Series: Webs We Weave Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 145038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
I look from Jake, then back to Carter. “You didn’t send Hailey here to help her and Phoebe. You sent her here to help your oldest fucking friend.”
“Not true,” he defends. “Ailey reached out to me first. Then I called Jake and let him know who he’s renting to.”
Jake takes a seat across from me. “Carter explained that two girls were coming to town, and they were looking to rent the loft above the bookstore. He said their names were Hailey and Phoebe. He said one, or maybe two, but possibly just one was a con artist who screws over dirtbags.”
I make a face at Carter. “One or maybe two or possibly just one?” I repeat.
Jake answers, “Carter can be elusive about the truth, and I’ve always understood that he can’t tell me things outright. That I need to find the answers myself.”
Carter slides me a smile. “And you said I wasn’t trustworthy.”
“Just because you failed to give him all the information doesn’t mean you didn’t leak like a sieve,” I retort.
Jake frowns, his interest shifting between me and his friend like he’s trying to discover a new answer in a hidden temple. He rolls up the sleeves of his black button-down. “At first I thought the grifter was Hailey,” he admits, “but then getting to know them more, I was sure it was Phoebe.”
“And then what?” I snap back. “You saw her as someone to use?”
“I honestly didn’t even think about faking a relationship with her. Not until she mentioned it. Then at the clambake, the opportunity came to tell my mother we’re dating, and yeah, I took it. Carter didn’t bring Hailey and Phoebe here for my gain. It was genuinely for theirs, because he knew I’d take care of them in this town. I have influence and money and authority. But I did see a way Phoebe could help me, and I can’t let go of that.”
He can’t let go of her.
I clench my jaw.
Jake studies the surface of me. Uncertainty in his eyes. “Carter never told me you were coming. You were rich, confrontational, an asshole. So when Phoebe said you were divorced, I assumed you must be her dirtbag mark, so obsessed with her that you stalked her to Victoria.” He scans me again. “Up until five minutes ago, I still believed that.”
I smile dryly. “Belief is funny like that. Whoever wields it has the most power.”
He looks right at me. “So who are you?”
I tip my head to Carter and raise my brows. I won’t say it.
Carter finally relents and says, “He’s the guy pretending to be the dirtbag to fleece other dirtbags.”
Jake’s face steels itself. “You’re a con artist, too?”
I force a smile in confirmation. Then I lean forward, my lips slowly turning down with my emerging glare. “I’m not her mark. I’ve known Phoebe since I was a child. I’ve known her my entire fucking life.”
He careens back like I shoved him. “That’s why…” He closes his mouth, realization washing over him like he’s seeing the leaves on the tree for the first time. “You came here to look out for them.”
“Accurate. For once.”
Jake laughs, looking stunned. “It’s almost unbelievable.” He’s staring at me like I’ve changed shapes. Square to octagon.
“Don’t get excited. I’m still an asshole.”
He’s still smiling. Though, it softens.
“You never saw it?” I ask him. “Even knowing Phoebe is a con artist, you didn’t think I could be one, too?”
“Honestly, no,” he says. “I thought you were too unfiltered and unhinged to be one.”
A laugh rumbles out of me. With Jake, yeah, maybe I have been those things. I never would’ve thought it’d help protect my identity.
Jake sizes me up. “I would think you’d be a little more…stoic, I guess.”
“Con men aren’t going to look like ice-cold killers. We’re going to look like the people you surround yourself with every single day. So when we appear, you won’t realize that we’ve crawled into your foundation. Just to tear it all apart.”
He’s processing with a slow nod. “So you’re not rich?”
“I’m rich.”
“He’s rich,” Carter asserts. “Self-made millionaire, this one.” He shakes my shoulder.
I jerk so his arm falls off me, and I scoot farther away.
Carter tsks. “Sensitive, are you, now? I won’t touch.” He tells Jake, “He has a skin thing.”
“It’s not a skin thing.” I internally groan.
“Sensitivity issues. Gets a little—” Carter makes a brrr motion.
“Would you shut up?”
Carter grins. “You love me, come on.”
I pinch my eyes.
“You’re rich by stealing,” Jake concludes.
I drop my hand to the table. “Is it really stealing if they willingly give it to me?” I toss my head side to side. “But…” Yeah. I don’t exactly confirm out loud.
Jake stares off for a long beat. “And Hailey?”
“Also a grifter,” Carter says so casually that I slide him a deeper glare. He ignores it.
Jake dazedly rubs his mouth. “What about the triplets? And your brother?”