As soon as I heard her speak into the phone, I closed my eyes, though my attention remained on the phone call.
“Hello, Mom? Yes, it’s me.” I listened to her explain to her mother what had happened, but instead of a retelling, it sounded like a fabricated story made up of half-truths and lies that filled in the blanks. The brief conversation solidified my gut feeling that Willow knew exactly what was going on.
By the time she had ended the call, I was sitting upright and was pissed off. She met my glare and looked away. “What?” she asked.
“You want to continue to tell me that you have no idea why you were taken from my apartment?”
“I told you—”
“FUCK what you told me, Angel.” She jumped at the unexpected boom in my voice. “I want the truth.”
“The truth is you’re wasting your time. I’m not your concern. I haven’t seen you in four years. We don’t just pick up after that just because we were once… um…” The flush on her skin told me she remembered exactly what we once were.
“What about your friends? You just let them go without a reason or a courtesy letter. I didn’t think under all the fluff and wildness was a cold-hearted bitch.” She flinched, and I almost felt sorry. Almost.
“How is she?”
“Who?”
She rolled her eyes. “Lake.”
“Happy.”
“With him?” I didn’t miss the disbelief in her eyes and the sound of disgust.
“By him, you mean Keiran? Yes, they are still happy together. In fact, they live together.” I studied her face and could practically see the emotions shifting in her eyes. “You seem disappointed.”
“I am. She’s weak.”
“As opposed to you?”
“For starters, I’m not with someone who abused me for ten years.”
“But you did fuck his best friend.” Another flinch, but I refused to let up. “It’s not about that, though, is it? You were fine with Keiran until she chose him over you.” The flash of fire in her eyes gave me my answer even when she remained silent. “Grow up. Accept it.”
“I have.” The shrug of her shoulders and the indifference she displayed did little to put me at ease.
“What are you up to, Willow?”
She released a deep breath and locked her gaze with mine. “I told you. That break-in could have easily had everything to do with you as it could with me.”
“But it didn’t have anything to do with me, did it? Those men came there for you. Who were they?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“So now you can read minds?”
“I can read yours.”
She pursed her lips. “Then what am I thinking now?”
“That if you don’t stop testing me, your night will be far from ending soon.” The threat seemed to work. Her shoulders stiffened before relaxing in submission.
“I’m tired, Dash.”
“Tell me what I want to know and you can sleep.”
“I fucking told you—”
My hand reached out and clamped her lips shut. “Watch your mouth.” I let her lips go and met her stare, feeling smug. She didn’t like the way I handled her, but she couldn’t ignore the way her body responded, either. It was always lust that betrayed us and made us weak when we so desperately needed to use our heads.
“Why do you keep doing that?”
“Because it keeps me from spanking your ass.”
She scoffed. “I’m not a child.”
“No, you’re not.” I grazed my eyes over her body long enough to make her squirm. I stopped eye-fucking her long enough to notice her dirty feet and yesterday’s clothing. “Shit.”
I stalked over to her, plucked my phone from her fingers, and dialed Fisher. He answered on the first ring. “I need you to send someone to get women’s clothing and toiletries.” I ran down her sizes and hung up.
“How do you know my size?”
“I know everything about you.”
“Not everything,” she whispered. Her tone was soft, but her eyes were defiant. She should know better than to challenge me by now. I took her chin in my hand and lifted her face so she couldn’t hide.