Page 123 of The Complete Truth Duet
Catalina was behind me, and when the doors shut, she leaned forward and whispered, “Where are we?”
I huffed. “I honestly don’t know.”
Penn used his superhuman hearing. “I’ve got a place on the sixth floor. We’ll be safe. There’s a security firm a few levels down. They keep a close watch on all the entrances and exits to the building. Thomas gets any ideas about showing up here, I won’t be the only one pissed.”
“And who exactly are you again?” she asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said sarcastically, waving my hand between them. “Allow me to introduce you. Catalina, this is my ex-boyfriend, Penn Walker. You know, the one I’ve spent the last few weeks grieving, after he”—I turned a wry smile on Penn—“died.”
Penn shot me an unimpressed glare. “And I told you I’d explain”—he pointedly tipped his chin up to a security camera—“when we get inside.”
I clamped my mouth shut and stared at the door as we rode up. I told myself that the humming in my veins was the remnants of adrenaline.
But I couldn’t even lie to myself.
It was the same way my body had always reacted to him—regardless of how much I wanted to hate him.
Biting my lips, I chanced a glance at him out of the corner of my eye. I regretted it immediately.
He was staring at me. His gaze was dark and solemn, but the faintest touch of a grin tilted one side of his mouth. It reminded me of the first time I’d seen him smile. It was that day when we were alone in Brittany’s apartment and he was fixing the ceiling fan. It felt like it had been a lifetime ago. But I could still feel the way my whole body had warmed as he’d pointed at his mouth and told me that it was a medical condition.
Nostalgia hit me full force, making my nose sting.
And my temper flare.
“Stop looking at me,” I snapped.
“I can’t,” he whispered. “It’s surreal that you’re actually here right now.”
My brows drew together as I slapped him with a scowl. “I’m not the one who died, Penn.”
His grin grew into a full-blown smile, quite possibly impregnating me on the spot. I desperately tried to ignore it—and gave it a seriously half-assed effort to keep my gaze from dropping to his mouth. This task was rendered impossible when his hand landed on my neck. Chills detonated across my skin as his fingers sifted up into the back of my hair.
And then he leaned down, aimed his lips at my ear, and murmured, “God, I missed you.”
I bit my cheek as my vision swam. I’d missed him too. So damn much.
But I was allowed to miss him.
He wasn’t allowed to miss me.
“Don’t touch me,” I seethed.
Pure Penn. His hand fell away in the next beat—along with his smile.
For a split second, I almost felt guilty. And then, out of the blue, a thought hit me.
“Drew knew you were alive the whole time, didn’t he?”
He had the good sense to look sheepish as he muttered, “Yeah.”
My stomach dipped, and not in a good way. It was like someone had snatched not just the rug out from under me, but the entire planet. For fuck’s sake, was there anyone left who wasn’t playing me?
“Outstanding,” I hissed.
The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival, and I shuffled forward. The instant the door cracked open, I turned sideways, darting out and dragging River behind me.
I assumed Catalina and Isabel were following. But thanks to that hum in my veins, I knew for certain that Penn was hot on my heels.
There was only one door on the sixth floor, so I stomped toward it, my blood pressure rising by the minute.
Penn appeared, waved a little, white keycard in front of the handle, and then pushed the door wide.
My mouth gaped. I had known that the building was going to be nice based on nothing but the parking garage. But, apparently, Penn Walker—the man who had removed my toilet, cleaned mold from inside my walls, and slept beside me on an ancient, lumpy mattress on the floor—had so much money that he couldn’t even be bothered with the act of putting a metal key in a hole and twisting it.
Seriously, when was I going to stop being surprised?
“Ohhh, maybe when I figure out what the hell is going on?” I answered out loud.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I groaned. “Let’s just go inside so I can yell at you.”
A slow, gorgeous grin stretched his mouth. “Now, how’s a man supposed to resist an offer like that.” He shot me a wink.
A wink.
A fucking wink.
Dead men didn’t get to wink.
Especially when they weren’t really dead.
Penn got busy turning the alarm off while I stood in the foyer. His place was gorgeous. Even Catalina—who’d lived in quite a few mansions before going on the run—whispered, “Wow.”
