Page 66 of Filthy Little Lies

A half-truth. An improvement from the outright lies she’s told me in the past.

“I heard you say three o’clock. Is that who you’re meeting, Cassie?”

She spins to face me. “You were eavesdropping?”

“Yes.” I lift a shoulder. I won’t lie to her, especially not over something so trivial as listening to her phone call.

“Of course you were. I don’t know why you bother; I can’t go anywhere without one of your men driving me, so you always know where I am. And don’t think I didn’t find that tracker you had on my phone.”

I smile.

“I fixed it, by the way,” she says, the snark dripping from the words. “You’ve been tracking some random woman who was sitting in the booth next to us at the diner.”

My smile widens.

“What?” she snaps when I don’t react. That would be what she wants. She’s looking for a fight, so she doesn’t have to deal with the real problem. Tony and Cassie.

“You didn’t find the other tracker.”

She blanches.

“I knew you’d be looking for one on your phone, so I had one put on that was easy to find, but then I had a real tracker installed that you haven’t found.”

Snatching up her phone, she starts scrolling and tapping, going into the settings and the networks. All the while, her cheeks get redder, and still she can’t find it.

“My hackers are better.” I pluck the device from her hand, scroll two screens, pull up a file folder, and open it, showing her where the application was hidden.

“You’re impossible!” She throws the phone onto the couch.

“You’re not mad at me.”

“I’m not?” She cocks her head to the side.

“No, so why don’t you just tell me what’s going on. What happened at that diner?” It would be easy to throw her over the arm of the couch, yank down her jeans and make her tell me everything.

It’s how I’ve always done things. I wanted something, I took it, no matter the cost or who it could hurt. It was mine the moment I set my eyes on it.

I want Savvy. No, I need her, like the earth needs the sun. But if I force her to let me behind those walls of hers, it’s just another example of someone in her life doing what’s best for them and not considering her.

“Savvy.” I sit on the couch, hooking one elbow over the arm. “You can tell me anything.”

A war plays out in her eyes. She sucks in her bottom lip, chewing on it while she deliberates her next move.

Slowly, she makes her way to the couch and sinks into the cushion as far from me as she can get. It’s a smart move. Too close and I won’t be able to keep my hands off her for very long.

“You don’t already know who Tony is?” Her eyes narrow on me.

“I assume you met him the same way you met Cassie. In a foster home?”

She nods.

“Okay, so go on. What got him so mad he was stupid enough to put his hands on you?” Damien should have broken the asshole’s finger for daring to put it on Savvy.

“Tony’s had a rough time. He got involved with drugs, and he’s never been able to kick it. When we were all in the same foster house, the mom, Maggie, taught us things like counting cards, pickpocketing⁠—”

“Forgery,” I supply, and she cracks a small smile.

“Yeah. I had a knack for it, so she hooked me up with a friend of hers who showed me the harder stuff. Cassie was good at the cards, so she worked with her.”