is Cream Puff?” I make a face and look at her empty mug. “Are you drinking dirt? What the hell is that?”
“Try some,” Emily shoves the mug my way.
“I don’t drink dirt, dude. No thanks.” I laugh a little because she seems so clueless. “So I take it that wasn’t coffee?”
She tries to focus on my face, blinking her big green eyes. Is she wearing contacts? I could have sworn her eyes were brown, but I suck at remembering details. “It was a triple espresso laced with some kind of white chocolate liquor.”
“Do you usually get trashed after one drink?”
“Ha! I am so not trashes,” she slurs. Then she giggles to herself, “Tray-eshed.” Her dark eyebrows crinkle together and she starts to topple forward.
Grabbing her arm, I’m suddenly concerned. “What the hell did you drink? Emily?” She doesn’t tell me, instead she smiles at her shoes.
“I like boots. Boooooots.” She taps her toe on the floor and grins proudly, like she’s told the most hysterical joke ever.
A second later, a very pretty guy wanders over. He’s wearing a black blazer and dark, stone washed jeans. His head is clean-shaven and there are a number of piercings on the left side of his face—left eyebrow, left nose, left ear, left nipple from the looks of the way his coat doesn’t lay flat across his otherwise smooth chest. A tattooed snake slithers fixedly around his skull, again, mostly on the left side. He’s the kind of guy who couldn’t choose a life of crime. He’d be easy to pick out of a line up. Unlike Bathroom Boy, wherever he went. My eyes dart through the room looking for Mr. Smith, but he’s gone.
Tat Man clears his throat. “Is she okay?”
Emily giggles, which means we’ve entered bizarro land. She jerks away from me and pats the guy’s chest. With her hand lingering on his chest, she looks up at him alluringly and smoothes the wrinkles from his shirt. “I’m fine.”
Tat Man glances back at me, a single brow lifted, as my friend leans harder into him. “I’m pretty sure I saw someone drop something in her drink. I don’t know her, but I didn’t like it. The rest of her friends are kind of scary, so I waited until I could talk to someone who might listen.” He looks down at his feet nervously, unable to maintain eye contact. “Sorry, but it’s kind of awkward walking over to two hot girls and saying something like that—especially when one of them is…”
He trails off as Emily finds his nipple ring under his shirt and is batting at it like a cat. If she purrs I’m going to lose it.
Grabbing her hand, I talk to her like she’s a kid, “Let’s not play with the nice man’s nipples, okay?” Emily juts out her bottom lip. Tat Man and I both stare at her as if she’s grown another head. He’s telling the truth, he has to be, this is so unlike her. Holding onto her wrist, I tug her back toward me, suddenly leery. “Did you see who did it?”
His arms fold over his chest in a defensive pose. “Nah, she was standing inside a group of people and turned from the bar. I was sitting at the opposite end and saw a hand dump something into her glass. She was too far away for me to say something before she picked it up. Plus some couples think the whole date rape thing is fun, it excites one or both of them” He makes a face that says he disagrees. “I thought someone should know. If you’re her friend, and it wasn’t planned, you should get her out of here before the guy who did it comes back for her.”
For a second I wonder if he’s the guy who did it and he wants to get me to take Emily into the parking lot for a threesome, but then he wanders away without another word. I’m being stupid; no one is that desperate. Well, maybe some guys are, but not that one. He has a presence about him that’s intimidating, which makes it super sweet that he was nervous about talking to me. I want to squeal with Emily because he called us hot girls, but her eyelids are getting heavy and she’s leaning into my side. Most of what’s holding her up now is me.
“No, no. Emily, stay awake.” I push her upright and she bats a hand at me.
“I’m awa-ah…” Her voice trails off and she keeps blinking. If I find the asshole who did this to her, I’m going to send his balls into his skull.
I manage to wave down Carter as I start moving Emily toward the door. Her boots are dragging, leaving big black scuff-marks on the floor behind us.
He rushes over. “What the hell happened to her?” He immediately loops her arm over his shoulder.
“Some asswipe dropped something in her drink. It looked like sludge by the time she finished it. At first I thought she was drunk, but she’s close to passing out. God, for someone so little she’s heavy. I think she ate bricks for dinner.” We prop her up between us and keep walking, trying to make it look like she’s fine.
“Shit, someone drugged her? She’s going to be pissed. Emily never gets like this. She’s a happy drunk—she just giggles and dances. Blackouts and falling asleep aren’t like her.” Carter is walking us toward a dark hallway.
“Uh, is this a good plan? Should we really be heading for the dark deserted exit?”
“Calm down, Pollyanna, the elevator is this way.”
“Pollyanna? Seriously? That’s not a good nickname, and you totally used it wrong. Maybe I’d buy it if I’d said singing show tunes would turn this sad hallway into a happy hallway full of rainbows and unicorns.”
He smirks at me. “Yeah, that’s you. I bet you have unicorns in your dorm room.”
“Nope, the only magical being in my dorm room is my super-bitch roommate who nicknamed me Bacon. By the way—I like that nickname better than Pollyanna.”
“Okay, Bacon, follow me to the elevator.”
Chapter 2
Emily’s body goes limp and we begin to drag her down the hallway. There are several recesses and corridors, providing ample opportunity for axe murders to hide in wait for us. My eyes shift frantically through the darkness. I jump when I notice two figures moving in the shadows, realizing after Carter laughs at me that it’s just a couple making out. Well, maybe it’s more than that unless they’re dry humpers. I’m all for dry humping. It prevents pregnancy one hundred percent of the time and isn’t sticky. Wow, I need to stop thinking things like that. One day the crazy is going to shoot out of my mouth.
When we pass the couple, it’s clear they are going at it and taking advantage of the shadows. She’s pulling his hair and moaning like crazy, not caring who hears her.
“That’s Natasha. She’s not shy.” I glance at Carter, not sure of what I think. When he sees my face, he tries not to laugh again. He must think I’m a total prude. “She’s a double major and works like crazy. Every few weeks she lets loose and some lucky guy gets the brunt of her scholastic frustrations.”
I glance at the couple again. It’s dark, but I can make out the hem of her short dress, pushed up to reveal a garter belt. His hands are holding her tight as he hammers into her. He’s practically nailing her to the wall. That’s when she grabs his collar and rips his shirt open. Buttons go flying everywhere and she digs her nails into his back, screaming louder. My jaw is hanging open at the public display and I don’t blink. We both stand there staring until I prattle, “I could use some scholastic frustration.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“No really, I’ve never been
that
into sex, but watching Natasha makes me think I was doing it wrong.”
We’re both staring at the couple like voyeurs. Without looking away, Carter says, “I’m thinking that part of your life should be your secret.”
“Damn, look at them! It’s like I was doing it with a stack of pancakes. He was warm and yummy, but nothing like that.” My brows are lifted high on my face when Carter looks at me.
“Okay, new rule—no more talk about your sex life.”
“You just want pancakes.”
Carter laughs, even though we’re both trying to be quiet. She’s really into it now and her dark hair is flying as she bucks against him, pushing off the wall as she does it. “Push the little button.”
“That’s what she said.”
I elbow him and nearly drop Emily. “Carter! Do it! I don’t want to be here after they’re done.”
He glances at the wall. “I already did.”
“Well, push it again.” Emily’s head is hanging forward and I’m pretty sure she’s asleep. She inhales long slow breaths and her body is so heavy. “Damn girl, why are you so heavy? You’re a freakin’ toothpick!”
“It’s because she passed out.” The elevator light claims it has arrived, but the doors don’t open. I keep glancing between the couple and the doors.
“Carter, I don’t want to be here when she’s done.”
“Neither do I.” He presses the button again and again, but the doors don’t open. “Shit.”
“This is going to be embarrassing,” I say, wishing I could hide behind Emily. She’d kill me, but if I have to, I’ll do it. It’s better for her anyway. Maybe the asswipe won’t try to drug her again.
Carter frantically pushes the button and the doors start to slide open just as she hits her maximum pitch. Her legs come down from his hips and Natasha is breathing hard. She can’t see anything yet because her hair is over her face, but as soon as she flips it back, she’ll be looking straight at us. I’m pretty sure she has no clue we’re there.
Natasha is purring something in the guy’s ear as she puts her feet on the floor. He steps away and she flips her hair back. When she glances up, those grey eyes flick across the space and land on us.
The elevator doors are nearly all the way open, but not quite. They seem stuck at the width of two people. “I’m not getting caught. Stand next to me.” I push Emily in front of us and we back into the elevator.
Natasha’s voice rings out, “What the fuck? You watched us?”
I shake Emily’s head, as Carter and I hide behind her body while holding her upright. Carter elbows me, “Say something.”
Reaching around, I take Emily’s hand and give Natasha a thumbs up. “Good job!”
The doors slide shut and Carter and I start giggling like crazy people.
Chapter 3
Safe in a cab, my phone starts ringing and just won’t stop. I look at the caller ID and see it’s Mom. Emily’s head is on my shoulder and she’s sandwiched between me and Carter. I don’t want to take the call right then, but she’s called at least a dozen times.