Black Truth, White Lies (Black Hat Bureau 3)

A chill swept up my spine to even ask, “Do you think I should set up a meeting with him?”

As much as I hated to give him what he wanted, I didn’t want him to escalate until someone got hurt.

Worse than the handsy, or un-handsy, as it were, vampire.

“I do.” He hesitated until I prompted him by stealing a walnut off his plate. “I also think if you’re going to pit you and Ace against the world, then Ace needs to know.” He smacked my hand. “Everything.”

About me, about my parents, and about my grandfather. Until he knew that, he couldn’t know the rest.

That the sanctuary was tied to my family, and maybe to me, in some way that might change everything.

“I need to tell him.” I dreaded it, but he deserved to know. “I don’t want to change how he sees me.”

“Do you think for one hot second that Ace will care who your grandfather is? Who your father was?” He sprinkled chopped nuts into his batter. “His father is a king. He’s used to dealing with uppity types that think they own the world and everything in it.” He poured the batter. “What’s really got you worried? There has to be more.”

“No one knows me, the real me, except you. I have a lot of baggage to unpack.”

In so many ways, the woman Colby knew as Rue was born the same night she died.

“He told you who he was, and you didn’t blink. Give him the same opportunity.”

“What if he does? Blink, I mean?”

I had done horrific things in my life. That I had done them under many names didn’t erase the fact I was responsible for my actions. So much of what Asa did, he did to stay alive. I couldn’t fall back on that. There was a survival element, sure, but I had also been a huntress. I enjoyed the kill.

And the feasting, the gorging, afterward.

“Then he’s not the man either of us thought he was, and he’s not worthy of you.”

Bumping his shoulder with mine, I attempted levity. “I would miss his hair.”

“So would he.” Clay’s big-brother instincts kicked in. “I would drug him and then shave his head.”

Walking to the cooler, I grabbed small cartons of milk and orange juice. “And use the hair for a wig?”

“Only if you promise not to get weird about it. I don’t want you following me around, touching it.”

We both broke into laughter that helped ease the tightness in my chest.

Once Clay finished stacking waffles—two for Asa, eight for him, none for me—we trudged upstairs.

The meal was quiet, scraping forks and clacking spoons, and no one looked at anyone.

Busy shredding a napkin into tiny squares, I left Asa to eat without assistance for once.

All too soon, Clay invented a reason to get something from the SUV with Colby, leaving me with Asa.

“You’re upset.” He read me with ease. “Was I wrong to speak to those agents on your behalf?”

“What?” I caught up to his meaning a heartbeat later. “No, that was fine. Thanks, actually.”

“What’s the matter?” He kept his distance. “Did I do something?”

“No.”I tipped back my head. “I’m doing this wrong.”

“Are you…breaking up with me?”

“You’re not getting away that easy.”