Page 71 of Secrets (The Sins Trilogy 2)
“Not precisely, but it’s obvious.”
For God’s sake. I don’t have the patience to put up with Byron’s unreasonable assumptions after dealing with Tony’s yesterday. “She’s a bodyguard. She’s here to keep me safe. If you have a problem with that, you need to take it up with Tony.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
I cross my arms. Tony’s the last person Byron needs to protect me from. He needs to get it through his head that whatever issues exist between us have no bearing on my relationship with Tony. Not to mention Byron doesn’t know enough about my circumstances to say stuff like this in the first place. “From what?”
“Blackwood is trying to manipulate and control you.”
“Like you’re not?” Bobbi says. “Calling me a spy without a reason?”
Really, Bobbi?I grit my teeth with irritation. I don’t need her participating in this ridiculous conversation, any more than I need Byron’s ludicrous attitude. “Stop. Both of you. This is a meeting to talk about the music program. If we’re not going to talk about that, then we’re done here.”
Bobbi crosses her arms and leans back against the wall, her eyes narrowed. Byron glares at her, then turns his attention to me. His scrutiny is sharp—a blade scraping over my skin.
He shifts his weight. “Before we begin…just so you know, I’m still working on finding the girl you mentioned.”
The girl in the car. Tension winds inside me. Why is he bringing this up now, especially if he thinks Bobbi’s Tony’s spy? Is he hoping she tells Tony everything, so he’ll jump to an erroneous conclusion that we’re entirely too close? Or is Byron just dangling it to get me to be more agreeable? Either way, it feels manipulative, and I don’t like it. I keep my voice calm. “Are you close?”
“Not yet. There are quite literally hundreds of thousands of missing women who fit your description.”
I heave a sigh. I knew it’d be hard, but it’s still frustrating. And I’m not sure why he brought it up if he has no update. “Thanks for looking into it,” I say anyway. “I appreciate it.”
Thoughts are crossing his face. He’s not even trying to hide how badly he thinks of Tony, how worried he is about me and how hurt he is at my negative reaction to his concerns. It’s uncharacteristic of Byron. He’s usually much more circumspect. And nothing really bothers him much. “I know you think I’m just being a dick. But if anything happens…just remember I’m here for you.”
“Thanks.” Byron and Tony obviously have a problem with each other, and I’m caught in the middle. They’re both trying to be somewhat civilized—albeit badly—so I push my irritation with Byron aside and turn our conversation to the project.
