Excerpt from Don’t Lie To Me 

What the actual hell kind of world have I woken up in this morning? I glare at him and stomp my foot. “You can find your own way out, Romeo,” I toss over my shoulder before taking off for my office. I have had enough of all men for today. 

Once inside, I lock the door and go straight for my desk drawer, pulling out my bottle of pills. I pop two in my mouth and swallow them down with a bottle of water from my bar fridge. My head is heavy and foggy. I need some clarity if I’m going to make it through the day. 

On my desk sits a massive vase of red roses. I’m not even surprised. Every year since my mother was killed, they arrive on my birthday. I spy a little card attached and open up the envelope. Inside is a bright red heart with a note that says Happy birthday, enjoy these in my absence. They’re almost as beautiful as you.

I have no idea why, but the words send a chill over me. Every year it’s the same, and every year it kind of freaks me out because I have no idea who sends them. Everyone in my life knows I only like white roses. 

Not having time to dwell on the unwelcome gift, I go right for my private bathroom and splash water on my face, drying it off with a cloth, before pulling open the drawer with my stash of emergency make-up in it. I take my time perfecting every detail just the way I like it. Dark eyes, peachy lips, flawless skin. Then I fix my hair in a high ponytail and look at myself again. Much better. I take a deep breath, the control starting to fall back into place. 

In my office, I open the cupboard and find a white sheath dress, left just in case I ever needed a fast change of clothes. I strip off my cocktail dress from last night and pull it on, fixing the zipper in place down my back. Then I switch my strappy heels to white pumps, and I’m done. Back to normal. In control and ready to face the mess outside. Fuck, my brothers are immature assholes sometimes. I know when I get out there, I will still have to deal with the mess. They are in no condition to do anything. I shake my head as I open my door to leave my office. Lucky I know how to turn the constant shitstorm they throw at me into gold. This family would be truly fucked if it wasn’t for me. 

Onyx is waiting for me just outside the door. He still looks mighty pissed, and I roll my eyes in his direction. This is his fault. If he hadn’t rejected me yesterday, I wouldn’t have felt the need to play up with Romeo. Or maybe I would have. I was a ticking time bomb, but his rejection definitely tipped me over the edge. 

“Sloane, before you go out there,” he says, surprising me. I was expecting cold, distant, and broody like he normally is. 

“What?” I snap, spinning back around toward him. 

His eyes burn into mine, so intense it feels like he’s peeling away every one of my defenses.

He closes the gap between us, and before I know what’s happening, his hands are on me and I’m being pushed into the solid flocked-wallpapered wall behind us. He cages me in with one hand flat against the wall beside me, and the other on my waist. His jaw is tight, his chest heaving, his face so close to mine I can smell him. And fuck, he smells divine. 

“What, Onyx?” I say, softer this time, searching his face. Is he going to finally give me what I want and kiss me? I’m almost desperate for it. I lick my lips involuntarily. I have wanted Onyx for so long, it is actually starting to hurt being around him every day. 

He leans in, our faces just an inch apart, his breath warm against my cheek. His eyes drop down to my lips for a split second before jumping back to my eyes. Slowly, deliberately, he tugs a fallen strand of my hair behind my ear, his fingers trailing over my cheek, the crazy pull between us electric and all-consuming. And I know it’s no longer just in my head.

“Are you trying to make me jealous?” he growls, his voice thick with restrained emotion.

I blink back at him. Part of me wanted to make him jealous as hell, but the other part just wanted to live for once. Either way, I can’t answer his question. “Are you jealous?” I ask instead, placing a hand to his chest to feel his pounding heart. I want so desperately to be close to him. 

He doesn’t answer me. Instead, he lingers, a silent, suffocating presence, his nearness both thrilling and intensely intimate.

When he finally steps back, I’m breathless and panting, my heart racing out of control, my eyes locked with him in question. “Onyx. What the hell?” 

A shadow crosses his face as his expression turns serious, his mouth tightening into a thin line. “Did he hurt you?” 

I stare back at him, the intensity of his gaze making my heart pound. “Only in all the ways I wanted him to.” My voice is barely above a breath, the words escaping my lips weaker than I’d intended. If he wants me to make him jealous, I’m going to do every fucking thing possible to do it. 

I see the flash of hurt, and he pushes away from me. “You have started something you won’t be able to stop, trouble.” He produces a small black box and hands it to me before he strides down the hallway, waiting for me with the door open to the club. 

And just like last night and a million times before, I’m left with my breath hitched in my chest as I fight to control my pounding heart. What the hell was that? He saw me with Romeo and now he wants me as well? The whiplash is so bad, I can’t even find something smart to come back at him with. I stare at the little velvet box then pop the lid. It’s a heart charm bracelet, delicate and beautiful. 

“For your birthday,” he mutters when I keep staring at the gorgeous piece of jewelry. He’s never gotten me a gift before, nothing like this anyway. 

I take the fine bracelet and place it around my wrist, a flutter in my chest. “It’s stunning, thank you.”

He offers a nod, and I pass him the empty box for him to deal with. I wish things were different between us. I would give just about anything to reach up and kiss his edible lips for giving me such a thoughtful gift. 

Instead, I straighten my shoulders, lift my chin, and waltz into my club, faking an air of confidence to mask the churning nausea threatening to send me running to the bathroom. I’m the perfect actress, I have been since I was a little girl and I worked out it was the only way to survive this world. Don’t show any of them how you really feel. Don’t show any sign of weakness at all. Last night was a momentary slip-up. One I will never let happen again. 

I don’t know where my brothers pulled the cleaning crew from at such short notice, but what was a total shitshow before I left the room is now back to resembling my classy establishment. They even went so far as to have a bouquet of fresh white roses left on the bar for me, their subtle sweet scent wafting my way. 

Myriah holds a fresh cup of coffee up in front of my face as she greets me with a sly smile. 

“You look like shit,” I tell her, looking her over.

“Didn’t have time to go home and change,” she admits, her head dropped, and I know there is a good story behind her guilty expression. 

I look her over properly, taking a sip of my long black as I do. She’s still in last night’s dress, her hair is in a neat ponytail, but her make-up is a little smudged. “Did you stay here last night as well?”

She nibbles her lip. “Most of us did. After you left, things got hectic.” Her cheeks glow with heat as she makes eye contact with Asher. 

She didn’t! I don’t want to know if she and my brother hooked up. It’s been brewing for a while, and knowing Asher, he would have taken the chance to make a move, but I don’t need to hear about it. “Hmm. Go home and get yourself fixed up. Your shift doesn’t start until midday.”

“Thank you, Sloane,” she mutters. “And happy birthday.” 

“Can’t have you walking round here looking like that, now can we.” I offer her a half smile so she knows I’m kidding and I actually love her to bits. 

She throws me a kiss before taking off for the door. I will deal with the fallout from whatever that was later. 

What the hell did I miss out on last night? I throw a look to my brothers who have gathered at a table in the middle of the room with fresh coffee mugs of their own. Irritation crawls under my skin when I realize Romeo is still here, and he’s sitting with them looking all too relaxed. What, has he been accepted into the family just like that? Something fishy is going on here. 

I march over to the table. “I thought I told you to get lost,” I snap at him. It’s not really what I want, but I can’t deal with his come-fuck-me eyes right now. I have to sort out my brothers and my club. Also, my head feels all kinds of weird. I have a swig of my coffee, hoping that will help.

“Quick costume change.” Romeo smirks smugly at me in a way that tells me he knows all my dirty secrets, and right now, he’s imagining how quickly he could remove this dress and have me on my back for him. 

I take a step back from the table, losing my edge. Why are my brothers all looking at me like that? All four of them are here at this table. Jagger and Malachi sit down one side with Asher and Cruz on the other and Romeo at the head. “What the fuck is going on?” I spit, not liking the look of this at all. 

“Why don’t you take a seat, Sis, we need to talk to you about something,” Ash says calmly. He looks like he’s sobered up a hell of a lot in the last half-hour. 

Jagger has also changed out of his wet clothes and has his emblemed jacket on over his bare chest. 

“I would prefer to stand,” I mutter, eyeing them all suspiciously. I feel like I’m about to need the upper hand here. Cruz won’t make eye contact with me, and Malachi looks guilty as hell. 

“I’m glad you and Romeo are getting along so well, because from now on, you will be working together,” Jagger announces. 

I blink back at him, trying to process what he just said. Romeo and me working together from now on? No, those words don’t make any sense together at all. “Excuse me?” I snap back at him, glancing toward Romeo as I do. 

Romeo stands and moves around to where I’m standing, his hand trailing up my arm. I feel the energy shift, and I see Cruz’s fists ball under the table; he’s about to lose his shit and get all protective twin brother on Romeo like he always does. And right now, I’m not sure I would stop him. My heart races like crazy and the room spins around me so much it blurs. Romeo’s touch is the only thing I can focus on, light but very deliberate.

“What Jagger is trying to explain is that I now own a rather large share of your club, so from today, the two of us will be business partners.” His grin widens as if I should be elated to hear this information. 

My glare turns icy, Romeo’s face blurring as my insides churn with a tempest of anger, betrayal, and hate. The pain in my chest is a searing, burning agony, a terrible weight coupled with suffocating fear. My head spins, a dizzying black washes over me, the room before me clouding, and then a bone-jarring thud as I slam onto the hard concrete floor, the sound of all my fears echoing in my ears.