Page 32 of Captured Onyx

"Not here it isn't," he contends. "I know it sounds trite, but it's for your own safety. This is serious business, dangerous business. I don't want to know your real name, and I sure as hell don't want those guys out there knowing your real name. You have to work for us–but you also have to protect yourself from us. Understand?"

His face is solemn when he pins me down with his stare.

I nod instinctually. I do understand, but there's something that confuses me and nags at my gut. Something about what he just said doesn't add up.

He said he doesn't want to know my name. But if he doesn't know my name, how does he know who I am? How does he know who my parents are?

If he doesn't even know my name, how does he know anything about me that would enable him to threaten to kill my family if I don't comply with his orders?

It doesn't add up. Not at all.

My lips part, ready to give voice to these troubling thoughts, but I stop myself just in time.

You need to protect yourself from them. From him. He just said so.

That means I can't disclose every little thought I have.

I need to be smart about this. Smart and reticent.

"So Lailah was supposed to marry someone once she was old enough," I say in an effort to redirect my own thoughts. "And then what? Earlier you said this mission was all about pretending, and the wedding would never take place. But... if the wedding won’t take place, what will happen then?"

He sighs, and for a moment I fear he will wave me off just like he did before, retreating to his usual excuse of saying that it's better for me to know as little as possible.

But he doesn't. Not this time.

"Lailah will turn twenty-one soon. That was the deadline we set. Once she turned twenty-one, we agreed that we would bring her to the Scivolas," he goes on, inserting an extended pause during which he locks eyes with me. "They haven't seen her in years, which is why I'm pretty certain they won't realize you're not her."

"Pretty certain?" I repeat. "That's not reassuring."

A smile streaks across his face.

"Trust me, you have nothing to worry about in that regard."

Trust me. He keeps saying that, as if it was that simple.

"So Lailah was supposed to act as if she was to become someone's dutiful bride, but the wedding was never going to happen," I summarize. "What was supposed to happen instead?"

He takes a deep breath, his gaze trailing away from me. When he turns back to look at me, his expression prepares me for the words that will ice the blood in my veins.

"She was going to kill them," he says simply. "Her job was to kill the Scivola family."

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