Page 83 of Cruel Secrets

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

GIA

Aiden looksbetween the two of us, and if a glare could kill, I would be dead on the floor right now.

Skyla sighs and steps closer to her brother, her hands curling into fists. “You need to get your head out of your ass. Being the head of the family doesn’t mean you get to make unilateral decisions about what happens.”

Aiden scowls at her while I wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole. I should’ve worn something other than Royce’s shirt when I came down here, but I wasn’t thinking.

I assumed Skyla had just been yelling at Matt or her wound. I didn’t think anything of it other than getting down to her with something on so the world didn’t see my nipples.

This might be worse than everyone seeing my nipples.

If this ever happens again, I’m just going to come downstairs naked. It can’t be any more awkward than standing in front of a man who has been an enemy of my family for as long as I can remember in nothing but his brother’s shirt.

Skyla glances over her shoulder at me. “Cute outfit.”

That’s it.

I’m dying of mortification.

Royce snorts and steps between his siblings. “Now, if we’re done calling Aiden a bastard and questioning Gia’s lack of fashion sense, can you tell me what the hell you’re doing here?”

“You should’ve told me about the attack.” Aiden puts his hands on Royce’s chest, pushing him out of the way before glaring down at Skyla. “And then there’s you.”

She puffs up, looking like an angry kitten.

Who could skin me without flinching.

“And what about me?” Skyla asks, sarcasm and venom creating a deadly cocktail as it drips from her tone.

Aiden’s nostrils flare, the vein in the side of his neck bulging a little. “You have been nothing but a pain in my ass since this shit began, and all you seem to do these days is overstep.”

“Someone has to tell you when you’re pushing too hard, and since Sean isn’t here to do it right now, it looks like I’m going to be the one who has to.” Skyla’s lip twitches, her body tense.

The tension in the room is thick, feeling like it’s close to choking me as Aiden steps into Skyla’s space.

He stares at her, waiting for her to back down but she only stands taller.

“I’m tired of this shit, Skyla, and if you keep pulling it, I’m going to have to force my hand.”

She snorts. “That may work on your little peons, but you wouldn’t be anything without me, and we both know it. You don’t have the head for the money laundering that I do and without that, the empire would crumble beneath you, so don’t forget who the fuck you’re talking to.”

I lean closer to Royce, turning and standing on my toes to whisper in his ear. “Are the two of them going to kill each other?”

He shrugs, hands in his pockets, a cruel amusement shining in his eyes. “They get into this argument with each other at least once year.”

“And it always goes like this?”

“More or less. Sometimes someone ends up with a broken nose, but it’s usually Aiden when he pushes her too far.”

I stare at Aiden, wondering what caused this fight to begin with.

Did he suggest they kill me? Did he tell Skyla that the only way to get Noah to show his face was to make a point of killing me?

Swallowing hard, I try to calm the feeling of my stomach tossing and turning, even as the bile rises in the back of my throat.

If Aiden thought it would get Noah to show up, I think he would kill me. I think he would take his time doing it too. Make it painful, and I doubt it would end until Noah showed up.

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