Page 61 of Villainous Intent

“No!” I said too quickly. “Please don’t bother him.”

“Annie, you look like you’re about to snap from tension. What kind of man works his daughter to the breaking point, even on her days off?”

I flinched. My relationship to Havoc wasn’t exactly public knowledge. Dawn only knew because she was the one person I trusted with my life.

But she wasn’t the only person listening anymore.

“Dawn, I’m fine,” I said. “Havoc has nothing to do with this. I just didn’t sleep well.”

Dawn’s expression softened, but the concern remained. “If you say so.”

I watched her retreat down the hallway, trying to ignore the weight of the secret she had just exposed.

I closed the door and leaned my forehead against the wood. I needed a second, just one second to compose my face before I turned around to face the intruder.

“Daddy’s girl,” he whispered right beside my ear.

I clamped my hand over my mouth to stifle my scream and spun around.

Cipher had flipped upside down, his face inches from mine. His black hair hung down like a dark curtain.

“Dad is your boss?” he asked. “How cozy, Keeper.”

I bared my teeth and shoved at his chest. He didn’t move an inch.

“Back off.”

He didn’t move so I had to skirt around him to put space between us.

“Get down,” I tried again.

He let gravity reclaim him, dropping to the ground and landing soundlessly on his feet.

“So the great Havoc is your daddy,” he continued. He began to circle me slowly. “I knew you were his pet Keeper. I didn’t know you were his heart. Same eye color, too.” He stopped in front of me and his hand shot out, gripping my chin before I could step away. “I’d assumed that was power bleed. But it’s not, is it?”

My eyes. Havoc’s eyes.

I couldn’t remember what color they’d been before. For as long as I could remember, it was his blue staring back at me from the mirror. Whatever I’d had before that was just gone.

“We’re not biologically related,” I said, my voice tight. “And it’s none of your business.”

“Oh, but it is.” His thumb stroked my jawline. “The Alliance and League want us to look cozy for the cameras. Shouldn’t I know about your family connections?’”

“There’s nothing to know.”

“Your roommate seems to think otherwise. If he’s not your father, what did she mean by calling you his daughter?”

I clenched my jaw. “I was his ward.”

“And before that?”

“Before that is none of your business,” I said firmly. “Get out of my apartment.”

“Why were you made his ward?” he asked. He ignored my command, he ignored my boundaries. He just kept digging.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” I let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. “There are only two reasons children typically become wards of the state, Cipher. Their parents are unfit. Or dead. So which flavor of tragedy are you looking for?” I demanded. “Do you want to know if they beat me? Or do you want to know if they died?”

I stared at the black mask. I couldn’t see his eyes which meant I couldn’t see if he was mocking me or if he was calculating how to use this against me. I was being interrogated by a void and I couldn’t stand it. I needed to see if there was a man behind the monster or if I was just screaming at a machine.