Wicked and True (Wicked & Devoted 4)

“Sure.” Trees hesitated. “You okay, man?”

“Enough to do what I have to. The rest…I can’t talk about it now.” He’d have to unpack that later.

“All right. How much time before you have to report to the bosses?”

“Ninety minutes.”

“We’ll need to work fast, then. You brought the computer, right?”

“Yep. Phone, too. Just in case.”

“Good thinking. I’ll disable the security so you can drive through.”

Then they disconnected the call. Zy sat in the silence, casting an occasional glance at Tessa, who still slept as he drove through the inky night.

Along the way, he encountered more cars than when he’d headed into town, but civilization soon gave way to the occasional house or farm. Paved roads turned to dirt. People disappeared. It gave him time to think.

Would this be one of the last times they’d ever be alone together? That he would ever see her? She was getting fired, no question. Nothing he said or did could stop that. But if she’d had anything to do with Kimber’s abduction, she might be going to prison, too. He hated to think of what would become of Hallie. And why the fuck would she have betrayed everyone who cared about her? Was she really that hard-up for an almighty dollar? Had he ever meant anything to her? Or had he merely been a part of her smokescreen? Had she pretended feelings for him, even let him into her bed, to keep suspicion from casting its long shadow over her?

Zy hated to think she was that premeditated…but the evidence looked damning. She’d gotten away with her scheme for so long because he’d refused to believe she could be guilty. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again. As far as he was concerned, no matter how much he wished or wanted otherwise, she was guilty as fuck unless she could prove him wrong.

When he made the sharp turn onto Trees’s bumpy drive, the cuff around Tessa’s wrist attached to the hard plastic of her door handle jangled and rattled. Between that and the hard bouncing of the car, she began to stir.

“Wha…?” Her lashes fluttered open and she peered out at the blackness through the windshield, then whipped her gaze to him. “Zy? What’s going on?”

He said nothing.

“Where are we?”

“Somewhere I can make sure you answer questions.”

“About what? I don’t understand.” She jerked her arm toward him—only to be stopped by the metal cuff. “What the hell?”

He turned and pinned her with a glare full of the twisting, wretched fury boiling his blood. “I’m asking the questions tonight, baby.”

At his sneer, she flinched. “I can explain.”

A de facto admission of guilt. He should have expected it, even applauded the fact they were making progress. Right now, he was too fucking full of rage to be happy about anything.

“Oh, you’re going to. And I’d better not get anything but the goddamn truth this time or so help me—” He broke off before he did something stupid, like warn her. If he needed to do more than threaten, he wasn’t going to waste words. He was just going to start applying pressure. Fuck the gloves; they were coming off.

“Zy…” Her voice trembled, and he turned to see tears filling her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. “I never wanted to hurt anyone—”

“But you did.” He slammed on the brakes suddenly at the end of Trees’s driveway, sending her lurching forward in her seat. Then he shoved the gear shift in park, threw off his seat belt, and turned to glare at her. “Not another fucking word until I say so. You’ve played me for the last time, so save your quivering lips and pretty tears. They won’t work on me anymore.”

Trees emerged then and eased the passenger door open. He unlocked Tessa’s wrist with his cuff key, pocketed his gear, then tugged her out of the car. “Let’s go.”

She clutched the blanket against her, trying frantically to wrap it around herself with her free hand as she sent his buddy imploring eyes. “Trees… Talk to him. Please. It’s not what you think—”

“Shut up.” It fucking infuriated him that she tried to use his best friend’s sympathies against him. “God, how fucking low are you willing to stoop? It’s done. You’re caught. We’re over.”

“But it’s not—”

“I don’t care! I don’t…” Zy fought to dam the hot lava of outrage as he grabbed her arm from Trees’s grip. After a glance back to see that his buddy had scooped up her laptop, phone, and keys, he dragged her straight for the bunker. When he reached the opening, he lifted the heavy metal lid and gave her a shove. “Get in.”

She shook her head, panicked and digging in her heels. “What are you going to do to me? What’s—”

“A lot less than you deserve.” He lifted her—blanket and all—ignoring her screeches, and hauled her against him, trying like fuck not to notice her curves, her warmth, her familiar scent. The quilt slipped to reveal her bare shoulder. He tried not to wonder what she wore as he stepped onto the metal ladder and headed down with his prize.