Page 57 of Cruel Secrets

Royce may be the single most irritating person I have ever met.

I scowl hands clenching into fists as I try to keep my temper in check. “You’re kidding, right? You’re in the middle of a war with my brother and you say that there’s no threat to me, or the child that’s the only positive tie between both families?”

“Fine, there’s a threat to you. Is that what you want to hear? Do you want me to tell you that it’s likely that Bianca might be taken from us? That something might happen to her? That I may not be enough to stop it?”

My mouth goes dry, the blood rushing to my head. “I don’t see why you think you have to take on the world alone.”

“Because you can’t handle yourself.”

I see red. If he wants to think that I can’t handle myself, then I’ll prove to him that I can. That we can be partners in everything that’s to come.

I lunge before he has the chance to stop me. My fist slams into his stomach hard, knocking the air from him as he stumbles backward. I stay loose and on my toes, getting out of his range. “You think I can’t handle myself?”

Royce chuckles. “Cute.”

“You think that’s fucking cute?” I pace to the side, waiting for an opening.

“What are you trying to accomplish here?”

“You think I can’t handle myself.” I lunge, twisting behind him and kicking the back of his knee, sending him to the ground.

“Fucking hell, Gia, stop this shit.” Royce springs to his feet and moves quicker than I thought a man of his size could move, his hand wrapping around my wrist.

I don’t hesitate. I headbutt him in the nose, trying to ignore the pain radiating through my own head as I stumble back from him. As blood trickles down his face, I send him to the ground once more, getting on top of him, one hand on his throat and a knee on the middle of his chest.

Leaning in, I smirk. “I told you that I can handle myself.”

He winces, a red tinge flooding his cheeks. “Enough, Gia. We’re not going to spend the rest of the night talking about this.”

“Of course not, because when you decide we’re done with something, it means that both of us have to be done.” I stand and toss my hands in the air before striding away from him and toward the house.

Footsteps crunch behind me before he falls into step beside me. “Gia, you don’t get to walk away from me all pissed off when I’m trying to protect you. You sure as fuck don’t get to walk away after attacking me like a fucking psycho either.”

“Protect me from what, exactly?” I whirl around, hands landing on my hips. “I’ve killed people before, Royce. I’ve done whatever the hell I had to do to get by. So, whatever it is you think you’re protecting by keeping me out of the loop, just know that I killed it years ago. Any shred of innocence I had was dead long before you ever came into my life.”

“This is different.”

“No, it’s not.” I move to the side, using him as a shield from the icy wind. “I was raised in the world you keep trying to protect me from. There is nothing you’re going to tell me that’s going to faze me. You think that would’ve been made clear when my damn knee was on your chest.”

His eyebrow arches, a dark look in his eyes as he looms over me. “And what if I told you that it was your sister I killed? Maybe your mother? Would you still be acting like this then?”

I waver, and for a moment I start to wonder if one of them was sent here to attack us.

Zoe would never. She might stand by Noah’s side, but when it comes down to it, she and I have been close since we were young. We used to lean on each other all the time.

Mom, though, I don’t know.

I hate that I would even think that she’s capable of coming after me and my daughter, but at the end of the day, she does whatever she needs to. She stays in the good graces of the Rinaldo family and the life they provide for her.

Royce smirks, taking my chin and forcing me to look at him. “You can’t have it both ways, Gia. Either you want to know the truth and you’re prepared to handle whatever I tell you, or you’re not.”

“Tell me.”

“Noah sent Jon Hayes and Marcus Daly after you.” His tone is solemn, his gaze boring into mine as he holds me in place. “From what I saw the week before I took you, those men spend an awful lot of time coming and going from your apartment.”

Heat floods through me as I realize exactly what his problem is.

I smirk, pulling away from him. “Jealous, Royce?”

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