Page 25 of Cruel Secrets

I roll my eyes up, staring at the ceiling. “You’re so difficult. I wish we’d never met.”

“Great, so now you’re just going to ignore the problem and hope it goes away, right? I mean, why not? You’ve been doing that this entire time by just pretending that I don’t exist. May as well keep it up, Gia.”

The look of disgust in his eyes is one I don’t think I’ve seen from him before. It’s like a punch straight to the gut as he shakes his head.

“You’re no better than the rest of us,” he says, his words clipped. “You think that forging paintings is any less dangerous than what I do?”

“I’m not the one going out and killing people.”

“No.” He lets out a dark laugh, his hands tucking into the pockets of his sweatpants. “But you are the one who’s giving people a reason to kill you. At least my enemies are already dead.”

I bite the inside of my cheek, hating that he’s right.

Over the last several months, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to justify what I do and why I do it, but more often, I’m wondering when it’s going to put Bianca in danger.

Royce glances down the hallway as Bianca comes back toward us. “You’re going to be here for the foreseeable future.”

“You can’t just keep us here forever. You know that. I know that.”

“I never said forever.” He heads for the stairs, looking like the morning has taken ten years off his life. “Things wouldn’t be this way if you hadn’t lied to me, Gia. You’ve got nobody to blame but yourself.”

He cuts up another pancake for Bianca, like he’s always been here, like he belongs.

A vise wraps around my chest, squeezing it tight. He isn’t just integrating himself into her life—he’s pushing me out, and I can’t let that happen. Not this time.

CHAPTEREIGHT

GIA

Finally,some time to myself.

Peace is nothing but a fleeting illusion. I know that. Every moment without Bianca on my hip as she fights the urge to sleep feels wrong, like something is about to shatter.

And the worst part?

No matter where I go in the big house, Royce is lurking behind every door, every corner, reminding me that we are far from safe. I close Bianca’s door, easing out of the room and into the hallway. After waiting a moment to make sure that she isn’t going to wake up and start crying again, I start to explore the parts of the house I haven’t seen.

As I walk downstairs and through the hallway on the other side of the kitchen, I open some of the heavy, black-painted doors, looking inside at the rooms. There’s a study decorated in deep blues and warm golds, cozy suede furniture spread throughout.

Shutting the door, I cross the hall, pushing open another door to see a room stacked with books, a stunning antique desk with ornate and hand-carved legs on it.

The entire room smells like a used bookstore, even with the fresh air filtering through the open window.

I move to the desk, looking at the book spread open in the middle. It’s some children’s book with gilded pages and several stories inside.

Why would he be reading something like this?

For the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I start to wonder if maybe Royce did think about having children one day.

Royce appears in the doorway, his gaze dragging up and down my body, making me feel like I’m pinned in place. His comments from the other night when he walked in on me are running through my head on repeat.

It would be lying to say that there wasn’t a small part of me that was thrilled when he walked in. If it had been any less embarrassing, I might have asked him to join me.

For a night. One single night.

I won’t make the same mistakes twice with him.

Not when I have Bianca to think about.

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