Page 55 of Unspoken Promises

My throat strains to breathe through feelings of both anger and disappointment.

It’s too late to turn back and change things. I’ll deal with being accountable to myself later. Right now? I’m not leaving this conversation until Enzo confesses because he lied to me. I feel it in my bones.

I deserve the truth. I need to know if he thinks I deserve it, too.

“Well?” The word comes out sharp as a dagger. I don’t bother hiding the accusation in my tone.

“It’s complicated, Scottie…”

“Oh, now you think you can soften me up with that cute nickname? Who are you? Santi?”

Just then, Penelope puts her hand on my arm. “You two, okay?”

She darts her gaze to Enzo whose jaw is clenched.

She squeezes my tensed muscles. “Clearly not.”

Next thing I know, she’s ushering me and Enzo out of the room. “You two need to solve this somewhere else…” She opens a door, flicks on a light, and shoves us inside. “Have some privacy.”

19

The door closes behind us.We’re in the “perks” department. All around us are shelves of adult toys. I stand next to a clothing rack with skimpy lace things hanging from it that just last night I might have imagined Ava wearing, but now, she glares at me like I shouldn’t even dare think about it in my wildest dreams.

I fucked up out there. I’ve become more and more comfortable with Ava. I let my guard down, and she’s too damn smart for me to make mistakes. Nothing slips past her. I love it. But she’s about to make me pay for what she already knows. I did know about that hack.

I lied to her. And it wasn’t evenby omission. When she told me about the third Mexico hack she discovered, I full-on pretended it was the first I’d heard of it. I had noble reasons and agreed not to tell her with Rio, but good intentions don’t transform fiction to reality.

I still haven’t admitted it, and my mind reels. My need to be honest with her and take some accountability clashes with my commitment to Rio. It’s paralyzing.

She crosses her arms again, breasts pushing up nice and high, nearly tumbling out of the low-cut top.

“How did you know it was Ensenada?”

“Makes sense, doesn’t it?” Even I hear how lame my response is.

It doesn’tmake sense.It might have made sense if I’d asked more questions first, as she rightfully pointed out. She’s too sharp, and it’s clear by her raging body language, her flushed cheeks, and the accusation in her gaze she’s just waiting for me to plead guilty.

That, I can handle. I’ve fucked up in life before.

But in her amber eyes is something I wasn’t prepared to deal with— betrayal.

My heartbeat quickens.

The last thing I’d want to do is break what’s been building. All I want to do is find an explanation to why I assumed the location of the hack that won’t hurt her. One that can somehow be the truth and at the same time not shatter my word to Rio. But I can’t because there is no gray area here. She asked me if I knew about the hacks. The answer is yes.

I’m not exactly proud of the path I’ve taken, but at the same time, is she? I’ve been just as confused about where we stand. One minute she’s hell-bent on paying it forward, the next, she’s giving me enigmatic clues about her past, and I know she needs something from me. The woman is in danger, and by now, after seeing the man I am, even simplyknowing what I fucking do for a living, she can’t just tell me why she’s in danger?

Maybe it’s about goddamn time this comes to a head.

She’s not the only one who wants the truth.

She cranks up her volume a notch, coaxing me to admit I knew about those hacks.

“I’ve been given access to years of data at GhostEye, Enzo. You have no idea the time period of the hack I was talking about. You should have asked questions first, and the fact that you didn’t speaks volumes. I’m not stupid…”

“I never called you stupid.”

“Then stop treating me like I am!” She paces the wooden floor in front of a shelf filled with vibrators and throws a hand up. “I actually thought we were getting past this.”

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