Page 25 of Vicious Secrets
Where’s Siro?
He responds before I set the phone down on my lap.
In his office. Third door on the right.
Do you want backup?
I frown at his response. The offer is as hollow as it sounds. Fabi’s loyal to his family first, Siro second, and me last. Not that I expect him to give any shits about me. We’ve known each other for two weeks, and I’m nothing more than his job.
No. Thank you.
I text him as I cross the short distance to the bedroom door. The handle is icy compared to my sweaty skin. I step into the hallway and leave it open if I need to retreat.
Siro’s drunken confession outside the door brought on as much confusion as it did anger. The information he shared feels like a dirty secret not meant for my ears. Is he trying to tug at my heartstrings? Why else would he mention his miserable parents?
My feet carry me soundlessly in the direction of Siro’s office. The door is cracked open, but the lights don’t appear to be on, or the curtains are drawn. I knock on the frame and wait.
“Yes?” Siro drawls.
I slip into the room and close the door behind me, leaning against the wood and instantly regretting trapping myself in here.
Siro’s gaze drops away when I meet it. He sits behind a nondescript desk with his elbows resting on the surface and his chin held in one hand. Between the longer pieces of his hair not slicked back but tucked behind his ears and his plain t-shirt, he’s borderline unrecognizable.
I don’t know if seeing him dressed down makes him look more or less dangerous. The tattoo-covered muscles visible through the white t-shirt create an imposing distraction. How did he sit through all of those… Or does the pain of being tattooed feel no different to him than the pain of touch?
I pad across the room. The only light comes from his phone screen, a laptop, and a small gap in the curtains.
“Do you need something for your hangover?” I ask.
“Not hungover.” His eyes widen when I walk past the chairs in front of his desk and take a seat on the edge facing the wall behind him.
He doesn’t turn his head to look at me. It’s like he’s frozen in place.
“You just like the dark?”
He nods. “Not usually in here this early.”
It’s nine in the morning. I don’t have a clue what his work schedule is other than coming home late and injured.
“Were you going to kill me if I didn’t marry you?”
Siro’s eyes open and close, and his throat bobs. “We don’t attack or target family members. They can end up collateral when going after a target.” He sits back in his chair and meets my gaze. His posture looks relaxed, but the stretching of his shirt gives away the truth. “I threatened to raid Oscar’s mansion at random until I felt he’d regained our trust. Oscar offered you in exchange for a truce. My father accepted.”
“But you didn’t?” I scoot back on the surface and cross my legs.
The corners of his lips turn down. “I accepted, and I followed through.” His chin dips as he swallows. “I never had any intention of harming you or your mother.”
“But you knew we could get hurt in a raid, so you used it as a sticking point.”
“Yes.”
“So if I had taken my mom and ran, we wouldn’t have been hunted and killed?” I spit. Bile rises in the back of my throat. The chances of me convincing Mom to leave her husband behind are next to zero. The chance of me leaving Mom behind is absolute zero. We have our issues, but she’s my only family, and I love her to pieces. She did her best, and that’s what counts.
“Killed? No. Dragged back? Maybe. Depends on how much your mother knows and if I’d decided to honor the betrothal.”
I suck in a deep breath through my nose and look away before I’m tempted to lash out at him. Even though I know I wouldn’t have taken it, hearing that there was an option B stings.
“When Mom told me, I was calm for her sake. I’d do anything to protect her.” Tears well in my eyes and spill over as my voice raises with each word. “But I didn’t have to fucking do that, did I? I didn’t have to agree to your bullshit deal and let you use my pussy as exposure therapy, did I?”
