Liar (Madison Kate #2)(82)

"Um, yeah." I frowned, searching my memory. "I met my grandmother once when I was really little. I don't remember much; I was probably only five or six."

"Sounds right," Zane muttered. "Deb mentioned her mother had died a few years before we met. Do you know her name or where she lived?"

I screwed my eyes shut, trying to remember. It was so fuzzy though, just flashes of music or glittering earrings or floral perfume. "I can't... I can't remember," I admitted, frustrated as hell. "I can't remember any of it. Why? Why would—" My stomach sank. "This is my father's doing, isn't it?"

"Probably," Zane agreed. "And my little brother just stuck him on a world cruise with Cherry for the next six months to keep him away from you, so I doubt you'll be able to confront him anytime soon."

"Fuck," I cursed, feeling the familiar burn of bitter resentment fill my veins. "Fuck!" I shouted the curse, kicking at a pile of snow and sending the dirty white slush flying.

"My sentiments exactly," Zane commented in my ear.

"Just give me a minute," I snapped. I squeezed my eyes shut again, pinching the bridge of my nose while I tried to force my brain to recall that brief meeting with my maternal grandmother some thirteen-odd years ago. Why had I never thought about her since? Why didn't I even know her name?

Strong fingers snatched the phone out of my hand, and I gasped, my eyes snapping open to meet Steele's angry gaze head on.

He had Luna's phone to his ear, his jaw tight and his brow creased in anger as he listened to whatever Zane was saying to "me" on the other end. Anger burned through me, and I snatched for the phone, only to have Steele twist out of my reach.

"Zane," he said in a voice of clear warning. "You broke the rules."

I tried to grab the phone again, and he held me away with a hand on my chest. The look in his eyes said it all, though. It was a deadly serious don't-fuck-with-me expression, and I stopped trying to reach Luna's phone.

"Well," Steele replied to whatever Zane had said, "loopholes aside, Archer will have words for you. Expect his call later today." He then hung up the phone and tossed it back to Luna who caught it with fumbling hands, her cigarette dropping to the snow.

"Inside," Steele ordered me. "Now."

I scowled in defiance, my lips parting to argue with him, but his expression shifted to something dangerous and somewhat frightening.

"Go!" he shouted, pointing at the door. "I need a word with Luna."

I hesitated a moment, glancing nervously at the red-haired photography assistant, but she gave me a small headshake of assurance.

"It's cool, MK," she told me, "go back inside."

I still wanted to argue, but the way Steele was glaring at me was pissing me off and I wasn't in the mood for the drama. He was standing barefoot in the snow, for fuck’s sake, wearing nothing but a robe and underpants. Whatever he needed to say to Luna must be of great importance, so I threw my hands up and stomped back into the studio.

I'd barely made it two steps inside when Archer stormed over and grabbed me by the back of my coat.

"Who was on the fucking phone, Madison Kate?" he demanded.

His whole tone made me want to punch him in the face—or maybe in the dick, seeing as he was all but naked. But instead I just tried to twist out of his grip. It wasn't hard, considering he was holding my coat. I just slipped it off and left him holding the garment as I walked away from him.

Take that, prick.

"Madison Kate!" he roared, following me and grabbing my shoulder with a bruising grip. "Don't turn your fucking back on me."

Enraged, I spun around to break his grip on my shoulder and brought my hand up to crack across his face. "Don't fucking manhandle me, Archer," I spat back at him. "You don't fucking own me, so quit treating me like a damn possession."

A cruel, cold smile curled his lips, and I could see the venom rising in his eyes. Well, I was ready for a fight. Bring it on, sunshine.

"Arch," Kody barked, "stop it. Steele is handling Luna, just let it go."

Archer's eyes flickered over to his friend, and I let a smug smirk play out over my face.

"Yeah, Arch," I sneered, "let it go. There's a good dog."

Oops, that might have pushed it a little too far. His lip curled in a snarl, and I took a couple of instinctive steps backward. He advanced on me, though, and soon I found the backs of my knees hitting the edge of the fur-covered chaise lounge.

"Archer!" Kody snapped, but his friend wasn't listening to him. Archer raised his hand, and I flinched, losing my balance and flopping down on the chaise. Something hardened in his gaze as he peered down at me, and a shiver of fear rolled through me at the darkness within him.

"Did you think I was going to hit you back, Princess Danvers?" he asked me in a low, dangerous tone. He sank to his knees in front of the sofa, bringing our faces almost level as he reached out again. This time I didn't flinch, and he barely touched me. Just a soft brush of his fingertips across my cheekbone that made me suck in a gasp like I'd been hit with a jolt of electricity.

I didn't answer his question. He knew full fucking well that's exactly what I’d thought.

Archer leaned closer, his nearly naked, ink-covered body between my spread legs in some kind of cruel mockery of an intimate moment between lovers. His fingers looped gently through my hair and his eyelids drooped, but I held myself rigid and alert. I'd fallen for his shit too many times already.