Read Online Entangled (Vice Games) by Alice Cooper - Free Book Online Page A

lessons. I struggled to pay attention and decided to leave part way through maths. I decided to go for a walk and inform Jace that I was going to take the afternoon off.
    ‘You have my number,’ I told him, ‘if anything happens to Anna, give me a ring.’
    I walked down the gravel pathway and out into the street beyond the gates. With nothing but my phone and a ten dollars in my pockets, my feet carried me far away from Tristan’s house. I took a random bus and soon found myself travelling towards the city center. I got off on one of the main streets and decided to walk past the tall buildings built from steel and glass. People passed by and did not notice me. It was at one when my phone rang. I looked at the name and saw that it was Anna.
    ‘Hello?’ I said.
    ‘Where are you?’
    She sounded worried.
    ‘I’m just out.’
    ‘Are you alright?’
    ‘Yeah. I just need some time alone, just for a little while. Are you going to be okay without me there?’
    Anna paused. ‘I think so. The tutors are gone now and it’s just Lorraine and Jace. Are you sure you’re alright? If it’s got to do with what happened yesterday between you and Tristan…’
    Lorraine must have talked to her.
    ‘Annabelle Vice, I am perfectl y alright. I just need some air,’ I told her in my most convincing voice. I didn’t want her to worry about me but I needed to be away from everything for just a little while.
    ‘Alright,’ she said finally. ‘When are you coming home?’
    ‘In a few hours,’ I told her.
    ‘Okay.’
    ‘Hey, I haven’t iced those cupcakes yet. Why don’t you do that for me? Get Lorraine to show you how.’
    ‘ Okay. Don’t be late for dinner.’
    ‘Yes ma’am,’ I said. I could feel Anna smiling and the conversation ended there.
    I continued to meander down the street without any particular sense of direction or destination. I passed restaurants filled with people in suits out on their lunch break and there were a great number of women in heels and pencil skirts bustling about. Although I walked amongst them, I could feel that I was not one of them. The hour trickled by and my stomach began to grumble. I reached into my pocket and found that I only had enough left for the bus ride back. I did have the option of calling Jace to pick me up but I wanted the sense of independence that came with riding a bus. I know it sounds strange, but if you’ve been driven around by a chauffeur for the past few months and spending twenty four hours of your days with a potentially unstable teen, being alone and riding a bus was the most liberating feeling I managed to grab for myself.
    ‘What are you doing here?’ a voice said behind me. I jumped. It belonged to Tristan. I spun around to face him with a frown on my face. The world around us went out of focus and I found myself alone with him in the middle of the busy street. He stood less than a foot away from me, his broad shoulders highlighted by the grey suit he wore. His hair was swept back in a professional manner but it only made him dangerous to the women that worked with him. As Tristan held my gaze, I felt as if I was peering up at a mortal god. Everything about him seemed perfect and my brain froze when he required an answer.
    ‘Afternoon off,’ I eventually found myself saying. Although we had no official contract signed, Tristan always paid me by the week. The first paycheck nearly blew me over as it was more than I had anticipated. I’ve lived with for more than three months now and although I was definitely attracted to him, I always reminded myself of my position. But yesterday’s events had changed things and I needed some time away to reset my head. Yet, fate was not on my side and Tristan had to ambush me by calling me out in the street.
    ‘And Anna?’ he asked. It was a reasonable enough question.
    ‘At home with Lorraine,’ I answered.
    My stomach grumbled loudly and my face turned red from embarrassment. His eyes glanced at the five dollars I