I grab her arm and shove her back. She catches herself on the railing, her back now to it, instead of her front.
I cage her in with my arms. I’ve been nice, trying to butter her up to answer me, but it didn’t work. Now, I need answers.
Time is ticking, and I need to decide what to do with her.
She blinks rapidly, and then her eyes grow defiant as I box her in.
“You don’t scare me.”
“I should.”
She huffs. “You don’t think I haven’t been dealing with men like you my entire life. Well, I have. And you are by far the least scary. You’re nothing but a boy. Whatever you want from me, you won’t get unless I want you to.”
I growl and push myself against her until her breathing stops, proving just how far I’ll go to get the answers that I need.
We both stare at each other, neither of us backing down—neither of us giving in.
Her mind is whirling. I can see it going a million miles an hour trying to figure a way out of this. And she may be able to with whatever low-level men come to collect her father’s debts, but she won’t be able to figure a way out with me. She will answer me if she wants to live. And even if she responds, there is no guarantee of living. That was her mistake when she told me who she was, when she willingly got on this yacht with me.
“Fine, I’ll answer.”
I back away only an inch.
“If you win at a game of truth or lies,” she continues.
I narrow my eyes, pressing my body hard against hers again. “No, you will tell me everything I want to know.”
She shakes her head slowly. “I will answer any question you ask, if you win. It’s clear you have questions you need to ask. That’s why we are here. My father probably did something stupid, and you need information about him. But I will only answer if you win.”
“No.”
She smirks. “You don’t have a choice, pretty boy. Otherwise, I’ll refuse to talk, and you’ll have to report back to your boss that you didn’t get the information you need.”
“And if you win?”
“Then you answer my questions.”
I frown. I don’t like this at all, but if I win, she will answer without me having to hurt her. And if I lose, then I guess I will torture her until she tells me.
“What are the rules?”
“We each tell two truths and lie.” She thinks for a moment. “Although, since neither one of us want to reveal much about ourselves, we will play it in reverse. We each will tell two lies and one truth.”
“How do you win?”
“When you correctly guess the truth.”
“And if we both guess the truth?”
“Then we will both be answering a lot of questions.”
I look over her shoulder and watch the sun hover over the horizon. In thirty minutes or less it will be set, and I’ll be out of time. I want to determine if she deserves to die, tonight.
I look at her. Kai’s street smart. She knows how to survive. She stole from me witho
ut me noticing. She’s sly. But now that I know that about her, I know what to watch for. I’ve spent my entire life reading people; I’ll know if she’s telling the truth or not.
“Deal.”