Lie to Me by Chloe Cox Read Free Book Online Page A

know it.
    “I’m sorry,” I said softly. “You’re right.”
    His expression relaxed, and he grinned at me, squeezing my knees with those big hands. “Good,” he said.
    I don’t remember the rest of that work out. I do remember that after that things changed for me. Our mornings together weren’t just about the giddiness of this new, gorgeous guy, of being around someone who made me feel more alive, more deliciously conscious of my body just by being nearby, who made me glad to learn how to use that body. That was all still there, constantly, making every moment with Marcus charged with newly formed, raw desire. But now there was this added depth to all of it. Like when he looked at me and seemed to see through me, I knew now that I wasn’t just imagining it. His loneliness gave him insight, and he made me look at things in a new way.
    Marcus was the first person who, when he told me how lucky I was, I believed him.
    As time went by, I learned I was right about his family. I didn’t get the details until later, but I don’t think the details really mattered. Sometimes I wondered if I’d be as good a person as Marcus if I’d grown up without my parents loving me. I honestly don’t think I would. Marcus made himself. He decided what kind of man he would be all on his own. I don’t know if I would have been strong enough for that.
    After all, when my turn came to be alone, I had Marcus. Right up until I didn’t.
     
    ***
     
    All of these thoughts about Marcus and fathers, and what it might mean to suddenly have someone in your life to be that father figure when you’d never had one before, come rushing through my head as I watch Mr. Wolfe with my little brother. Because Mr. Wolfe was the one who stepped in when Marcus’s own neglectful dad died about two years after my own parents died. You could ask where Mr. Wolfe was before Mr. Roma died, but that’s a complicated question. As far as Marcus was concerned, he had no one. His dad hated him and his mother was ashamed of him.
    And then, soon after Mr. Roma’s funeral, Mr. Wolfe showed up, and a little while after that, Marcus left to go work for Mr. Wolfe. And watching Mr. Wolfe with Dill, I can see it. I can see Mr. Wolfe stepping in, showing Marcus what it might be like to have a father, to have a family.
    I’d even felt it myself for that one moment inside the courtroom when Mr. Wolfe smiled at me. That feeling that someone is looking out for you, that someone is on your side? It’s powerful.
    And that’s why, standing soaking wet in my living room, watching Mr. Wolfe chuck my little brother on the side of the head in that familiar way, I’m scared shitless. Because it suddenly occurs to me that maybe Mr. Wolfe offered something I never could: the chance to have a family. And the thought that he might come after Dill like that fills my body with dread.
    Which, I’ll be honest: not the best way to start a tough conversation.
    Mr. Wolfe almost seems to sense his advantage. As soon as Dill and Maria leave for the kitchen, Dill looking scared in that way I hate to see, Mr. Wolfe gives me that same knowing smile I remember from the custody hearing.
    “Harlow,” he says, still smiling, standing in my living room with his arms open, like he’s welcoming me to my own home. It’s unnerving. “It’s been a long time.”
    “Yup,” I say. “You’re here about the development, aren’t you?”
    I was never good at playing it cool. Give me the option, and I jump right in. I’d rather know what I’m fighting against than have to do all that guesswork. Maybe part of it is because I feel so guilty, knowing I have to go up against Mr. Wolfe.
    My hair drips on the floor some more, and Mr. Wolfe lets the silence grow into something vaguely ominous.
    “You know I am,” he says finally. “Why haven’t you taken the offer, Harlow?”
    “You know why I haven’t, Mr. Wolfe,” I say.
    Mr. Wolfe looks down at me, his hand brushing aside his suit jacket to