Page 33 of Twisted Lies 3
“Well, that’s a fucking shame.” She shifted from one foot to the other before swaying across the room. She climbed onto my king-size bed and slid under the sheets. “By the way, thank you for letting me stay here.” She yawned. “And don’t worry. I’m not moving in.” She smiled impishly.
I shrugged. “I’m not worried about it.” Walking over to the bed, I sat on the edge beside her.
Reclining back, she swallowed hard. “I feel stupid for saying this.” She peered at me from under her long eyelashes. “But I was fucking scared shitless about being in my townhouse after—”
“Sin, stop torturing yourself. It’s natural to feel that way.” I handed her the glass in my hand. “Drink this. It’s brandy.”
Her long-fingered hands wrapped around the glass. Her gaze clouded, going distant. “I guess I wouldn’t feel as creeped out about the intruder if something of value was actually stolen.” Her face turned sullen. “Why would someone want an old ledger?” she muttered under her breath.
“What ledger?” I queried in a deliberately neutral voice.
She drew her brows together. “What?”
I stroked her hair. “You just mentioned something about a ledger.”
She took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “A couple weeks ago, I found a ledger stashed under a secret compartment in my father’s ratty trunk. But nothing in the damn thing made a bit of sense. It was only random handwritten codes and numbers—essentially gibberish. The thing is—” she bit her bottom lip “—my father was an accountant, unglamorous and boring. So I can’t figure out why he would even want to hide something like that.”
Fuck. This shit was getting complicated.“Can’t you ask your mother?”
Sin blinked her eyes rapidly. “Grace? Not a chance in hell. We don’t talk.”
She rubbed her brow as if to ward off a headache. Her pinched expression told me that matter was off-limits.
“Core, I’m sorry for snapping at you, but the topic of Grace isn’t something I like to talk about.” She sighed heavily. “Just put it this way, I cut her out of my life for a reason.” One hand almost curled into a fist and then straightened. “Are you close to your mother?”
My muscles tensed slightly. “She died when I was young.”
She gasped. “Oh God, I’m sorry.”
There was a heaviness in the pit of my stomach. “It’s not a subject I enjoy talking about.”
She bowed her spine. “Believe me. I understand.” She glanced away, then back.
Caressing her leg, I decided it would be better to change the subject quickly. “I’ll have a couple of my investigators work on the break-in first thing today.”
She inclined her head. “You don’t have to do that. Talbot’s got the case.”
I pinned her in place with my steady gaze. “I would feel better if I conducted an independent investigation.”
She took a large gulp of the brandy. “God, I feel absolutely nauseous about starting my collection all over again. All that work . . . gone.” Her voice cracked.
I stroked her cheek. “You don’t have to do it all by yourself. Whatever you need, I’ll take care of it.”
Placing her glass on the nightstand, Sin grabbed my face between her hands. “Thank you, Core.” Her fingers shook. She jerked them away. She closed her eyes, her long, thick lashes fanning down on the glowing skin of her face.
“Sin,” I demanded, lifting her face with my forefinger, “what’s wrong?”
Within the expression on her gorgeous face, there was definitely something complicated.
She fluttered her eyelids half open, revealing the startling beauty of her eyes. “You don’t know how much this means to me—you being here for me.”
My heart jerked at the vulnerability and truth laid out in her words. I knew then that I would cut off my own arm before I’d ever let anyone harm her. “I always protect what I care for.”
“Core, you’re more of an enigma than I thought.” She leaned in, tracing a finger along the light scar on my cheek and then farther up onto the jagged scar running across my eyebrow. “What are these from? A wicked bar fight?”
“Bad memories. Demons from my past that shaped the person I am today.”
She curled her lips up into a slight smile. “Maybe someday you’ll reveal the Core within.”
