Page 21 of Cruel Secrets

I reach out, hand snaking through the gap in the sheet, skimming up her thigh.

She scowls and takes a step back, swatting my hand. “Am I supposed to thank you for treating me like a human?”

“Might be nice to hear a thank you for once.” I run my tongue over my teeth and shrug. “Normally it’s justplease don’t kill me,orI swear I didn’t mean to do it.And then there’s my favorite.I have a wife and kids.”

Gia presses her fingers to her lips, chipped nail polish close to being completely gone. “I never should’ve slept with you. Hell, when you asked me on a date, I should’ve turned and ran away. I wouldn’t be in this mess right now if I did.”

“You wouldn’t be in this mess if you had just told me the truth from the beginning!” I stand and loom over her, trying to keep my voice low so Bianca doesn’t wake up in the next room over.

“I told you everything about me except my half brother’s last name!”

“And you think that makes it better?” I cross my arms, hands curling into fists as my body almost vibrates with anger. I glance past her out the window at the stars shining over the trees. “You might have kept that from me, but you were hiding a fuck ton of other things too. You had your secrets. You thought betrayal would be easier than fucking talking to me. Well, guess what, Gia, I’m done fucking talking.”

Maybe it would’ve been better to stay with my siblings instead of coming back home and dealing with this.

I don’t think she’s ever going to see the way her secret damaged us.

The color drains from her face as she stares up at me like she’s seen a ghost. She swallows hard and for a moment, I think about lunging. I could grab her right now and drag her outside, hunt her down like I thought about doing to the lover she doesn’t have.

It’s tempting.

Gia brushes past me, heading into the closet and slamming the door behind her. When she comes back out, she has on a pair of joggers and a sports bra.

I’m sure it’s in an effort to make her look less attractive, but the thin material shows off the curve of her hips and the material clings to her ass before flaring out and tapering back in at her angles.

She could roll in mud and I’m sure I’d still want to sleep with her at least once before I killed her.

Well, at least my dick would think it’s a good idea to sleep with her. The smarter part of me knows that no good can come of crossing that line with Gia.

Gia cocks one hip to the side, matching my stance. “You need to leave. Just go. We’re not going to stand here and argue about this when it’s in the past. All I want to do is move on with my life and I’m sure you want to do the same.”

“Unfortunately, until your brother either negotiates or dies, you and I are going to be seeing a lot more of each other.” I stride over to her, taking her chin in my hand, forcing her to look at me even when she tries to look away.

Gia’s lips part, her breath hitching as her body presses closer to mine.

The last time we were standing together like this after an orgasm was the night I told her I was going to marry her one day.

We hadn’t wasted much time after that getting into bed and losing all our clothing.

That’s not the way tonight is going to end.

She’s lucky that she’s still alive, and yet she keeps trying to push me further.

“If you were honest with me sooner, I would have been able to get you out of this mess before the danger started ramping up. I could’ve taken you and Bianca somewhere safe. Zoe too. You realize that, don’t you? Hell, I would’ve brought your mother along with us if that’s what it took to keep you safe from that monster. And then you went and you fucking lied to me.”

“Well, if that isn’t the biggest case of the pot calling the kettle black I’ve ever heard, I don’t know what is.” She puts her hands on my chest, pushing me back a step. I step right back into her space. “I don’t know what you think it is you need to keep me safe from, but I’m fine.”

“Yeah, sure. I know who Noah is and what he’s like, but you’re going to tell me that everything is fine?” I scoff and drop my hand. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with. You keep secrets and lies, thinking you can protect yourself, but you have a weakness to exploit. You think he won’t go for that?”

She pales at the mention of our daughter, her gaze uncertain. “Yes.”

“And you don’t think I looked into your life before I took you? You don’t think that I spent time watching you? Following you around and paying attention to what you did?”

“If you had really done that every hour of every day, you would’ve known about your daughter.” She gives me a smug look, making it clear she thinks she has the upper hand.

“Dean watched you at night. He decided Bianca wasn’t an important factor in whether or not we took you.”

Her jaw clenches, hatred burning in her gaze. “You’re telling me that you were going to leave her behind?”

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