Lie to Me by Gracen Miller Read Free Book Online Page A

Kella.
    The grief he’d felt that night had been absolute. Stone hadn’t wanted to continue to live. Fifteen years old and broken by the loss of his best friend, he’d prayed for death. A year of mourning and he hadn’t been any better, until his dad sent him on a journey, with James five years his senior and in charge. James had taken him to a bordello, and purchased him his first woman. Thanks to the warm, and willing whore beneath him, he’d found a way to cope with his grief. He’d been addicted to pussy for years because it was the only way he could alleviate some of his pain. Taking over as Regent fed him a different outlet, a means to honor the woman he’d loved. He still drank too much, and got into too many fights with men who didn’t know his identity, and required pussy on the night of Kella’s death...but he’d managed to glue the broken pieces of his heart back together. Unearthing a maybe-Kella threatened to shatter all his hard work.
    As if his friend read his mind, he said, “I got the pussy for later.” James nodded at Missy. “You just gotta take it, brother. She’ll help you get Kella off your mind.”
    “Pass.”
    James sighed. “You’re torturing yourself with what ifs.”
    “I thought I loved her.” Of course he realized his infatuation with Kella had been puppy love. Right? He’d been too young to know what real love was. Not that he could easily identify love any better now. Would probably never know since he was scheduled to marry a woman he distinctly disliked. If he ever thought he was falling for another woman, he’d give her an abrupt exit from his life. Love was for fools, it created a weakness, and a Regent couldn’t afford limitations.
    “Love...” His friend scoffed. “You can love Missy tonight and someone else tomorrow.” The chair hit the floor again, and he poured Stone a drink, then himself one. “I can see you’re getting your hopes up. Kella is dead. The R-scanner will prove it, and you’ll be maudlin again.”
    “I don’t get maudlin, asshole.”
    “Then take the pussy I’m offering you. Drown yourself in her body tonight, and remember alive or dead, Kella betrayed you.” James slid the glass toward him. “Kella said fuck you to your offer of support and love. Ain’t no double-crossing bitch worth crying in your whiskey over.”
    Silence lingered between them as Stone stared at the amber liquid. James had a point. He’d heard the whispers among those of his station. Even dead, Kella had gotten free of his Quad. For whatever reason, she’d put herself in danger the very night he’d bought her to grant her security.
    Stone knew James watched him, waiting for Stone to come to a decision. In the end, James was right. With her flight, Kella had shunned him and all he offered. Yeah, she hadn’t known the real reason he’d purchased her, but as his best friend, she should’ve known his intentions had been honorable.
    Walking out of his life had been as good as kneeing him in the family jewels. Even if she had somehow survived her exodus, Stone Emmerson was done with Mackella Starke.
    “Valid points.” Stone lifted his glass and offered his own toast, “All a man needs is pussy and liquor, and the occasional scuffle.”
    Life wisdom he’d learned from James.
    “Amen, brother.” James tapped his shot glass against the table before swigging the liquid.
    Ignoring the hollow feeling in his stomach, Stone downed his spirits and proceeded to drown himself in liquor...and much later he drowned himself in Missy.

FIVE
    ––––––––
    K ella wound her way through the city, taking several tight alleys and cross streets, hoping to lose any tail she might’ve picked up. Earlier she’d thought someone followed her. Never catching sight of anyone, it’d boiled down to a gut feeling.
    She hadn’t seen Stone since he’d left her office a couple of days ago, but him showing up out of nowhere gave her an uneasy feeling. The way she saw it, being