Liar (Madison Kate #2)(81)

He stepped up behind us, tying his robe back on and peering at the image himself, then pressed a kiss to my cheek. "I was thinking about you in that one," he whispered in my ear, his voice low and husky, making me blush violently. He'd said it quietly, but not that quietly as evidenced by the look both Luna and Nicky gave me.

Nicky just chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. "Alright, Kody. Get oiled up."

My brows shot up, and Kody produced a bottle of baby oil from the pocket of his robe. "Help me out, babe? I'd rather your hands all over me than Archer's." He shot me a wink, and I died.

The brow raise from Nicky sealed the deal, and I violently prayed the ground would open up and swallow me whole.

I still took the oil from him, though.

It was sometime toward the end of Kody's solo session that Luna checked a message on her phone and announced she was going outside for a cigarette.

"Come with?" she asked me, pulling on her coat.

I glanced over to the guys, but Nicky was talking to the three of them about some group shots she wanted to arrange, so I shrugged and grabbed my coat.

"Hey, MK," Kody called out as Luna and I headed for the door, "where are you going?"

"Just keeping Luna company while she smokes," I told him with a wave of my hand. "We'll be right back." He looked like he wanted to argue, so I rolled my eyes and pointed to the huge windows beside the door. "I'll stand right there where you can see me the whole time, okay?"

"I'll keep an eye on her," Jase offered, absorbed in something on his phone. "Keep shooting."

I rolled my eyes at the empty offer and followed Luna out the door before the discussion could get any more ridiculous. I understood the guys were concerned for my safety, but I still needed to be able to leave a room without one of them shadowing my every move.

Still, I remained in front of the window like I’d said I would, and Luna leaned on a rail while she lit up her cigarette.

"Sorry," she said to me with a wry grin, "I didn't mean to cause drama by asking you to come outside."

I shook my head with a smile. "It's fine, they're just a bit... overprotective."

She snorted a laugh. "No shit. Understatement of the century. The way those three stare at you..." She trailed off with a low whistle. "Anyway, none of my business. I did ask you out here with an ulterior motive, though."

I raised my brows. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

She gave me a sheepish look and pulled out her phone, swiping her thumb over the screen to call someone. An uneasy feeling flickered through me as she put her cellphone to her ear, and I shot a glance back through the window at the boys. Kody had slung his robe back on and was speaking to Steele while watching me carefully.

"Here," Luna said, pulling my attention back from the window and holding her phone out to me.

I frowned at it in confusion and she rolled her eyes. "He wants to talk to you, dummy."

Curiosity got the better of me, even as waves of terror rolled through me at the prospect that it could be my stalker on the other end of the phone. But surely listening to what he had to say wouldn't hurt me? And his note had promised me answers...

I took the phone and brought it to my ear. Nervous, I let my gaze catch on Kody's again through the window. "Hello?"

"Little Princess," Zane's familiar voice greeted me, and a wave of relief and disappointment crashed over me. "You're a hard girl to get hold of."

I cleared my throat, ducking my eyes away from Kody's and turning my back on the window so I could concentrate. "I had no idea you were trying to reach me," I replied.

"I told you I'd look into things, didn't I?" his tone was casual and distracted, and the sound of chatter in the background told me he was somewhere public. Probably at his clubhouse.

"Well yeah," I said, tucking my free arm around myself to keep warm, "but I sort of thought you were just saying that to get rid of me."

Zane huffed a laugh. "My little brother has always had such a high opinion of me. But I owed it to Deb, kid. So I've been doing some digging."

My heart leapt. "Have you found anything?"

Zane blew out a breath, like he was still deciding how much he wanted to tell me. "Yeah, or maybe. I found some interesting inconsistencies, but I hit a dead end when I tried to dig deeper."

The vagueness of that statement made me want to snap at him, but I bit my tongue. Zane was under no obligation to help me, and I didn't want to test how far his sense of duty to his dead girlfriend went. "What does that mean?" I asked, trying to maintain a calm tone of voice.

"It means someone has done a hell of a job covering up any trace of your mother’s family line. I think whatever motivation there is to kill you, it has to do with Deb's family. Do you know anything about your grandparents that might help? All the government records have been doctored to look like Deb was an orphan, abandoned as a baby and raised in a group home. Everything has been tampered with. Birth records, so-called state documentation, all of it." Zane sounded pissed off by that, and I was inclined to agree. Because it wasn't true.

"Why?" I asked, confused as fuck. "Why would someone want to erase her family?"

Zane barked a laugh. "Money, kid. It's always about money. So? Can you give me anything that might help? Names or places?"