Dark Secrets (Shadow Guild: The Rebel 3)

The truth of him was far more complicated, I’d come to learn.

The two bouncers at the door nodded in recognition. Both were shifters, members of the guild that handled security and protection details in town. One was a lion and the other a panther, if I recalled correctly. I returned the gesture, hurrying past them and into the small foyer of the Devil’s domain.

As usual, Miranda stood at the desk. She was dressed impeccably in her uniform of pencil skirt, blouse, and stilettos, her hair pulled back in a neat twist at the base of her neck.

Only the uninitiated would think that the beautiful banshee was just a hostess.

“You’re here to see him?” asked Grey’s right-hand woman.

“I am.”

She raised her comms charm to her lips and spoke into it, murmuring low. I could hear the faint echo of Grey’s voice as he answered her, but it was too quiet for me to make out.

She lowered the device and looked up at me. “I’ll take you.”

“Thanks.”

She gestured for me to follow her and strode down the hall, her tall heels clicking against the floor.

Somehow, I just knew she was the kind of woman who could run in those things. She could probably even blind a man with them, all without so much as slipping them off.

We passed by Grey’s nightclub. It was almost certainly a front for his illegal business dealings, but I was confident he didn’t do anything too ethically questionable. The Council held such tight control over Guild City’s magic that smuggling allowed Grey to make a fortune without dealing in people, weapons, or drugs, like so many human mobsters did.

Miranda passed Grey’s office and kept going toward his private quarters.

My brows rose. It was well into the workday already, but he was seeing me in his living space?

As always, I wanted to ask Miranda more about Grey. There was so much that I didn’t know about my Cursed Mate.

But I’d be a fool to ask.

She’d never betray him, not with so much as a morsel of information.

She stopped outside of Grey’s chambers and rapped on the door.

A moment later, it swung open. Grey’s tall form filled the doorway, and he was so handsome that he nearly burned my eyes. As usual, he wore one of his impeccable suits. He looked like a spy right out of a James Bond film in the elegant apparel. His sharp cheekbones and strong jaw were highlighted by a faint stream of light coming from the window, but it was his full lips that drew and held my gaze.

“Thank you, Miranda.” His low voice feathered over my nerve endings.

Miranda nodded and disappeared silently. I met his icy gray gaze. It warmed slightly at the sight of me.

“Grey.”

“Carrow.” He gestured for me to enter. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I’m not sure it’s going to be a pleasure.”

“Any time spent with you is, regardless of the circumstances.”

“Um…” I didn't know what to say in response to his smoothness.

I stepped into the main living room, struck again by how pristine and perfect it was. It was austere, yes, but so was he. At least on the outside. Like him, the space was gorgeous. An enormous glass window provided a view of a moonlit beach. Massive waves crashed on a rocky shore, the pale light making them sparkle like diamonds. It was magic, but it looked real. Through the bedroom door, I could see a sliver of the grand piano that sat in the corner.

The lid was up, as if he’d recently been playing.

It hadn’t been up last time. Then, the piano had looked untouched for years. Centuries, maybe. The thin layer of dust on it and the air of neglect had been hard to miss.

“Have you been playing the piano?” I hoped so. If he had been, I liked to think it was because of me, an indicator that he cared about me.