My underwear soaked and my ego bruised.
I hated him for that, too.
Hated that he wielded this stupid power over me. Power I would be nothing but an idiot to submit to him.
I didn’t know if I wanted to flinch or lean into it when he lifted his hand and lightly fluttered his fingertips down the angle of my cheek.
The only thing I knew was my heart careened.
Battering hard and fast.
One brush of his hand, and he shifted everything into overdrive.
His sage eyes deepened a shade darker as they narrowed. “You should be afraid, Brinley. But not of me.”
I gulped around the razors in my throat. “Tell me what the hell is going on.”
Contemplation filled his gaze, and for a beat, his voice softened in regret. “Can’t let you in on that.”
Anger surged. Ire and disbelief.
This was such bullshit.
“All these secrets are driving me crazy.”
“Some things are better left unknown.”
Was he serious?
“At least be man enough to give me something. Am I here to fulfill my brother’s debt?”
I couldn’t even try to pinpoint exactly what it was that flashed through his expression, there were so many emotions that came all at once.
Repulsion and distaste and deep-seated fury.
And concern, maybe?
Or maybe I was just grasping at straws. Praying my captor wasn’t as vile as he appeared to be, the ridiculous urges he’d ignited in me warping my common sense.
Silas’s head barely shook, and the words ground from between his lips. “No, Brinley, this isn’t about money or debt. You’re here so I can protect you from the very fucking stupid decisions your brother has made.”
So many accusations were woven into that one sentence that I couldn’t make sense of them all.
The clear statement that Silas was making.
That my brother was bad to the core.
My chest tightened, and I heaved, “You’re a liar.”
He tipped his head in challenge. “Am I?”
I didn’t want to believe it. Didn’t want to accept what he was implying.
No, I didn’t have a whole lot to go on.
But it was enough to know after Silas’s actions last night and what he was saying this morning, plus the way Dereck had been acting, that things were much worse than I’d even imagined.
And believe me, my imagination was morbid.
