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  IT STARTED WITH A LIE

  TRUTH AND LIES DUET BOOK ONE

  ©2018 LISA SUZANNE

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the US Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher or author constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law and except for excerpts used in reviews. If you would like to use any words from this book other than for review purposes, prior written permission must be obtained from the publisher.

  Published in the United States of America by Books by LS, LLC.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All characters and events in this work are figments of the author’s imagination.

  Content Editing by It’s Your Story Content Editing

  Proofreading by Proofreading by Katie

  Cover Design by CT Cover Creations

  Cover Photograph by Wander Aguiar

  Cover Model: Forest Harrison

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  books by Lisa Suzanne

  A LITTLE LIKE DESTINY SERIES

  A LITTLE LIKE DESTINY (Book One)

  ONLY EVER YOU (Book Two)

  CLEAN BREAK (Book Three)

  THE UNBREAKABLE THREAD DUET

  THE POWER TO BREAK (Book One)

  THE INVISIBLE THREAD (Book Two)

  CLICK HERE FOR MORE

  dedication

  To the two boys who make me the happiest I’ve ever been.

  contents

  chapter one

  chapter two

  chapter three

  chapter four

  chapter five

  chapter six

  chapter seven

  chapter eight

  chapter nine

  chapter ten

  chapter eleven

  chapter twelve

  chapter thirteen

  chapter fourteen

  chapter fifteen

  chapter sixteen

  chapter seventeen

  chapter eighteen

  chapter nineteen

  chapter twenty

  chapter twenty-one

  chapter twenty-two

  chapter twenty-three

  chapter twenty-four

  chapter twenty-five

  chapter twenty-six

  chapter twenty-seven

  chapter twenty-eight

  chapter twenty-nine

  chapter thirty

  chapter thirty-one

  chapter thirty-two

  chapter thirty-three

  chapter thirty-four

  chapter thirty-five

  chapter thirty-six

  chapter thirty-seven

  chapter thirty-eight

  chapter one

  In my wildest dreams, I never imagined I’d be walking down the aisle with Reese’s arm tucked into mine.

  She’s glowing today. I glance briefly at the steep curve of her stomach, and a dart of something unfamiliar pings through my chest. She’s pregnant with a little girl who I know I’ll love and cherish even though I don’t really do the kid thing.

  I force my eyes from the woman by my side and find my parents in the crowd. I shoot them a quick smile. My brother sits beside them, but his gaze is on the woman whose arm is tucked into mine.

  As we make our way to the front of the church together, I think for the millionth time how I never deserved her.

  It’s probably why I didn’t end up with her and my brother did.

  It’s also probably why the baby she’s carrying will be my niece and not my daughter.

  Reese Brady and Brian Fox were never meant to be—not in the way she was meant to be with my brother, Mark.

  You’d think I’d have learned my lesson after what I did to her and my brother, but I didn’t. It’s hard to learn a lesson when everyone was so quick to leave the past behind us—a benefit of being born into the Fox family, where our parents taught us to forgive and forget.

  I’m the living, breathing definition of a selfish prick, but admitting the problem’s the first step, right? Only it’s not a problem, and I don’t plan to change any of that any time soon. I’m happy for my brother that he’s having a kid with the woman we both slept with once upon a time, and I’m even happier it’s not me in his position.

  We approach the front of the church. Reese turns to take her place in the spot reserved for the matron of honor while I shake hands with the groom and take my place beside him as his best man.

  The music changes and everyone in the church rises as they wait for their first glimpse of the bride. I keep my eyes focused to the back of the church even though I feel someone looking at me. It might be Tess, the bridesmaid who has been giving me the eye at every event we’ve attended leading up to this wedding.

  I think tonight might just be the night to finally break the ice with her.

  There’s a few problems in our way, like the fact that she dated one of my best friends. But we’re two single adults capable of making our own decisions, so whatever happened in the past doesn’t matter anymore. I guess I could ask him, but I tend to follow the apologize later attitude.

  I can’t help but give myself a little pat on the back when the doors burst open and the bride makes her grand appearance. If I’d never have used Reese the way I did, we wouldn’t be standing here at this wedding today. Everything happens for a reason, and as I watch Jill make her way down the aisle toward my best friend, a little part of me is even glad for everything that happened.

  The physical wounds have healed—literally—and I never felt the burn of the emotional scars. I just assume every woman now only wants me because of my famous rock star brother, and I’ve stopped allowing that to hurt and started using it to my advantage. It only took once to learn that lesson—pretty easy when the only girl I ever really loved cheated on me with him.

  People laugh and cry right on cue as the minister performs the wedding ceremony, and I’m bored as fuck and ready for the party afterward. I force myself to pay attention as we near the end of the ceremony.

  “Every one of you in this room has a love story,” the minister says. “Some stories are brief while others are longer. As we celebrate the love today between this beautiful couple, reflect for a moment on your own story. Grasp your main character’s hand a little tighter, or open yourself up to the vulnerability that comes with finding your other half. Wherever you’re at in your story, make it a good one.”

  What the minister failed to mention is that all stories eventually come to an end. I’ve already lived part of my story, and it didn’t end well. Some people are meant to have happily ever afters, and then there’s the rest of us. If you open your heart up for heartbreak, you’re only going to get what you expect.

  My eyes lock with Tess’s for a beat, and I raise a brow before I look away. Staring too long at her as we stand at the front of a church during a wedding could lead her to the wrong conclusion. I’m not looking for anything more than a single night of pleasure, and I’m not too concerned with whether she gets hers before or after I do.

  From what I’ve heard, that’s how she operates, too.

  She sounds like the perfect
end to this night. Besides, isn’t it sort of the duty of the best man to hook up with a bridesmaid?

  * * *

  Whiskey sloshes over the side of my newly filled glass as someone slaps me on the back a little harder than absolutely necessary. I turn around with an offending glare for the perpetrator only to find my brother, Mark.

  I slap him on his back, too, a little harder than I need to in some quest to get even, a true representation of our relationship. Our parents walk up behind him, effectively ending any sort of shit we might give one another.

  “So nice seeing my boys together again,” our mom says, wrapping her arm around my waist.

  My dad rolls his eyes and glances at my mom. “Raise your hand if you’re shocked that they’re standing at the bar. What did we do wrong, Diane?”

  Mark laughs and mock punches my dad in the arm, and my mom looks up at me while my dad rubs the spot of his son’s offense. “Everything okay, Brian?” she asks quietly. She still thinks I was the one who got fucked over in the whole Mark/Reese thing, and I love her for it. She’s the only one who was on my side even after everything was revealed—that I was using Reese when I knew Mark had feelings for her first, that my ex, Kendra, cheated on me with my brother when he didn’t know she was my girlfriend...the list goes on. It pays to be the youngest sibling, I guess. My mom’s always had a soft spot for all her children, but that soft spot becomes pure cashmere when it comes to me.

  I nod and take a sip of my whiskey. I look around the room and don’t even realize my eyes have landed on Tess until she glances up and catches me staring. I look down at my mom without missing a beat.

  “Everything’s great, Mom.” I give her a smile despite my lie.

  She glances at Mark. “And you?”

  “Aside from freaking the fuck out over this baby business, yeah, we’re good.”

  “Language!” she scolds, and Mark and I laugh like we always do when she tries to tell her adult son to watch his mouth. She lets go of me and places her hands on her hips as she glares at Mark.

  “Sorry, Mother,” he says.

  “You better not talk like that around the baby. Not even when she’s in the womb.” She points to him and gives him her scariest, most threatening look. “I know you use that sort of language in your songs, but you better listen to me—”

  Mark leans in to give her a hug, mostly to interrupt her, and it totally works. “Thank you. You’re gonna be the best grandma this baby could ask for.”

  She says something that I miss into his shoulder as my dad turns to me. “How’s work?”

  “Fine,” I say, purposely avoiding his penetrating gaze. He’ll know I’m lying if we make eye contact.

  Things aren’t fine. They haven’t been for a long time now, and that’s why I need to get my brother alone this weekend.

  “What’s really going on, Bri?” my dad asks. He’s trying to appeal to my sense of family by calling me by a nickname no one ever uses. He knows I’m lying even without the eye contact, and I hate that. My eyes land on Tess again, and this time when she catches me staring, I don’t look away.

  “Nothing,” I murmur. I take a bolstering sip of my drink then glance at my dad. I press my lips together in a polite attempt at a smile. “Excuse me.” I set my suddenly empty tumbler on the counter and stride across the room toward Tess. I’ll see my family at brunch tomorrow, but tonight? I’m not talking business with my father when a hot girl has been eyeing me all night.

  chapter two

  I don’t have a pickup line prepared, but I’m not sure I need one. I try to come up with something witty as I approach the girl who can’t seem to keep her eyes off me, but it’s sort of futile. Instead of a line, I get right to the point. I grab her hips and start dancing to the rhythm of the fast song, indifferent to the fact that Jason, this girl’s ex and my best friend, is somewhere in this room, oblivious to the fact that my family—my mother—might be watching. She’s into it as she falls right into step with me. She glances up at me from hooded eyes that tell me the deal is already sealed.

  “You better stop looking at me like that,” I say.

  “Why?” she challenges, one perfectly shaped brow arched at me.

  “Because,” I say, leaning in closer so this conversation is just between us, “if you keep giving me that look, I’ll have to assume it’s because you want to get fucked tonight.”

  I start to pull back, but she laces her arms around my neck to keep me in place. “Then I guess the look is working to my advantage.”

  She lets go of my neck and I can’t help but wonder why this hasn’t happened before.

  “Now be a good boy and tell me your room number. I’ll meet you up there in an hour. We can’t keep dancing like this. Jason’s eyes have been on us the whole time.”

  Another bridesmaid is dancing right next to us. To keep all suspicion at bay, I whisper my room number as I let go of Tess and grab the other bridesmaid. I start dancing with her like I just danced with Tess, and while it might be sending all the wrong signals, I act a little drunker than I am, dance a little more ridiculously than I normally would, and wait out my time.

  An hour later up in my hotel room, wet lips drag across the stubbled skin of my neck, stopping briefly for a suck and the dart of a tongue as my fingers tangle in her short, blonde hair. A moan and a grunt, and it’s all so predictable. I thought this might be a little different tonight, fucking a girl I already know, someone semi-off-limits because she dated my buddy and is close friends with my ex, but as I spin her around and bend her over to drive my cock into her from behind, it feels like everything else.

  Don’t get me wrong—it feels good, but it’s further proof I’m not invested enough for this to go beyond tonight.

  Tits.

  I need some tits.

  I grab for them beneath me, reaching around and squeezing one as soon as I find it. I want them in my face. In my mouth.

  I pull out then lie down on the bed and shift her on top of me.

  I bury my face in her luscious tits while she gyrates over me, and we find a fast rhythm together. As I start to come, I pull one of her nipples into my mouth and bite down. She moans as I empty myself into the condom separating us, and then she starts to really move. She thrashes around wildly, screaming in what must be ecstasy as her fingers move toward her clit. I watch for a few hot seconds before I bat her hand away. This is my one job right now—to make her come—and it’ll be by my hands, not by hers.

  I thumb her clit and she cries out even more loudly, thrashes about so violently I can barely get my hand where it needs to be, but I keep at it until she falls apart. I watch as her lips fall open and her eyes close, as she grips onto her nipples while her movements slow. Her body pulses around me with shrieks coming out of her mouth as I soften inside her, and the second her shudders slow, she dismounts and collapses beside me.

  She pants for a few beats as she tries to catch her breath. “Well that was fun,” she says, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing up. She searches around for the clothes we tossed aside as we got down to business not more than twenty minutes ago.

  “You’re leaving?” I ask.

  She shrugs. “I got what I came here for. You?”

  “Well, yeah...”

  “I didn’t peg you to be the cuddling type, Fox.”

  I can’t help my laugh. “I’m not. I just figured we’d have a snack and go at it again once my boys have had a chance to recharge.” I gesture toward my dick, still wrapped in a condom that needs to be taken care of, but I’m too damn tired to get up right now after what we just did.

  She picks up her bridesmaid dress and pulls it over her head. “Sorry. I have to run.” She sweeps her hands down the front of the garment I tore over her head just minutes ago.

  “Where are you going?”

  She avoids eye contact as she pulls her shoes back on. “I have plans, okay?”

  “What sort of plans?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at her. It’s not my busine
ss, but she’s dodging me and now I want to know.

  “Look, it’s not that I wouldn’t do it again with you, honestly it was good for me, but I promised Reese I’d swing by their place tonight and listen to her talk about the baby. She said they’re leaving tomorrow afternoon so we won’t get a chance to catch up if I don’t go tonight.”

  “You came here and had sex with me first knowing you’re going to see your friend who I used to date?” I try to push the nugget of information that they’re leaving tomorrow afternoon aside. I sort of want to go with her because it seems like the right time to get Mark alone while his wife’s occupied, but going with her would be extending our night together when she’s making it so easy for me by walking out. I’ll pick my moment for a conversation with Mark tomorrow after our family brunch.

  She glances in the mirror and fluffs her hair, no worse for the wear. “Figured she’d want to know for sure that you’re over her.”

  “And what we just did proves that?”

  She lifts a shoulder and shoots me a sly smile. “Well you certainly weren’t under her, if you know what I mean.”

  I shake my head with a laugh.

  “Bye bye, Foxy Fox,” she says, and then she disappears out my hotel room door.

  I don’t trust easily, so I can’t help but wonder if this is her thing—jetting out after sex and pretending like she doesn’t care. It’s not like she’d be the first woman ever to try reverse psychology on me, but I’m not buying it. If my phone rings in three days, I’ll know I was right.

  Either way, though, it won’t matter. It’s not going to change the fact that I’m not in a place where I’m interested in commitment.

  chapter three

  The next morning, I’m at Mark’s Vegas penthouse enjoying French toast and scrambled eggs when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I’m waiting on a new client acquisition, praying the paperwork will be signed before the end of the month but figuring it won’t be.