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“It just occurred to me that I don’t know. Mikelina. It’s like Cher or Prince. Or Elvis... Presley.”
She flinched. “You don’t have to be a dick about this.”
“I’m being a dick? You lied to me.”
“I never lied to you. I didn’t share my past, that’s all, and for this very reason.”
“What? That I’d call you on your bullshit?”
“No, that you would judge me by my father’s actions. Just like everybody else. I wanted to have a nice fling with someone who liked me for me. Everyone who has found out I’m Tanner Presley’s daughter winds up acting like I was going to pick their pocket or do something illegal just because my father is a crook.”
“This is just a fling to you?” he asked. It shouldn’t hurt as much as it did.
“I thought we could be more. But you’re just like all the rest. I didn’t tell you my father is Tanner Presley because of this reaction right here.” She pointed at him. “Can you tell me why you automatically painted me with the same brush? We’ve only known each other a week and a half, but I thought we were really connecting. I was going to tell you when the bachelor party was over because I was having too much fun to ruin it.”
“You can’t start a relationship out on a lie,” he said.
“If you knew who I was, there wouldn’t have been a relationship. If I signed my emails Mikelina Presley, you would have asked Kirk for another concierge. If I told you my name in the bar, you would have never gone back to the VIP sections in Flow with me. If I rolled over in bed the next morning and introduced myself, you would have never spoken with me again.”
“That’s not true,” Bastien said.
“Yes, it is. Your reaction right now proves it.”
“Do you know where Jace is?”
He caught her by surprise and if he hadn’t been looking for it, he might have missed the flash of guilt that crossed her expression. “No,” she said.
“You’re a bad liar. Or maybe a very good one. I’m not sure which.”
“Bastien, you need to back off. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He advanced on her and then checked himself. “I’ll tell you what I know. I know you lied to me about who you are.” He held up his hand when she went to interrupt him. “A lie by omission is still a lie. I know that you’ve been keeping secrets from me about your family and about Jace.”
She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.
“I know that you lied to my face just now and I know that you have spoken with Jace several times over the past few days.”
“How do you know that?”
“Figure it out,” he snarled. “You watched me worry about where he was and all the while you could have eased my mind. I can only wonder why? What game are you playing?”
“I’m not playing a game.”
“I won’t let you hurt my sister by playing around with her fiancé.”
“I am not playing around with Jace.”
“Why? Because it’s unprofessional?” He opened up his arms.
“Go to hell,” she said, getting up from the lounge chair. “I do not deserve to be treated like this.”
“No? Then tell the truth. Where is Jace?”
Mikelina set her jaw and put her hands on her hips. “Why do you think the worst of him?”
“Experience.”
“Why do you think the worst of me?”
