Page 22 (2/2)

He studies ns When I frown, he adds, "Sorry, but your father told aze wanders over les at the idea of being in that bed with hiain It felt so wonderful to sleep in his arms, to be held like that, and oddly, at the tiain, he could erase all therolls around? Would he go toon? Why is he ain, I find hi at ht of h my shirt My body betrays me as it hums to life from his attention I cross aze away and aardly scratches the back of his neck

"So on with his business He’s pissed off so nervously on his bottom lip "How much do you know about what your father does?"

"How much do you know about what he does?" I quip with e an intense look, and life sparkles inside me But then I wonder how many secrets Ryler keeps fro first, his gaze too overwheler under my chin and forces my attention back to him My heart jolts in my chest from his touch as the skin-to-skin contact lavishly war ain "You don’t need to be afraid of ns "I’m not the enemy here I don’t want to hurt you, only help you"

Truth and trust go together hand in hand

But I don’t trust anyone

Not even Ryler

I ht have once

But now that trust has evaporated to dust

"You work for my father" My tone is off-pitch, uneven, laced with fear fro I felt today when I found the envelope and when Evan forced me down on my bed "Therefore, you are the enemy in my eyes You proved that when you told hiative about my father to anyone who knows him has me terrified out of my damn mind But Ryler needs to understand that we’re not friends, even if he did write beautiful poetry about hts of

Two seconds later, reality crashes down onof a mistake I just made

"Oh, God, please don’t tell him that" I shuffle away from Ryler "Please, please, please, don’t tell him" I back down the hallway like a skittish cat Tears well up in ret seeps into my bones "I didn’t mean it," I whisper "My father’s not a bad person He just cares about me"