Page 41 of A Game of Secrets

Cole sits up now as I've gained his full attention at the mention of Lucille. "For fuck sake Linc, let it go, she's perfect for us. There's nothing else to it. Yeah Max Costello may be her brother but I'm willing to look past that once she's screaming my name," he snaps, locking his eyes on mine a savage grin pulled up at his lips.

"She's married," I say, my voice calm and lacking any emotion.

Silas’ face goes hard, his jaw visibly tensing beneath his skin and his eyes grow dark. "What the fuck do you mean she's married!?" he demands, standing in full form and stepping towards me.

"She is married. His name is Vincent Holland, lives in Seattle, 32 years old, he's an absolute piece of shit with an extensive record." I take a breath studying my brother’s faces before me, Silas visibly full of rage while Cole still appears calm and collected but I know him better than he knows himself, I can read his tells, and under the surface I can see the violence burning in his eyes.

"He's the boy’s father. The birth certificate was doctored, that's why we hadn't noticed it before. Must have been Max's doing. There is no record I can find of a marriage certificate but she is marked as spouse on more than one of his previous police records. They wouldn't accept it if there wasn't proof."

"SO WHERE IS THE PROOF!?" Silas shouts, slamming his fists into his desk.

"The marriage certificate is nowhere to be found brother, probably Max's doing again if he was the one to falsify Teddy's birth certificate, but she has his last name, there is no denying it."

I pause for a second and swallow the anger rising inside of me. "He has no idea about the boy," I say, ignoring Cole who is now pacing the room flicking his knife back and forth between his fingers, anger rolling off him in waves. I throw back the rest of my drink and suck through my teeth as the burn hits my throat.

"I think she ran," I say, not wanting to admit what I know would have been the likely cause for her leaving. "Actually, if his past record is anything to go by, I know that’s what she did. She would never want him to find out about her being pregnant with his child and got scared he would after she'd put him on the birth certificate, and I bet that’s why she got her brother to amend the document."

"IF HE HAS LAID A FUCKING HAND ON HER I WILL KILL HIM!" Silas roars, his eyes black with hatred and the venom in his voice sharp enough to cut glass.

"He will burn," Cole adds, gripping the blade of his knife so tight that I can see the blood seeping through his fingers.

"I’ll send his file to you both, everything I can find."

"Good." Silas cuts in then turning to Cole says, "Don't get blood on my fucking carpet Cole!" he seethes. "Go, both of you, I need to fucking think."

Looking at Cole I tilt my chin towards the door and swing my arm out in front of me. "Come on, I'll get you a fucking bandage from behind the bar."

Cole doesn't say a word as we turn to leave. We are stopped in our tracks as Silas calls behind us. "Not a word to anybody, Luci is not to know we know," he says, face stern and full of execution. We both nod at our instructions then leave as he pounds his fists into his desk again and swipes the entirety of his desk across the room causing me to cringe. I know this is going to eat him up inside.

I drag Cole out of the room and leave him on a stool as I go round the bar and grab the first aid kit. It’s there incase of emergencies or if any of the girls sustain any superficial injuries during their sets. I glance around, praying Roxi doesn’t try to push her luck again because I’m pretty sure Cole might put her head through the bar if she does but thankfully she is nowhere to be seen. Feeling a little relieved at that, I reach for Cole’s hand and apply pressure to the self-inflicted laceration across the palm of his hand, cussing him for being such a reckless idiot.

After subduing the bleeding, I wrap a bandage tightly around the rest of his hand causing him to grunt.

“Fucking wish it was Topolino wrapping me up instead of you, you ugly fuck.”

I huff out a low laugh and throw a punch at his stomach. “Yeah well shut up and put up you fucking idiot cause I’m the best you’ve got for now.”

Cole stills for a moment before grabbing the sleeve of my sweatshirt. “Do you think she loves him, Brother?” he asks, looking up at me, his face full of sorrow and desperation making him look much younger than his years. Fuck, the poor kid, he’s got it bad.

“No Brother, otherwise she wouldn’t have ran.”

His hand grips tighter onto my sleeve as his brows furrow. “She might have run for the boy, doesn’t mean she doesn’t love him.”

I pull away and shake my head. “All this talk of love boy, I’m starting to think you’ve gone soft.”

He jerks at this and pushes me hard in the chest, wincing at his injured hand. “Fuck off!” he seethes, standing up from his stool. “It doesn’t matter anyway, I’ll fucking kill him regardless.” He turns and walks towards the front door and I start to follow. Not before I kill him first, Brother.

Chapter 23

Roxi

Spinning and twirling around the pole for hours on end is tiring. I'm ready to clock off for the night, so I make my way to the boss's office to let him know I'm done. As I approach, I hear talking on the other side. I lean in close to listen to what’s being said to see if there’s any juicy gossip I can take advantage of.

"Look, Max is her brother, that's the only secret she's hiding. Try not to let this consume you, OK? I'll see you later, I've gotta run through these numbers before I finish for the night."

I move away from the door quickly before someone catches me and make my way back to the changing room lost in thought. I know that name but I can’t think where….Max? As in Max Costello? No, surely not! Oh this is juicy and I know exactly who will have a field day with this information, Theo Rossi.

Theo absolutely hates the Irish gang. He has had a personal feud with them for years. He could take Max out and maybe I can convince him to get rid of that blonde bitch too. Ever since Lucille showed up, Cole won't even look at me, he’s obsessed with histopolino, yuck! He never gave me a nickname. I always felt powerful knowing I was his favorite girl and now I'm nothing to him.

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