Stolen Lies (Fates of the Bound 2)

The fact that she was so damn tired of everything.

She rode him, not fucking him, but fucking all of society like a pissed-off whore turning tricks.

When she came, it wasn’t great. It just was.

Tristan gripped her thighs and pumped into her as he finished. After several strokes, his grip slid away and he panted underneath her, his arms slapping on the rug above his head. “That was shit, wasn’t it?”

He swallowed.

Lila watched his Adam’s apple rise and fall.

She hopped

up, not wanting him inside her any longer, then attacked the pile of clothes near the couch. “What are we doing, Tristan?”

“I’m trying to start a relationship. Trying being the key word. I didn’t realize I’d have to talk you into it every single fucking day.”

“And I didn’t realize that nothing I do or say will ever be good enough for you.” She fastened the clasp on her bra. “You’ll always want more.”

“All I want is for you to tell me that I’m important to you. That you miss me at least a little when I’m not around. That you want me, at least in some way. Is that too much to ask?”

“It’s complicated.”

“No, it’s really not,” he said, tossing her clothes to her as he came to them, then pulling on his trousers before he even found his boxer briefs.

“I have to go home. People are waiting.”

“Are they? Last time you didn’t want to be here because you worked better at home. Now it’s something else. It’s always going to be something, isn’t it? Always some excuse to leave.”

“Do you even care?” She pulled on her boots and grabbed her satchel. “I have to go whether you understand the reason or not.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t want to be late for Mommy.”

Lila’s head snapped up. Whatever he’d won over the last week evaporated all at once. “Fuck you, Tristan DeLauncey.”

His face crumpled. “Wait,” he said, sprinting forward as she grabbed her hood and dashed out of the room.

Tristan was fast, but Lila was closer and faster. She slammed the apartment door in his face and jogged down the hall and stairs.

Dixon sat on the base of them, stopping mid-bite as she blew past.

He stood up, turning back around to his brother, who blew down the steps in a rush of tumbling bare feet. “Will you just wait?”

But Lila didn’t stop. She’d had enough. She shot through the back door of the shop and slipped into the alley, nearly knocking Samantha over in her haste to get away.

“Heya, Hood.” Lila didn’t reply as she sprinted to the mouth of the alley. “Hey, Hood, where are you going so fast?”

The back door opened so hard that it thwacked against the brick.

But Lila was already gone. She turned the corner and ran the two blocks to the parking garage that held her Adessi.

She didn’t look back.

She was never, ever going to look back again.

After climbing into her sedan, Lila sped through downtown, charging through the streets like a restless panther. She didn’t want to go back to the Randolph compound any more than she wanted to go back to Tristan’s shop, so she didn’t. Instead, she exited onto the loop and circled around New Bristol.

The bluebonnets lulled her into drowsiness as she took another pass. Then another.