Page 47 of Cruel Secrets

Or perhaps not tearing my life apart, but he certainly isn’t making it easier to carry on with life either.

As I spin away from the window, spine stiff and heart hammering with frustration, I have half a mind to go to him and start demanding answers. Consequences be damned. I need to know that Bianca is going to be safe.

Two days of tense looks from Royce. Nothing but near silence—no explanation for whatever the fuck is going on.

If we’re going to be stuck in this house—this damn tomb—then he owes me more than sarcastic smiles and half-assed answers.

He owes our daughter more than that.

And today, I’m going to get those answers. I walk down the hall, each step echoing with determination, the loudest noise that’s occurred in days.

And the reasonwhy it’s so quiet has to do with the man sitting in his study, glancing up at me through the open door every now and then, but never actually saying anything.

“Are you going to keep staring at us?” I ask when he looks up again, my tone sharp.

An amused smirk curves the corner of his mouth. “Maybe.”

“No. You don’t get to spend the last two days barely talking to me, and then you sit there and act charming and think it’s going to keep your ass from being grass. That’s not how this works.”

He leans back in his chair as I leave Bianca and head for the doorway. Hands link behind his head, his t-shirt rising and showing off a sliver of his toned stomach above his jeans.

Down girl,I think as a heat builds low in my core, clenching tight. Now isn’t the time to lose my head over a man.

Even if it feels like I’ve been losing my mind over him since the day we met.

“And what makes you think that I can’t do exactly that? It seems to work on you most of the time.”

“You’re infuriating. You’ve barely spoken to me since your siblings came to visit, and every time I ask you why, you won’t talk to me.” I cross my arms, slumping against the frame.

If I get any closer to him, I’m sure it will be all too easy to forget why I’m mad at him.

I take a deep breath, gearing up for everything I have to say next. “I know that we aren’t anything other than co-parents to each other, but I think we need to talk.”

He gestures to the suede chair on the other side of the white oak desk. “Take a seat if you want to talk.”

Scoffing, I push off the doorway. “Nope. I’m not going to sit in there like I’m someone getting lectured for doing something bad. You’re going to come out here, help me make dinner, and we’re going to talk like we’re equals.”

Royce studies me for a moment, the corners of his eyes crinkling before he gets up and strides across the worn wood floors to me. He stops inches in front of me, making my heart seize in my chest.

His hand rises and I fight the urge to flinch. Right now, he doesn’t look like he’s in the mood to fight with me. There’s not that dark gleam to his eyes that I love and hate at the same time.

When the scent of his spicy and sweet cologne circles around me, his fingers coming up to brush a strand of my hair behind my ear, I almost forget what I came in here to talk about.

While being with him is a rush, there’s a part of me that loathes the hold he has over me.

He props one arm in the doorway above my head, leaning down until his face is hovering inches from mine. “You want to go work out whatever your problem is some other way?”

I smile sweetly before reaching between us and flicking him through his zipper. “No.”

Royce groans for a moment, shifting away from me. “You’re going to get your ass handed to you for that.”

“Yeah, well, that can come after I’m done ripping you a new one.” I head for the kitchen, knowing that he’s going to trail close behind me. “You’ve kept me in a place called Devil’s Hole for over a week now with nothing to do. I need to make money. I need to talk to someone other than you and a baby.”

He grabs me by the hand and pulls me back to him. I don’t hesitate, ramming my knee upward, driving it into his balls and dropping him to the ground.

“And that’s another thing! You can’t just manhandle me like I’m your damn property! You’re not the one in control here. Not anymore.”

He chuckles darkly as he straightens, closing the space between us quickly, crowding me back against the wall until every inch of his body is pressed against mine.

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