All Chapters of From Lies To Loyalty : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Chapter 11: I Can Try Reese “You do realize we’re talking about an actual baby, right?” I said slowly. “Not a dog or a cat.”Lauren’s laugh bubbled out of her like I’d just made the cutest observation in the world. She leaned her head against my shoulder, silky hair spilling across my arm as if this conversation was nothing more than a playful little fantasy. “Of course, silly. I know.”I stared up at the ceiling for a second, wondering how the hell this had become my life. “So why would you want to take it away from its mom?” I asked, forcing patience into my voice. “Who’s going to look after it?”“We will,” she replied instantly. Too instantly. The answer leapt out of her mouth before the question had even finished settling in the air. Then she lifted herself slightly and beamed at me, completely pleased with her own logic. “Teamwork makes the dream work, doesn’t it?”I looked at her for a long moment, saying nothing.There were so many things wrong with this plan of hers that

Chapter 13: I Love To Cook Lizzie Surprisingly, I slept well on my first night in Reese’s house. For reasons I couldn’t even fully explain, I slept better last night in Reese’s penthouse than I had in months in my own bed. The bed had enveloped me like a cocoon, which was absolutely wonderful. That alone should have been enough to tell me something in my life had shifted, because for the past few months sleep had been the one thing that refused to cooperate with me. Not all the time. And definitely not for long hours. At home, nights had stretched endlessly, my mind would keep replaying every condescending remark I'd gotten from my date that day, every dismissive glance, every suffocating expectation placed on me like a weight I could never shrug off. I’d slowly gotten used to waking up with a tight chest and a pounding headache, as though even my subconscious had spent the night arguing with itself.But here—here I’d slept like someone who had finally come up for air.When I

Chapter 15: Just Like That Reese I could barely believe this was happening.Less than twenty-four hours after seeing Elizabeth again—after months of convincing myself that whatever had happened between us was buried somewhere deep in the past—we were standing in my kitchen with her hand inside my pants like none of that history existed.Her fingers weren’t even moving. That was the strange part.She wasn’t teasing me, wasn’t stroking or trying to provoke a reaction the way most women might in a moment like this. Instead she had simply wrapped her hand around me and held on, as though she were reacquainting herself with something familiar. She held me as though reacquainting herself with every ridge and vein she used to know. The weight of her palm felt like memory made flesh. My pulse hammered against her grip, betraying every ounce of restraint I no longer possessed.It was oddly intimate. And maddening.Because every nerve in my body was screaming for more while she stood there

Chapter 17: Was I? Reese “Elizabeth accepted the invite. She’s coming to the party.” Lauren delivered the news with a bright, almost triumphant smile that immediately set my nerves on edge. I froze mid-button, fingers stilled on the third fastening of my charcoal shirt. The fabric suddenly felt too tight. And the room felt too warm. The bar had a shipment arriving in less than an hour—expensive decor that I needed to personally inspect before the opening night—but suddenly the urgency of that task faded into the background. Because of that smile. Lauren only smiled like that when something was brewing in her head. Something dangerous. Slowly, I turned away from the mirror and faced her fully. “You asked Lizzie to your brother’s party,” I repeated carefully, watching her expression. “And she said yes?” Lauren nodded enthusiastically, clasping her hands behind her back like an innocent schoolgirl waiting for praise after sharing good news. And I knew better. “Of course

Chapter 19: Prison Orange LizzieI hadn’t seen Reese again. Not after what had happened between us earlier.The thought kept circling my mind like an annoying fly that refused to die, buzzing somewhere just behind my ribs, impossible to swat away. I didn’t know if he was still in the house or if he’d already left. Judging from the constant movement echoing through the hallways—footsteps going up and down doors opening and shutting, people talking loudly over one another—I suspected he’d probably already dipped. Reese didn't strike me as the kind of man who lingered around this sort of scenario longer than necessary.Still, a strange tension lived in my chest, like my body was waiting to sense him somewhere nearby. Waiting for the possibility of him stepping into my room and turning the air heavy again.But so far… nothing. Instead, the house had been overtaken by Lauren’s so-called “glam team”.Apparently, this was really a thing.There were three women with makeup kits big enough