Deception Read Online Free Page B

preppy-hippie style. He wore a white button-down, tattered blazer, dark-wash jeans, and loafers. His eyes were bright blue and thick lashed, and I forced myself to look away before the Cadaver realized I was hot for him. He wasn’t going to let me go off with the sexy guardian, like in some steamy romance novel.
    “Does that mean — ” I stopped. I didn’t want to say too much in front of Cadaver. “Have you seen my mom and dad recently?”
    “No. Emma, I’m sorry. We arranged the guardianship before they left. You’ve heard from them though, right?”
    “Well, they’re outside of cell reception so I can’t call them back. They’re with Max now — ”
    Bennett’s frown stopped me, and I recalled why he disappeared two years ago. He and Max had a blowout fight, some apocalyptic argument, and Max refused to speak of him ever again — even though a certain sister pestered him until he locked her in the bathroom. I’d never found out what they’d fought about. Now was my chance.
    “Speaking of Max. Why did you two — ”
    Cadaver interrupted. “The paperwork appears to be in order. Still, one cannot be too careful.” He showed me the papers. “Look them over, Miss Vaile.”
    I checked my parents’ signatures. My dad’s looked absolutely real, but I noticed a faint dotting of the i in Vaile on my mother’s. She never dotted her i ’s. Still, the papers had been notarized, so Cadaver had no reason to doubt them — and I wasn’t going to live with the Belchers.
    Plus, I didn’t have any reason not to trust Bennett. Not yet.
    “That’s definitely their signatures,” I said. “Everything looks right to me.”
    “You now have a third option,” the Cadaver told me. “The halfway house or the foster home, as previously discussed, becoming a temporary ward of the state until …”
    I tuned him out as I gazed at Bennett. What was he doing here? How had he known to bring fake guardianship papers? Did he counterfeit the signatures himself?
    And what exactly was that shade of blue in his eyes — cobalt?
    Cadaver’s voice penetrated my reverie. “And your decision?”
    “I choose Bennett.”

6

    On the drive home, I planned how it would play out: Bennett would transfer from Harvard to Berkeley and move into Max’s room. We’d meet for study breaks and candlelit suppers. His family also sold antiquities, so he’d help me with the shop, and in no time my parents would return and Bennett and I would be in love.
    In reality, I worshipped him like a god the entire ride home in his Taurus rental and he, apparently, knew he was divine because he rebuffed me like Apollo spurning a lowly shepherdess. Although after spending the night in a halfway house, I did look as though I’d rolled with the sheep.
    Still, despite the urge to pick straw from my hair, I was relieved to be home. And grateful. Only … how had he known to come?
    Suddenly unsure, I paused with my thumb over the security print. “Why are you here? How did you know I was in trouble?”
    He flashed a crooked grin. “Always a safe bet.”
    “Hey! I’m never in trouble — I mean, except now. And that’s not what I meant. How did you know where to find me? And those fake papers — ”
    Bennett’s phone jingled. “Saved by the iPhone,” he said, and stepped away.
    I stood there with my thumb hanging out, watching him. He eyed me as though I were trying to eavesdrop, which I was, so I went inside and tried to eavesdrop from there.
    I heard him murmuring, but couldn’t make out the details. He said either “love you” or “you, too” before hanging up. Was he talking to his girlfriend?
    He came inside and said, “I’ve gotta run.”
    “The last time you left,” I said, “you didn’t come back for two years.”
    He took my hand and looked at me with his cobalt eyes. “So you did miss me.”
    “That’s not — ” Okay, yeah, that’s exactly what I meant.
    He grinned. “I’m not going to leave you again, Emma.”
    Then he