Page 50 of Betrayed By Sin

Bria leans forward, her voice low.“You have two choices, Mags. You can accept whatever your family has planned for you and hope for the best… or you can figure out the truth before it’s too late. I can accept whatever Sin is going to do and sit idly by. We can be the women everyone wants us to be while the men pull all the cards and strings from their tailored suits. Or we can retaliate.”

A lump forms in my throat.“And how exactly are we supposed to do that?”

She smirks, tilting her head.“You’re already in the perfect position, babe. You’re inside the Rusco estate. That means you have access to all their secrets.”

I narrow my eyes.“What are you saying?”

Bria shrugs.“I’m saying it’s time to stop being a pawn, Magnolia.”

She taps her nails against the table, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“It’s time to start playing your own game.”

ELEVEN

Bria’s advice haunts me for the rest of the day.

I try to push her words away, but they creep in, wrapping around my thoughts like vines, tangling everything up until I can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t.By the time I return home, I feel like I’m being pulled in two different directions, one where I accept what I saw at face value without questions and hope Sin isn’t planning something, and another where I let doubt settle in, whispering that nothing about last night was real.

I barely make it through dinner.

My mother watches metoo carefully, like she’s studying my every move, waiting for me to crack. She doesn’t push, but I feel her eyes on me, patient and expectant.Like she knows something changed.

Cameron, on the other hand, ismore talkative than usual.He goes on aboutbusiness deals, security shifts, things I should probably be paying attention too.But the words slip through my ears like water.

I can’t focus.

My phone chimes and I excuse myself to my room, jumping onto the soft comforter.

Bria: You figure out anything?

Magnolia: Nope. Just boring business talks. You?

Bria: Sin’s noticed I’ve been acting different. I went to his office when he wasn’t home and the blueprint was lying on the floor. He had drawn more stuff on it.

She sends a picture, and she’s right. He used a blue ink pin this time, drawing lines of exits from each room.

Magnolia: What is he up to?

Bria: Honestly, I think you need to talk to him. He’s been acting really edgy lately, like weird.

Magnolia: Example?

Bria:Yesterday, he snapped at one of his men for knocking too loud. Like,actuallysnapped, threw a glass at the wall and everything. He never loses control like that.

Magnolia: I’m too scared to ask him about it. What’s your opinion on it?

Bria: I think the blueprints aren’t about hurting your family I think they’re exit strategies to keep you safe. I think something is coming.

Magnolia: Ominous.

Bria: I know, but I know Sin and I’m telling you whatever it is he isn’t trying to hurt you.

The house is eerily silent by the time I step into the hall, the grand chandelier casting long shadows against the marble floors.

Axle stirs as I pass my bedroom,lifting his head from where he’s curled up on my bed.His ears perk up, his dark eyes watching me carefully.

I hesitate, my fingers tightening around the doorknob.He knows.