Page 67 of Secrets (The Sins Trilogy 2)
“How do you know I have that kind of leverage? I’m just a worthless daughter.” She throws it out there like a challenge.
“He let you attend Curtis even though he’d rather you didn’t. He let you start the foundation in honor of Ivy’s memory. Now he’s letting you go to the States to find this dead friend, and even sent his right-hand man with you. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “Fine. I’ll ask my dad. And…can I call you Tony?”
“Huh?” What brought this on?
“I heard from my brother about your weird tic with your name.”
Weird tic?What the—
“Apparently you only let your family and closest friends call you Tony, and everyone else is to supposed to use either Anthony or Blackwood. Since you’re so close to my soul sister, I feel like you’re like…how would you put it in English? My soul brother-in-law, or something? I mean, you’re going to marry her.”
Her conviction about Iris and me… It’s touching. I sit there, stunned, realizing that she’s the first and only one to express such a sentiment.
“Why are you so quiet? Don’t tell me I’ve misjudged you. It isn’t just a ‘sex and it was fun, but you aren’t good enough to be my missus’ kind of thing, right?” There’s an edge to her voice now. She’s going to reach through the phone line and cut my balls off if she thinks I’m using Iris.
My affection for Yuna goes up a notch. She’s exactly the kind of friend I want for Iris. “Of course I’m going to keep her forever. As for marriage, I’m not telling you when I haven’t even bought a ring.” Then I add, “Thank you, Yuna, for believing in me and Iris. It means a lot to me.”
“Any idiot can tell you make her happy. I’ve never seen her glow like when she’s with you…except possibly when she’s killing it at the piano. I’d be a terrible friend to not want the best for you two.”
“Thanks. But not everyone wants us to be together.”
“Julie?”
Julie?Yuna hasn’t been around Julie and me long enough to figure out how we feel about each other…has she? “Excuse me?”
“I noticed you don’t like her that much. She doesn’t seem too crazy about you, either.”
“Something like that.” But my annoyance with Julie goes deeper than her telling Iris about my shitty reputation. Any good friend would warn her friend about that sort of thing. But her being weird about Bobbi’s presence? That I can’t forgive. When Iris woke up after Sam’s attack, she was worried sick about Julie’s safety, but Julie doesn’t seem to prioritize Iris’s safety. If she did, she would’ve done her best to convince Iris to accept Bobbi.
“You’re angry she objected to you hiring the bodyguard,” Yuna says.
“How do you know?” I ask, surprised.
“Because you looked like you were itching to strangle her.” She laughs lightly. “She’s just an ordinary girl. Most normal people don’t understand how serious things can get for people like us…when so much money and power is at stake.”
I find myself nodding. Yuna understands. But then, she’s seen all that stuff her whole life. It’s as natural to her as drinking water at a dinner table. “Julie isn’t some regular person. She’s Byron Pearce’s sister. She should know better.”
“Really?” Displeasure colors that one word. “I’ll do what needs to be done on the Hawaii matter. But I need to offer another firm to do the project. My father doesn’t like proposals that cost him money, and he’s already invested a lot of time and effort on the negotiations.”
I chuckle. “Oh, I don’t think you’ll need to find another firm. How about just changing the liaison on Pearce International’s side?”
“To whom?”
“Milton Pearce. And Yuna?”
“Yeah?”
“You should absolutely call me Tony.”
