Deceive (Declan Reede: The Untold Story #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

he got the big bucks.
    After I hung up, I felt as though a small part of the stress I’d been feeling was lifted. Between my mood and the phone call, I was feeling pretty fucking fantastic when I picked up the phone again to call Alyssa. It was only as I listened to the dial tone that I realised Dr. Henrikson had kept me on the phone and therefore would charge me extra for the cost of the call.
    Fucker, I thought to myself in amusement. He was a great therapist, but definitely opportunistic. He never missed a single chance to get in extra billings.
    “Hello?” Alyssa answered, obviously wary and not recognising my phone number.
    “Hey. It’s me.”
    “Mmmm-hmmm, so you finally decided to pick up a phone and call me did you?” Her irritation was clear even down the phone line.
    God, I hope she’ll let me apologise . I couldn’t explain—there was no explanation or excuse good enough—but I could apologise. Again and again if I had to.
    “Yeah. Sorry. I’m only four years late.” I tried for the lame joke to break the tension.
    There was a strangled sound, but then more silence.
    “You, uh, you wanted me to call,” I said, trying desperately to draw her back into a conversation. If it was any other woman, I was certain I’d be able to charm them into whatever I wanted. With Alyssa though . . . She had my tongue tied up in knots so big I was lucky to be able to get any words out at all.
    “Right. So do you care to explain what the hell that was about last night?”
    Shit . I knew I’d done something to fuck it up with her. If only I could fucking remember the conversation we’d had or what I’d done. “I’m sorry, Lys. I just . . . fuck. I don’t even have an excuse. There is no excuse. I fucked up. Plain and simple.”
    “I thought you’d agreed to try my rules.”
    “I did, Lys. I am . I just fucked up. Please, let me try to make it up to you. And to Phoebe.”
    “Did you mean what you said?”
    “When? About trying? Didn’t I just say I did?”
    “No, last night at Josh’s. Did you mean what you said?”
    I tried in vain to remember what I said. “Fuck. Look, Lys, I promised I’ll be honest with you, and the truth is I can’t remember anything I said last night. The last thing I can clearly remember is . . .” I trailed off, because the last thing I could remember was buying the alcohol and climbing into the car down the Gold Coast.
    “Getting drunk?” Alyssa finished for me.
    “Yeah,” I agreed. “I’m sorry about that. I . . .” I couldn’t finish because there wasn’t an excuse. I understood that on some level. Although, it was easier to see how stupid and selfish it was when I had Alyssa on the phone and knew she was still talking to me. When she’d run away the day before, it had just felt like it was all too much and I had no other option. “Look, can I take you out to dinner?”
    “What about our agreement?”
    A small smile reached my lips as I sighed in relief. Alyssa was still going to hold me to the agreement. Which meant she still wanted to see me. “Already had my first session.”
    “Really? When.”
    “We finished about five minutes ago.”
    “And?”
    “And what? You expect him to fix all my fucking problems in one hour?”
    A hard bark of laughter echoed down the line. “No, I guess not. When are you talking to him again?”
    Fuck. I knew I’d have to tell her this part sooner rather than later, but I’d been hoping to discuss it when she was in a good mood, not when she was pissed over something I did while drunk and stupid. “Tomorrow.”
    “So soon?” Her confusion was evident.
    “I meant what I said, Lys. I know I fucked up last night, but I want to make up for that. In fact, the doc and I agreed that it would be best for me to talk to him daily for the moment.”
    “Uh huh, and I suppose that decision was in no way influenced by our agreement?”
    “Maybe just a little,” I admitted. I wasn’t going to lie to her about it, but I