Page 24 of Cruel Secrets

I still don’t think we’re ever going to be a happy family, but maybe Bianca deserves to know her father.

Provided he stops threatening me at every turn. If he doesn’t, I have no intention of keeping him in her life.

But I still don’t know how to get both of us out of here without him catching us.

“You don’t have to hurry out of here like I’m going to corrupt Bianca just by being around her,” Royce says, his tone dull and lifeless.

Dishes clatter in the rack as he opens the dishwasher and puts everything else in.

“I don’t think you’re going to corrupt her.” The words immediately feel like a lie. I’ll say whatever I have to if it means getting on his good side.

“What I fail to see is why you’re willing to have her around men like your brother, but I’m terrible. I’m enemy number one because I didn’t stay when you lied to me, even though you know damn well those men have been lying to you from day one.”

“At least I’ve known who they are from the beginning. I thought you were one thing, and you turned out to be a whole other kind of breed.” I balance Bianca on my hip, holding her as she squirms to get down.

He scoffs and shakes his head. “You knew who I was. I told you about what my family does and the shit they run, and you chose to stay. You think at that point you would’ve said that Noah is your brother or come clean about everything else you were hiding.”

“Look, we’re not going to stand here and go around and around in circles.” I bounce Bianca, trying to keep her from bursting into tears when I don’t let her down. “Right now, you need to figure out what your plan with us is, because once Noah figures out you have us, he’s going to come after you.”

Royce gives me a smile that doesn’t quite meet the soulless gaze he has. The tone of the room shifts, the Royce I know disappearing into the man who kills people without a second thought. “I’d like to see him try and put a finger on my daughter.”

“Mydaughter.”

“Whether you like it or not, she’s mine too.” He keeps his tone low, blowing out his cheeks and making a face as Bianca’s bottom lip starts to quiver. That cold gaze turns to me, making my stomach do a flip.

Her attempt at tears ends in a second, a bubbly little giggle filling the room.

Of course he’s able to make her laugh and smile.

He’s always been good at charming everyone around him, and it seems like a baby is no exception.

After making another face at her, his attention drifts back to me, a small line appearing between his eyebrows as a hand smooths over his beard. “Eventually, we will need to talk about what life is going to look like after all of this is over.”

“Life can go right back to the way it was,” I say, itching for another argument with him.

One of these days I know I’m going to push it too far. I know I am. He’s going to snap and it’s going to be my fault, but there’s something attractive about the way he takes control back from me every time I reach for it.

The hair on the back of my neck stands as he approaches me like a predator stalking its prey. “Let’s get one thing straight. You would have to be insane if you think that I’m just going to crawl back into some hole, pretending my daughter doesn’t exist. It’s not going to happen.”

“You don’t get to decide that.” I wipe some of the leftover chocolate from the corner of Bianca’s mouth, dragging my thumb across my jeans. “You’re not even on her birth certificate.”

If looks could kill, I think I would be dead several times over.

“It’s one thing to not fucking tell me about her, but you left my name off the birth certificate too?” His body seems to vibrate with anger as he takes a step back from me.

“What else was I supposed to do? You think Noah would’ve been happy to find out that I had a baby with you? How the hell would I provide for her if he knew that?”

“Oh, so not only are you related to him, but you’ve been taking his money to care for her instead of asking me. Instead of telling me we had a child. Did you think that I wouldn’t agree to keep it a secret from him?”

Tears well in Bianca’s eyes and she lets out a wordless scream, trying to throw herself at the floor.

Sighing, I put her down, watching as she takes off toddling into the living room. “Your job is dangerous. I didn’t want her around that, even if it was going to be a secret and nobody was ever going to find out. You have to understand that I’m always going to do what’s best for her, even if you don’t like it.”

“Noah’s job is no more dangerous than my own, and I have several businesses not connected to my family.”

“Speaking of jobs, I need my painting supplies,” I say, continuing on as if I didn’t hear him. I don’t know what else to say to him or how else to explain what I was thinking at the time. “I have to keep earning money and I can’t do that without them.”

“And what exactly are you going to do to get them?” He leans closer to me, thin amusement clear in his voice. “You can’t go in or out of this house, Gia. And what the hell makes you think I’d allow you to work?”

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