Page 57 of Wicked Truths
The final deadline is here.
Saturday is getting closer and the messages have been coming thick and fast since this morning.
I shimmy off the bed and read the message.
SweetJustice: I need more information. As well as wanting you to find out exactly who will be at the meeting, I need to know the time the mafia leaders are meeting. And who they are meeting.
I close my eyes and fall onto my bed. How on earth do I get that sort of information?
I grab my phone and type.
SweetBunny: Dom would never tell me that.
SweetJustice: Flutter those eyelashes and I’m sure he’ll tell you anything.
Oh my God, he wants me to seduce him.
SweetBunny: He’s my stepfather. I can’t flutter my eyelashes at him.
SweetJustice: Do what you need to do. Or your pretty little face won’t be able to hide behind your mask when everyone finds out exactly what you do to earn money.
An image of me with Dom pressing me against the pool wall flashes on the screen.
Another message comes with an image attached. It shows me in the pool with Dom. My legs wrapped around his waist.
SweetJustice: Is he your client too? How would he feel if this picture got out?
I’m frozen.
I don’t know how to respond.
But I do know the photo must have come from a street camera used to control parking around the beach.
And only someone in power would get access to that.
My phone rings—Mom’s name flashes on the screen. I want to ignore her and google Detective Miles, Caleb’s brother, but first I answer her call.
“Hi Mom,” I say, trying hard to keep my voice from sounding like I’ve lost all hope.
“Are you okay? You sound different.”
I laugh. “I’m fine.”
“You sound sad, baby?” she says. “If I tell you I have an apartment for you, me and Milly, how would you feel?”
“I’d like to get away from here,” I tell her. All I wanted was to stay here a little longer and finish my university course, but now I don’t really care. London seems like a much better escape plan.
“By the time you finish uni, I’ll have it decorated and it’ll be ready for you and your sister.”
I sigh. It’s too far away. Three more months of university feels like an eternity when I’m being blackmailed by someone who might be a police detective.
I glance at my laptop screen for the hundredth time, checking for a response from HisPrincess.
“I’ll need to go, Mom.”
“Tell me what color you want your bedroom painted, sweetheart. Oh, and the apartment has the most gorgeous views of the river.”
Is that all that matters to her?
