Secret (Betrothed #9) - Penelope Sky Page 0,13

started entering the totals into his laptop.

I continued to carry the heavy bags inside before I took the counted bills and organized them in the enormous vault.

“You think Damien will comply next time we see him?”

I kept working, my muscles tight from all the heavy lifting. “Yes.” That piece of shit was making my life difficult, and I didn’t know what to do. If he pulled a stunt again and I didn’t kill him, I would really be in trouble.

“He better. Or you’re gonna have to shoot him in the head. Why don’t you just do that?”

“He makes us too much money.”

Steel shrugged. “It’s not that much.”

We kept working, spending over an hour taking care of the accounting before we locked the safe door and walked out. We moved down the hallway and entered the main hall, where the men were gathered.

Vox sat there alone, watching me from his place at the table. The look he gave me was different from before, far more sinister, like he was pissed off just to look at my face.

I may have to kill one of my own…and very soon.

Four

Catalina

After our performance, we all went out on the town, hitting up a bar and ordering rounds of drinks. I didn’t text Heath because I didn’t want to be one of those women who needed her man at her side every moment of the day.

But I definitely wasn’t having fun.

Nights like these were the kind I used to live for, to let my hair down and have a good time. But now I saw my friends flirt with guys, get free drinks, and knew their nights would never end up the way mine did.

With a man like Heath.

Sometimes guys hit on me, bought me a drink, but I was quick to tell them I was seeing someone.

And I wasn’t interested anyway.

Men I once found attractive were now repulsive. I couldn’t believe the guys I’d already slept with; they looked like boys in comparison. Now I sat there alone, my friends involved with their guys, so I was forgotten.

I sipped my cosmo, debating whether I should throw in the towel and go home.

Bars seemed pointless when I wasn’t single.

A guy came to my table, a good-looking guy who probably would have scored my phone number if I weren’t already seeing someone. He didn’t buy me a drink, but he sat beside me and made conversation. “Are you unavailable? I can’t imagine any other reason for you to be sitting here alone.”

“You guessed right.” I drank from my glass, bored out of my mind.

“Well, he’s not here, right?” He gave me a playful smile.

Heath and I weren’t in a typical romantic relationship, but we were physically committed to each other, and the idea of being with someone else, even if I could get away with it, disgusted me. It felt so wrong, so bad, that it made me physically sick. I raised my hand and gave a flick of my wrist. “I’m not interested.”

“Oh, come on.” He relaxed in the chair. “I’m just trying to break the ice.”

“If you don’t leave, I’ll break your face.” I stared him down so he knew I wasn’t joking.

He rolled his eyes and vacated the chair. “Nice talking to you…”

My phone lit up with a message. Where are you?

My heartbeat immediately quickened when I saw his name on my screen, heard his deep voice in my head. Instead of being defiant, I gave a straight answer. At a bar with the girls.

A lot of guys must be buying you drinks.

Unfortunately.

I’ll join you.

Even if he was here, I still didn’t want to sit there, surrounded by people who had no idea what we had. No. I’m gonna leave.

Because you really hate being seen with me that much?

Reading the text hurt because it was so inaccurate. No. Because I’ve been miserable this entire time…because you aren’t here.

I walked in the door and spotted him on the couch, already stripped down to his boxers. The TV was on, but his eyes immediately left the screen once I walked inside. He grabbed the remote and hit the button without looking at it before he rose to his feet.

I looked him up and down, having no idea how I’d ever picked up a guy at the bar in the first place. Why would I go out when this man was waiting for me? I tossed my clutch aside as he came closer to me.

He stopped in front of me and looked into my face. “Have a