Cover Reveal: Deceive Me by Vi Carter

Jared
They say love and hate dance together along the same line.
My feelings for Layla didn’t dance on the line; they destroyed it.
It’s been seven years since she disappeared without a trace.
And now she’s back, but things have changed- I’ve changed.
I’m no longer the Jared she remembers – the boy who wanted to protect her.
I’m very much my father’s son, and I take what I want, and what I want is Layla.
But this time, I’m keeping her forever.

Layla
Seven years, that’s how long it has been since I’ve seen him.
After years of putting myself back together, I’m finally ready to start a life without his memory chasing my every step.
Imagine my surprise when my first step leads me straight back to him.
Only he’s not the boy I remember.
He’s angry.
Damaged.
Hiding secrets that want to destroy him.
He hates me. He wants me.

I’m not sure I will survive the man he has become or his demons that threaten to destroy us both. 

******EXCERPTS******

#1
My hands demand I hurt her. I push harder on her small shoulders, and the foolish love-sick boy in me screams to take my hands off what is his. What he has searched for for years, only each time to come up emptier and a little angrier than the last time. Yet, here she is. Staring up at me with wide blue eyes. Her scent seems to envelop me until I dig a little deeper into her shoulders.

I could snap her so easily.

I want to. She shouldn’t be here.

“What the fuck do you want?” I bark and lean in, inhaling her aromatic lavender scent.

Layla.

Anger bubbles through me, and my back arches.

“You’re the one who dragged me over here.” Her voice is stronger, her gaze more defiant than she had displayed earlier in the gym. She looked like a victim. I remember how good she was at playing the victim.

I grin and take some of the pressure off her shoulders but don’t remove my hands completely. “Because you were staring at me like some lovesick puppy.” Each word I say with a mocking tone.

Her lip trembles and my gaze lingers on her mouth. She’s still Layla, just older. More womanly. That fact isn’t lost on me with all the curves she displayed at gym class. She isn’t someone who fades into the background. She always stood out even when she didn’t want to. I don’t need her to be here. I don’t need the distraction.

“I thought you were someone else, but I was wrong.”

I release her, and she reaches up and rubs her shoulders. I don’t step back. I don’t want to walk away from her. The pull that was always there hasn’t eased with time. If anything, it seems stronger.

I hate her.

“Let’s hope your drooling over me ends.” I fold my arms across my chest. I know my size will intimidate her. I battle with the need to protect her. It’s all I knew. All I cared about. She was the reason I got up, the reason I lived. The reason I fought to survive. Until she left, not giving a fucking care in the world about me.

“I thought you were someone else.” Pain drags down her lips.

Fuck her.

“I don’t want your sob story.” I lean in close to her and dip my head so that she can hear me very clearly. “Stay out of my way, Layla, or I’ll make sure you regret ever crossing my path.” Her chest rises and falls faster. My words fully sink in; I’ve made my point. Her swan-like neck draws my hand to it. She inhales sharply as I tighten my fingers around her fragile throat. Her pale skin is soft. I can imagine pressing kisses along the flesh. I tighten my fingers further, trying to banish the thought.

She pulls away. “Get your hands off me.” Her hysteria pierces my anger. The protective boy in me has me removing my hand, and yet I can’t step away from her.

#2

Everything in me stills as Jay walks towards me, his face tightening the closer he gets. It transforms him from someone I used to know with dimples and light eyes, to an angry God.

“Hi.” I sound so breathless as he stops in front of me.

He glares at me and rubs his jaw before speaking. “The three days you were missing, where were you?”

He’s angry.

My throat aches again; my heart beats rapidly as I stare up into the dark abyss that wants to consume me. I need to speak, but for the first time with Jared, the words are lodged in my throat.

His large hand touches my jawline, and my eyes flick up at him. His eyes have darkened even further, and I’m not sure what has prompted him to touch me. He looks revolted by the action, yet he hasn’t let me go. When we were younger, I knew exactly what he was thinking, but right now, the unknown is scaring me.

His hand travels down to my neck, his thumb flicking back and forth, his touch burns into me. I swallow.

“Where were you…?” His words trail off as he looks at me with haunted eyes. 

#3

She looks like a virgin in that getup. One I want to defile.  

“What’s up, man?” Chester raises his head as he speaks. He’s still too close to Layla for my liking. He shouldn’t be breathing the same air as her.

I grip the banister. “The boys want you.”

Layla hasn’t moved. Her chest is still, and I question if she’s still breathing. What is she doing here?

“In a minute.” Chester looks away from me.

My hand tightens on the banister, and it creaks under my grip. “Now, Chester.”

His focus is back on me. His jaw tightens, but he nods as he walks away from Layla, giving me more relief than I should feel.

Chester juts out his chin and narrows his eyes in question as he makes his way down the stairs. I stop him before he passes me. “Don’t ever put your hands on her again.” My voice is low, deadly.

“If you so say, Jay.” Chester doesn’t like my request.

I grin. “I do say so.”

He fights a snarl, and I let him pass me before I allow myself to do what I really want, which is to beat him to within an inch of his life.

Layla doesn’t move as I release the banister and take a step up toward her. “What are you doing here?” I growl.

Her chest rises and falls rapidly. Her pink tongue flicks out and wets her lips. Her mouth is small but perfect. I can imagine it around my cock.

“I’m here with friends.” Her voice is stronger than I expected.

I continue to climb the stairs. “What friends?” I sneer.

She folds her arms across her chest. “My friends.”

I grin as I clear the last step and tower over her. “I thought I told you to stay out of my way.” I dip my head while pushing my hands behind my back. They demand I hurt her, but I deny that want for another that is so much deeper. The one that has liquefied in my veins, manifesting as something so primal—the urge to protect her.

I hate it.

I want to defy the need to protect her.

“I’m going.” Layla ducks her head and tries to get past me. I don’t move, blocking her access to the stairs. Now I’m wondering which waster she’s with downstairs.  

Anger accelerates my thoughts, and they scatter as I step closer to her, stealing the last of her personal space. She won’t look up. She’s staring at my chest. The pulse flickers rapidly in her swan-like neck.

“You can go when I say you can go.”

Her head lifts up to me. Her blue eyes drink me in and pierce something inside me that twists my gut.

I hate her.

My hand leaves the confines of my back, and I’m touching her hair. The strands are as silky as I remember, and I lose myself in my primal instincts and lean in, inhaling her scent. She takes in a sharp breath at my action, but I don’t give a shit that she’s watching me sniff her.  Everything in me stirs to life, and her lips become my sole focus.

I want to have her.

I want her.

My mind becomes consumed with someone else having her. Someone else having what they have no right to touch. My hand tightens on her hair, and she hisses in pain.

“Who are you here with?”

When Vi Carter isn’t writing contemporary & dark romance books, that feature the mafia, are filled with suspense, and take you on a fast paced ride, you can find her reading her favorite authors, baking, taking photos or watching Netflix.

Married with three children, Vi divides her time between motherhood and all the other hats she wears as an Author.

She has declared herself a coffee & chocolate addict! Do not judge.

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