Page 21 of Vows of Silence

“Used to. Used to go back. Our families stopped being friends decades ago, and you know it.”

“And you know I’m trying to make the Carbones what they once were. I’m trying to leave a legacy behind. I—”

“You saw the Vescari name, the money, the reach, and you spread your legs for him like a desperate little whore.”

My father inhaled sharply. “Watch your mouth in my house.”

“Your house?” Rafael scoffed. “You’re an even bigger fool than I thought if you still believe any of this remains yours. Did you think that pretty daughter of yours was payment enough? Do you have any idea the amount of money that Adrien shifts on a day-to-day basis?” Rafael laughed his disgusting laugh once more. “Granted, your daughter is pretty. But she’s not half a billion dollars a week pretty.”

Half a billion dollars…

What the fuck had my dad got himself into?

Silas still had not moved.

Not once.

At least Rafael was alive in an obvious way. He was fury and age and violence wrapped in an expensive suit. Silas was nothing. No sound. No movement. No breath that I could hear.

Just presence.

And that presence made me sick to my stomach far more than the elderly men discussing my future and fate. My hands tightened around the papers, and one corner crinkled softly.

Silas’s head turned.

I didn’t see the movement fully. Not at first. I saw it in the window, that flash of silver shifting from the desk to the couch.

To me.

Every muscle in my body locked.

No.

No, no, no.

The mask was looking directly at me.

Not near me. Not around me. Not vaguely in my direction.

At me.

I felt it like a hand closing around my throat.

My vision blurred at the edges, and I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood for the second time in as many days. If he exposed me, I was finished. My dad would know I had broken into his office. Rafael Falcone would know I had heard everything. And Silas…

I didn’t know what Silas would do.

That was the most terrifying part.

I saw his head cock to the side in the window, and I had to fight with every ounce of strength I possessed not to throw up all over his expensive shoes.

He was just staring. That unnerving, frightening silver mask cocked in my direction, glaring into my soul.

My eyes stung. How the hell was I supposed to breathe when Silas Falcone was staring straight through the couch like he could see my bones?

But I did it anyway. Slowly. Silently. In through my nose. Out through my mouth. The way Luca had taught me when nightmares used to drag me awake after my eighteenth birthday.

The mask remained fixed on me for one more endless second.