Free Suspicious Minds (Fate #3) by Elizabeth Reyes Page A

was every time she’d seen him so far her legs had gone
weak. Every time she took in how incredibly sexy he was, she’d remember his
kisses, and her insides would turn to liquid. And every time he looked at her
in that way that confused the hell out of her, she knew she’d get her hopes up
that maybe he was feeling a little of that same undeniable connection she’d
felt for him that first night.
    She couldn’t be around the guy and not start falling for him. They’d
barely exchanged a couple of nods and words, and already she was thinking about
him way too much. Even before tonight, she’d caught herself thinking about him
and their one night together too many times. She’d spent entire grooming
sessions daydreaming about the possibility of it ever happening again: Running
her hands over those glorious muscles on his arms, shoulders, back, and chest. Having
him devour her lips and mouth as he had with such fervor that night, making her
feel something so profoundly intense as she never had before. Having him inside her again.
    Okay, stop.
    This had to stop. She shook her head as she climbed out of the
van, ashamed that the tingling between her legs had once again started up just
thinking about him. But any tingling or thoughts of Lorenzo were quickly
snuffed when she walked in the house to face her two older brothers’ lethal
glares.
    “You wanna explain this to me?” Isaiah held up an envelope.
    From where she stood, she couldn’t see what it was, but she had a
pretty good idea. Even so, she put on the oblivious act. She had to buy a
little more time. She knew the day was fast approaching when she’d have to tell
them, but she’d been so distracted lately with thoughts of Lorenzo she’d
stopped rehearsing how she’d explain it.
    “What is it?” she asked, putting her things down on the coffee
table.
    “A contract between you and Hollingsworth,” Isaiah said, his
voice even more severe. “I told you I didn’t want you involved with that
asshole in any way.”
    “What happened to the money, Liv?” Nathan asked, crossing his
arms and leaning against the doorframe to the hallway.
    At least Nathan was respecting her wishes to not be called Ollie
anymore. To her siblings, she’d always been Olivia or just Liv. Occasionally,
they called her by the nickname Jay had bestowed on her early on because they’d
gotten used to hearing it. It was also what Margie called her once she’d heard
it enough from Jay. Olivia hated hearing it now and had asked them to stop.
    “I still have it,” she explained. “All of it.”
    “Why didn’t you use it?”
    “Because we’re gonna need it for Emi’s school and Nathan’s
attorney fees,” she said, seeing that undeniable spark in her oldest brother’s
eyes. “Two years is more than enough time for me to pay the money back. I’m
halfway through the first already.”
    “Damn it, Liv.” Isaiah threw the envelope on the counter. “I told
you I’d figure out Nathan’s attorney fees, and Emi will likely get a
scholarship with her grades. I didn’t want you in any way indebted to that
prick.”
    “Emi’s talking ESU, Isaiah,” she said, her eyes pleading for him
to understand. “It’ll be so much harder for her to get a scholarship to an Ivy
League school, and it’s super expensive.”
    “Is it just the money the asshole’s asking for?” Nathan asked,
moving away from the doorway and walking toward her.
    “Yes, of course!” she said a little too quickly—loudly—so she
toned it down, hoping they wouldn’t pick up on her panicked insincerity. “It’s
all in the contract. He hasn’t asked for anything else at all.”
    Of course that was true if you didn’t count the numerous
times the guy had gone back to suggesting, off the record, that he’d be willing
to knock off some of the loan if she’d just do him the honor of accompanying
him for a day on his boat or at his mountain cabin. When he first made these
suggestions way back, he insisted it would