Page 43 of Falcon's Prey

Diamond heiress showcases a new boyfriend.

The caption was enough to cause attention, but pictures did say a thousand words, andthatpicture was saying all the wrong things. It was the day of the board meeting when Ren had held me before he hailed a cab. I was in his arms, looking up at him with a smile on my face while he stared down at me.

Pathetic.

Weak.

Hopeful.

I gazed at him with stars in my eyes like he was my salvation. While he glared at me with hate in his eyes as if I was his damnation.

One thing I was sure of now was that Ren Falcon had to go.

Throwing my phone aside, I put on jeans and a T-shirt so I could run errands before tonight’s gala. Of all days for that picture to surface, it had to be today. I laughed to myself; it didn’t matter if my father was dead or alive, it wasn’t like he’d ever protected me anyway.

Some days you fucked the world, but most of the time, the world fucked you over, and today was one of those days. Putting my mother’s choker on, I held my head high before walking out of my room. I might be all broken pieces on the inside, but I’d be dammed if I let my cracks show. Fake it till you make it.

Ren was drinking bottled water while he checked his phone. He didn’t even look up when I walked down the stairs, and in a way that made me feel more foolish and stupid than I already was.

“I need to get a few things before tonight,” I said, and he looked up to stare at me.

His expression was blank, and he gave me a nod.

“Marcus will accompany me. You have the day off.”

His eyes flashed, and if I wasn’t looking at him, I might have missed it.

“Marcus is a pussy who wouldn’t know the first thing to do if someone tried to attack you.”

Maybe he expected me to throw a tantrum because that’s what desperate old me would have done. I didn’t answer; I shrugged and walked out. The elevator ride was quiet, and he kept looking at me while I ignored him and typed on my phone. We made it to the Maybach when he broke the silence.

“Are you planning to tell me where we are going, or am I supposed to guess? ’Cause if I have to pick what we do, you probably won’t like it.”

I finished typing my text and sent it. “I just sent you today’s itinerary.”

I didn’t look at him as I spoke, and I could feel his anger as I put the divider up. Did he honestly think I’d ever take yesterday’s defeat with my head bowed? There were parts of me the world did not see—hedid not see. Everyone only saw surface-deep and never dug into the wounds of others. No one ever saw the wounds I’d carried or the scars that had never healed. People saw what they wanted because that’s just how they dealt with unsavory events.

My unsavory event clung to me. I looked at my phone, and still radio silence on Silas’s part. My uncle. Once my lover. My blackmailer.

Who knew having friends made a difference in how you saw the world. Lilah was much like me—rich, spoiled, and alone. Except she wasn’t fucking her uncle. We talked about anything and everything, but I could never bring up Silas.

Then came Lexi and Aubrey, and with them, I learned more about what love and family meant. Maybe I knew it all along, and I didn’t want to see it, or I wanted to hurt my father like he had hurt me all these years, and taking his little stepbrother to bed was the easiest way. Fuck my hate into someone he considered his flesh.

Maybe I was just a victim, or I was a willing player in this filthy game. Well, it was time I ended it, because I didn’t want to do it anymore. I was tired of it, and to be frank, I was beyond angry with Silas. He said he loved me, yet he was okay with the board cutting me off during the holidays.

Daddy Dearest was on a trip to Africa; he didn’t have a clue. What did Silas do? Tell me I shouldn’t have mouthed off to the hand that fed me. What did I do? I fucked someone else since the first time we started our affair. Because it was an affair; the person we were hurting in the process was my father.

When I landed in the city, I’d taken a cab straight to Silas’s condo. I rode the elevator all the way up to his floor, feeling lighter—feeling free. It was early enough that I could do this. Break things off, then go home, get high, and forget about ever fucking him.

When I made it to his condo, I put the security code and let myself in. I wanted this done and over, and I didn’t think when I went in search of him. When I made it to his room, I felt nothing, and that right there should have clued me in on my feelings.

Silas was leaned against the headboard while some blonde bimbo sucked him off. I wasn’t jealous, nor hurt, I just felt stupid for going along with this in the first place.

“Hi, Uncle.” I smiled at him and waved.

He looked at me with a blank face. I turned around and walked to his office. I smiled to myself, feeling better because this was actually easier than I thought it would be. I was standing by his desk when Silas walked in with no shirt, his pants pulled up, but the zipper opened, revealing his happy trail. Well, happy for blondie who was in his room. Seriously, I felt such relief right now, knowing we were on the same page.

“I actually came here to talk—”

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