Burn (Virtues & Lies 1)

“We’ve been here all of two minutes, she hasn’t had time to dislike me yet.”

Her self-deprecation stings. I don’t know why, but it fucks me off that she so easily writes herself off.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Wayne and your mother?”

“Why does it matter?” Cassie turns to the river and I have to make a point of standing in front of her in order to get her eyes again. “Would it change this?”

My heart hammers at her silence because if my mother’s relationship with Wayne changes things, then I have no idea how she’s going to react when I tell her who my mother is.

“No, but there’s already so much I don’t know.”

“And you don’t want to know most of it.”

Looking at me with scrunched up eyes and a clenched jaw, she says, “Here’s the thing, Leo, I do want to know. If not because of what’s happened, then because of what could happen. I don’t want to be in the dark like your nan if one day something happens to you or Christopher…my dad.”

Little does she know she’s already in the same boat as my nan, in her head her grandfather’s death was a freak accident.

“I didn’t get to say goodbye to my grandad, and that hurts.” Shit.

Taking her mug, I sit it on the half brick wall that separates the outdoor eating area from the rest of the garden, and I wrap my arms around her. Her back moulds to my front so perfectly that I can’t imagine ever having to let her go.

Am I really so selfish to keep her knowing that I’ve done nothing but hide the truth from her?

I drag a long breath into my lungs and relish in her scent. She smells like an untouched meadow in the peak of summer—warm and so fucking perfect. God, the answer to my own question is really easy.

Yes. I am selfish enough to keep her.

I’m also going to make damn sure that nothing touches her. The world around us might be burning. Fuck, I might even be helping set fire to it, but I’ll be damned if I let any of the flames reach her. If the need arises, I’ll be her personal fire blanket.

“Leo?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you do for my dad?” Twisting her body enough to look up at me, she guides my face to hers with the tips of her fingers when I look back at the rippling water. Her lips lightly graze the underside of my bottom lip, trailing my jaw where she deposits a soft kiss. “I know you think that I’m safer not knowing, but…I want to know.”

I’m not entirely surprised by her question, but it doesn’t make it any easier to answer.

“I don’t think that.”

“Then tell me…tell me something. Please.” The grit in her voic

e leaves me no other choice.

“I’m…good with numbers.” I shrug my cop out reply.

The shake of her head is enough to tell me it’s not enough, but without taking her eyes off mine, Cassie takes a step back, pulling her shoulders back and standing taller as she turns back to me. “Not good enough. Your literacy is going to need to match your numeracy pretty fast. I couldn’t give a shit about numbers right now. You told me to ask you for anything I wanted, I want answers, Leo.”

“Cass—”

“Hold it right there,” she holds her finger to my lips and takes a deep breath. “Think very carefully about what you’re about to say. All the secrets…just give me this one, please?”

“I’m good with numbers. I’m good at making sense of them, at manipulating them…your father just needs someone to move money under the radar.”

It’s obvious when she adds up the information I’ve given her, her eyes harden and a scowl darkens her dolly face as she takes a step back from me.

“Are you laundering money for my dad?”

Her question is a double-edged sword. “Am I laundering money? Not quite, I mean his money is clean. Legit, so...”