A Beautiful Lie (Unlocked #1) by Amelia Rowe

Author:Amelia Rowe [Rowe, Amelia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-10T18:30:00+00:00

After the day I’d had, more than anything I wanted another drink. My insides were calling out for a drop of any kind of substance I’d pledged to ban from entering my body. The drink I’d indulged in at the exhibit burned me alive from the inside. The sensation put a spotlight on my weakness, the bright reminder of my failure.

I made my way to the apartment building’s residential gym facilities. The gym was on ground level and faced the front of the street. I loved the way it looked at night, with the entire place empty and only the streetlights outside illuminating the equipment. When I first landed on my feet in New York, the gym had been my refuge. I spent so many hours pushing through the physical pain, grinding myself down mentally, until I got to my core. Until there was nothing left to get out.

I broke into a brisk jog on the treadmill, zoning out. The familiar burn of exertion made the trials of the day fade away. I didn’t want to think about Nina on display at Perrot’s exhibit. How could we send her into the Jasper to reunite with her father when the world was already online posting cellphone photos of her likeness in one compromising position after the next?

I’d been running for a while when a yellow cab pulled to the stop in front of the building. At first, I ignored it. But then Nina stumbled out onto the sidewalk, hair a mess, with tears streaming down her face.

I intercepted her the moment she walked in the front door. “Nina?” She was disheveled and shaken. Her eye makeup was streaked and her formerly perfect bun was now loose and tilted to one side as though it had been pulled. I adjusted myself against the lobby wall, holding her close to me.

“Oh my God,” she sobbed into my chest. “I’m such a fucking idiot Luke.” Her entire body shook with fear. We kept meeting like this, her crying in my arms. Technically, yes, it was my job to protect her and take care of her. But I wanted her in a way that I’d never thought I could want anyone. Inexplicably, my urge to be close to her felt more like a need and it scared the living hell out of me.

Her breaths became short and staccato. She struggled to get a full gasp of air and broke out into a full hyperventilation.

“Shit.” I sat her down against the wall in the lobby. Her silver heels slipped off her feet as she went down. “Put your arms above your head,” I instructed, trying to guide her to regain her breath, but instead she collapsed into me. I sat there in the dark and held the trembling girl in my arms.

I looked down, horrified to find her neck covered in red marks. “What the hell happened? Who did this to you?” I didn’t have to ask to know. My eyes cascaded down the length of her body, examining her for evidence of her compliance with Perrot’s latest project.

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