Page 18 of All The Darkest Truths (Second Sons Duet #2)

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I hiss, lowering my weapon. “Make some noise next time before you give me a heart attack.”

He doesn’t move, doesn’t flinch—just keeps watching me with that unnerving calm.

“Interesting surveillance angle you’ve got there,” he says evenly.

My stomach drops. There's no way to explain this away, no excuse that wouldn't sound pathetic. “It's not what it looks like.”

“Really?” Talon raises an eyebrow, stepping into my room and closing the door behind him. “Because it looks like you're watching our girlfriend get fucked while jerking off.”

Girlfriend? I’d never spent more than a few nights with my previous partners, so this is all new territory for me. Girlfriend does sound nice, though. Now is not the time to put a label on your relationship with Vesper, dumbass. Your hand is still on your softening cock.

I quickly remove my hand from my pants, fumbling to close the screen. “I heard a noise. Thought someone broke in.”

“And decided to watch the show instead of, I don't know, helping?” His voice remains even, which somehow makes it worse. Angry Talon, I can handle. This calm, measured Talon unnerves me.

“It wasn't like that,” I snap, though we both know it's bullshit. "I was checking security cameras when I saw?—"

“When you saw something private and decided to keep watching.” Talon moves closer. “And turned on the audio.”

I wipe my hand on my sweatpants, shame burning through me like acid. “Look, I fucked up, okay?”

“And couldn't help yourself.” Talon finishes, his voice dropping lower. “You know, if you wanted to join them, you could have just knocked."

I blink, thrown off by his response. “What?”

Talon's lips curve into something that's not quite a smile. “You think they'd mind? Hell, you think I mind? We're all dancing around each other. It might be easier to just have a meeting and schedule our time with her.”

My throat goes dry. “That's not?—”

“Not what? Not what you want?” He steps closer, invading my space. “I've seen how you look at her. It’s only a matter of time, Alex. It seems like anyone in her orbit can’t help wanting her. What was it you called it? Love square? Guess it’s a pentagon now.”

“I don’t—” I start, but the lie dies in my throat. There's no point. “Fuck.”

Is Talon right? Yes. Does it annoy me that not only has he caught me with my hand literally down my pants, but also my spying?

Fuck yes. Should I have checked the lock on my door?

Also, yes. Is he wrong about the four of us and the unhealthy obsession we have with the same woman?

No. But, despite all of that, it doesn’t change what he just walked in on.

Me, hands down my pants, getting off to Oz and Z fucking Vesper.

Talon moves closer, his footsteps silent on the hardwood floor. He glances at my desk—at the open feeds, the failed hacking attempts on Ricky's phone, the scattered evidence of my all-night obsession.

“How long have you had cameras in our rooms?” he asks quietly.

I swallow hard. "Since she moved in.”

“Does she know?”

“No one knows. It was just a precaution.”

Talon nods slowly, processing this information with that tactical mind of his. I brace for the explosion, the righteous anger, maybe even a fist to my face. I deserve it. But Talon just sighs. “You're a creep, you know that?”

“I'm aware,” I mutter, reaching over to shut down the camera's live view. The screens go blank, leaving only the glow of my coding programs running in the background. If there were fucked up boy scout badges, I’d have them all. I’d be the poster child for fucked in the head.

“So what happens now?” I ask, tension coiling in my muscles. “You going to tell them?”

Talon studies me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. “I should. It's the right thing to do.”

I nod, accepting my fate. Maybe Vesper will insist on a nice place for my body. View of the water or the server room of The Federal Reserve. Either would be nice. “I know.”

“But I'm not going to,” he says finally. “Not yet, anyway.”

My head snaps up. “Why the hell not?”

“Because we need you focused on finding The Collector and getting to Vesper's brother. This—” he gestures to my screens, “—would be a distraction we can't afford right now.”

I exhale slowly. “That's...surprisingly pragmatic of you.”

“Don't mistake practicality for forgiveness,” Talon says, his voice hardening. “What you did crosses a line. But we've all crossed lines for her already, haven't we?”

The truth of his words hits me like a physical blow. We have. All of us. Since the moment Vesper Rossi walked into our lives, we've been redrawing boundaries.

“The bedroom cameras come down,” Talon says. It’s not a suggestion, but a demand.

“First thing in the morning,” I agree.

Talon nods towards Ricky's phone, still connected to my computer. “Any luck with that?”

“Nothing,” I admit, grateful for the subject change. “When I tried to force it, it activated some kind of kill switch.”

"Someone went to a lot of trouble to protect him," Talon muses.

“Or to protect what he knew.”

Talon shifts, and for the first time, I notice he's holding something.

“That's actually why I came to find you. I woke up from a dead sleep. Guessing because I was being watched,” he side eyes me. “An idea popped in my head as I was going back to sleep, and it panned out. I logged into the e-mail account you made for my alter ego for Vesper’s auction and found this.”

He tosses an iPad onto my desk, narrowly missing my keyboard. I grab it before it slides off the edge, noticing an email already pulled up on the screen. The subject line reads: Exclusive Private Auction: Invitation Only .

“Holy shit.”

“Turns out we didn't need Ricky after all," Talon says with a grim smile. "He's coming to us. Or, well, my alter ego. They're having another auction. Online this time.”

I look up sharply. “How'd you get this?”

“Apparently, once you're a customer, you stay on the mailing list.”

I scroll through the email, taking in the details. The auction is scheduled for three days from now. A private, encrypted livestream event featuring ‘rare and exclusive merchandise.’ The euphemism makes my stomach turn.

“Keep reading,” he orders.

My blood runs cold when I read the item descriptions like it’s a menu at a Michelin Star restaurant.

“Prime acquisition. Male, 27, exceptional resilience, trained resistance. Warning, requires experienced handler. “

Too old to be Luca.

I scroll to the next listing. “Legacy package. Matched pair, superior genetics, limited availability.” I try to swallow my disgust. “They're selling siblings, Talon. Actual human siblings.”

“And this one,” Talon taps the screen, indicating the third listing. “Rare male specimen, early twenties, untouched condition,“ I read aloud, bile rising in my throat. “Exceptional bloodline. Jesus fucking Christ.”

“That's...” I can barely form the words. “That could be Luca.”

“That's what I thought, too,” Talon says grimly. “Age is right.

“Look at the starting bid.”

“Five million? That's?—"

“Three times higher than any other lot,” Talon finishes. “Just like Vesper.”

“This is our chance.” I stare at the screen, possibilities racing through my mind. “If we can access this auction…”

“We can find Luca,” Talon finishes, his expression hardening. “And maybe The Collector himself.”

I'm already typing, fingers flying across the keyboard as I pull up multiple windows. “I'll need to create a secure pathway. These auctions are heavily monitored. One wrong move and they'll know we're not legitimate buyers.”

“Can you get us in?” Talon asks, leaning closer to watch my screens.

“Give me three hours and enough caffeine, and I could hack into the Pentagon's most secure server,” I mutter, already deep in code. “But this is trickier. The Collector's tech guy will be good.”

“Better than you?” There's a hint of challenge in Talon's voice.

I shoot him a look. “Nobody's better than me.”

“Good because we’re counting on you.”

Talon nods. “We'll need to tell the others.”

“Not yet,” I say, my fingers already building the architecture for our digital infiltration. “Let me confirm it's viable first. No point getting Vesper's hopes up if we hit a dead end.”

“She deserves to know,” Talon counters, but there's hesitation in his voice.

“And she will. Once I've verified we can actually access the auction without getting flagged.” I glance at him, my expression hardening. “You want to explain to her why her brother slipped through our fingers because we rushed in unprepared?”

He exhales slowly, conceding the point. “Fine. How much time do you need?”

“I won’t know until I get into it and see what they’re working with. Hours, maybe half a day.”

“Deal. Then we bring everyone in.” Talon straightens, moving toward the door.

“Wait.” I hesitate, guilt gnawing at me again. “About what you saw...”

Talon pauses. “We all have our demons, Alex. Just make sure yours don't fuck this up for all of us. Especially for her. Take the fucking cameras down.”

“I will,” I promise, and Talon gives me one last hard look before he slips out of my room, closing the door behind him.

The moment he's gone, I drop my head into my hands, shame burning through me like acid. What the fuck is wrong with me? I've done some questionable shit in my life, but this...this is a new low.

“Fucking idiot,” I mutter, pushing away from my desk.

The code can wait fifteen minutes. I need to wash the shame off of me.