Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 128380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“Enter the fake profiles,” Bailey drawled as realization hit her. “That was you. You set them up. You pretended to be Deke.”
“It was Gerard’s idea.” Therese lifted her shoulders. “Who better to pose as Deke than someone who knew him inside out? A simple voice-changing app enabled me to sound like a guy over the phone.”
So this hadn’t been about striking at Deke. It had been about hurting Dayna.
“Gerard was so sure Dayna would be so furious about the profiles that she’d fly over here, confront Deke, break it off … and then of course Gerard would make his play.”
“And as Deke would be free, you could make your own,” Bailey mused.
“You say that like I was delusional to think it would work. Well, here’s something you should know, then,” she added with a smirk. “Gerard overheard Deke talk to Shay about how he would have dated me if it wasn’t for his promise to Dayna.”
Bailey inwardly snorted. That didn’t seem likely. He looked at the woman with utter disinterest—he had done for as long as Bailey had been part of the pride. So she was getting the distinct feeling that Gerard had lied to secure Therese’s assistance.
A small movement caught the attention of Bailey’s peripheral vision. A movement that came from beneath one of the chairs. A similar movement came under Therese’s chair.
Bailey didn’t need to look to see what it was. Didn’t need to. She’d mastered the art of looking without looking. She knew exactly what little creatures were hiding here. And it was hard not to smile.
“Don’t get me wrong,” began Therese, “I didn’t believe it would be easy to convince him to act on what he wanted—he’s not a guy who’d be good with sleeping with his ex’s BFF. But Gerard’s theory was that once Dayna railed Deke for ‘cheating,’ he’d be so furious with her for not believing his protests that he wouldn’t care if sleeping with me might ruin my friendship with her. Still, I was skeptical. So when touch-hunger struck him, it seemed the perfect time to expose the profiles and get things moving.”
Anger spiked through Bailey. “You meant to take advantage of his situation?” Cruel little bitch.
“A few subtle prompts were enough to encourage Maisy to surprise him with a visit.” Therese’s expression turned sullen. “She was the only person who acted as they should have. Dayna believed the profiles were fake, not real. Worse, Deke turned to you for sex.”
“And you didn’t like it; wanted to punish me. Hence the acid attack.” Bailey gritted her teeth as her snake lunged hard to battle the drug. It didn’t work. “Was Gerard in on it?”
“No. He wasn’t mad that Deke marked you. He was thrilled. He thought that would be enough to send Dayna spiraling; to spur her into freeing herself from the vow. But she still didn’t want to pull away from Deke. Not even when he basically dumped her via video call. Not even when he made it clear to her that he wanted you.”
“You didn’t like hearing that, so you sicced extremists on me again.”
Therese sneered. “He barely even knew you, yet he made you the freaking focal point of everything.”
“Is that why you sent Journee his way and then later made the call to Maisy? You wanted Deke’s attention to switch from me to you, even if he didn’t know it was you?”
“Well, it worked.” She glanced down at her phone. “No one has left yet, unfortunately. But they will eventually. Which is excellent, because your ride will be here at some point tonight. And then you’ll be gone for good. From my life, and from Deke’s.”
Bailey’s insides seized. “Ride? What ride?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“T-that’s all,” Gerard stammered. “That’s everything.”
His hands set on his hips, Deke glared down at him. “You are fucking kidding me with this shit,” he growled, his cat raring to maul the bastard.
Gerard flinched, his shoulders tensing, sweat dotting his forehead. “I just wanted to come between you and Dayna; I never planned for anyone to get hurt. That was never supposed to happen.”
“But it did, and you did nothing.”
“That’s not true. When I realized it was Therese who was hiring extremists—which I didn’t find out until after the car crash—I made her promise not to do it again.”
“That makes it better, in your opinion?” fumed Havana, a vein pulsing in her temple. “Maybe you didn’t notice, asshole, but she broke that promise.”
“And still, you did jack,” Aspen spat, holding herself stiffly as if she’d otherwise pounce. Not even the hand Camden was sweeping up and down her back soothed her.
Grinding his teeth, Deke once more blasted Gerard with a glower that made the coward recoil. “Was anyone else in on this?”
The other male shook his head. “N-no, no one.”
“What about the person she used to hire extremists for her?” asked Deke.