Treacherous Lust: An Alpha Billionaire Romance (Dark Lust Book 3) (3 page)

I
was studying
when Bei got home. She stopped in the doorway, clearly surprised to see me, and I saw some relief there.

“I’m glad you’re home tonight.”

I rolled my eyes. She was trying not to let disapproval creep into her tone, but she wasn’t entirely successful. Bei, despite several offers, had not even had a single date since she came to the States, and she was determined not to marry an American; I was given to understand that she had promised her mother she would be well-behaved. My dalliance with Donovan was, accordingly, shocking to her.

“I know you don’t approve,” I said gently. “But, Bei, he wasn’t the one who called you before, and—”

“It’s not just that,” she said fiercely. She dropped her bag and came to sit at the table with me. “It’s more than that, Lily, it is. He’s…” She shook her head. “Something about him seems dangerous. You don’t have men like him here, but we have them at home.”

I pulled away suddenly, chilled.

They might, indeed, have men
exactly
like Donovan in Shanghai.

She didn’t understand my sudden reticence. “I’m only trying to tell you the truth,” she insisted.

“No, I…I know.” I swallowed and nodded. I pushed the books away and sank my face into my hands. I wasn’t going to get any studying now; the fragile control that had kept me from thinking of Donovan was broken. All my doubts rushed back, and I wished I couldn’t still feel everywhere he’d touched me, marked me, been inside me.

“Lily, if you’re afraid of him—”

“Do you think—” I broke off, flushing. “Never mind.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Tell me. I will listen.”

I hesitated. “Do you think you can see a person’s soul? That you can
know
them from the way they look at you?”

Bei said nothing for a long moment, and I wondered if the concept translated at all. I was just beginning to speak in halting Shanghainese when she held up a finger for silence. She was clearly trying to find words.

“Because he might be dangerous,” I whispered. “But when he looks a me…I can’t believe it.”

Bei closed her eyes for a moment.

“A soul—a good person, a bad person, yes? The kind of person?”

I nodded. It was close enough.

“A soul is not everything.” She shook her head. “You can see someone’s soul, you know whether they want to hurt people. I believe that.”

But…
The word was clearly there. I waited. My hands were twisting together.

“You can’t understand the pressures of the world.” The words were careful. “A soul, yes. The world is big, though. The world is…strong. Powerful. It can make anyone do anything.”

It was the explanation I hadn’t wanted to hear. I sank my head into my hands and Bei wrapped her arms around me, holding me while I bit my lip until it bled, trying not to cry.

“It will be okay,” she whispered. “I promise, Lily, it will be okay. I—oh.”

“Huh?” I pulled myself away and wiped at my eyes.

“I got a message for you.” She pulled out her phone.

“Wait, what?” That didn’t make sense.

“It said it was for you, so I didn’t listen. It must be someone at school.” She brought up her voicemail and handed the phone over with a smile.

Frowning, I put the phone up to my ear.

“Hello, this is a message for Lily Harris.”

The accent was so stereotypical that I froze. It couldn’t be…

“Miss Harris, this is Sheng-li Tat.”

I swallowed convulsively.

“You’ve been asking some questions, I hear. You’ve been looking for some information.” The voice was far, far too pleasant. “I hope you understand what it is you want to know—and what the consequences might be for
everyone
if you were to learn something you shouldn’t.”

The message ended and I fought to breathe. Bei was in the kitchen, making tea, and I knew I needed to look pleasant when she got back.

I had to get out of this—
now
. Because, as Sheng-li had just so elegantly demonstrated…he wasn’t afraid to hurt other people.

And, as I put down the phone, I had to face one fact above all: only one person knew I had been asking questions. And that was Donovan.

* * *