Page 46 of Truth Forever
He raised his chin. “That her?”
I glanced down at the information Ruin had sent over. Namely, the make and model of the car, the roommate drove. “Yeah.” Slowly I moved away from my bike, standing in the middle of the pavement.
I knew the moment Layla saw me. Her eyes flicked for a second between Wicked and me as he stood next to the bikes and widened into saucers. Our eyes met as her shoulders straightened.
I knew that look she was gearing herself up for battle. And I was the enemy.
“Can I help you?” Her voice was clear as she slipped from the car. Hands on her hips. She had the same kind of confidence as Cali had. Like she was totally sure of herself and her abilities. It made me wonder what she did as a job. Ruin hadn’t sent me that information. Whatever it was, she was totally professional. And she demanded respect.
My eyes scooted downwards. She demanded attention even in her oversized T-shirt, grey leggings and white fluffy slippers. It made me smile. No wonder she and Cali were friends. They were like the same person.
It felt strange though that she had gone out in public in what was obviously her lounging around the house Saturday clothes.
It must have been important.
“We are looking for Cali?” Wicked spoke when he realised I wasn’t going to.
Layla’s eyes blazed. “Which one of you is Truth?” She glanced between us. It wasn’t a friendly look in her eyes.
It kind of made me respect her.
“That would be me,” I spoke softly, but the words had barely left my mouth when her open palm connected with my cheek. Rocking my head back.
“Asshole.” She drew her hand back to stroke me again, and I caught her wrist easily before it could strike me a second time. “Easy girl… I’ll give you the first one, but you are on thin ice.” My words would have scared any other person, but they just seemed to add a fresh spark of anger to her eyes.
“What are you going to do? Pull a gun on me?” Layla sneered. Her words hit me like a gut punch. My fingers loosened around her wrist, dropping it as I stepped backwards.
My reaction was physical. It had been a low blow but not unwarranted. “She told you about that?”
“Was she meant to hide it? The girl has had nightmares since she got back.” Her eyes found mine unflinching.
Guilt ripped into me. “She had nightmares?” Behind me, my brother made a sound in the back of his throat. If I didn’t know better, I would say it was a disgusted sound. He wasn’t doing anything to make me feel better.
“She should probably go to therapy.” She added. Jesus, this woman was unrelenting. Maybe she was a lawyer like Cali? It would make sense. Seeing how close she was with Cali.
“He feels like shit love,” my brother finally spoke. “You can’t make him feel worse.”
Her head turned to him, her eyes appraising him. There wasn’t the usual look of interest that women usually got when they looked at him. Her lips actually curled. “Good, He should feel guilty. Cali is a good woman. Too good for you.” She dug out her keys from her pocket. “Now if you will excuse me, gentleman.” The look she gave me spoke volumes. She was using the term gentleman loosely.
“I would like to see her.”
She froze her back to me. And a slight shiver went through her shoulders. “She isn’t here.”
“You haven’t even gone inside.”
Why was she grandstanding? It didn’t make any sense. I got that she was angry on her friend’s behalf. But she had kept us here talking for a long time. She hadn’t said straight away that Cali wasn’t here.
“She isn’t here.” She repeated herself.
“I saw her only a few hours ago. Where is she?”
She turned to me then. “She’s … at friends. She wanted to get away and clear her head for a while.”
“A male friend?” I couldn’t help it, my voice shook. Had Cali left me in that police station and gone straight to another man’s bed? I had no right to be jealous. I knew that. Didn’t make hearing it any easier.
“She’s not at any friends,” Wicked swore, and both of us turned to him. He was peering into Layla’s car. “You drop anyone at the airport recently Layla?” He turned the full weight of his stare on her and for the first time she paled.
“You took Cali to the airport?” I whispered it. Had I hurt her so badly that she felt she had to leave the country?
