Page 136 of Dangerous Men

I force myself to look away before I’m too tempted. Sydney doesn’t need that from me right now. What she needs is her space. She needs time to process.

If you hold something precious too tightly, you’re liable to break it.

After a long pause, Sydney finally speaks. “You wanted to talk, Alec. So… talk.”

Where do I even fucking begin? I take a deep, steadying breath. “I care about you, Sydney. Deeply. And I?—"

“Maybe I should talk instead,” Sydney interrupts. Her eyes burn when they meet mine. “Because right now, I’m not sure Itrust you, Alec. Or anything you say to me. Not when you keep lying to me.”

“No.” I shake my head, vehemently denying it. “I have never lied to you, Sydney. Not once. Not ever.”

“You have,” she insists. “Lies of omission arestilllies, Alec. And you’ve been lying since the first day we met. About your name. About who you are. Lying to me about your brothers.”

“Darling—”

“I want the truth, Alec,” Sydney says in a hard voice. “I want your full honesty, with no more lies. If you can’t give that to me, if you can’tpromiseme that, then what we have together? It’s not going to work.”

I hold her gaze and know she means it.

“I only wanted to protect you,” I say, hoping she can hear the truth in my voice. “I didn’t want to scare you away, before…”

Before I could convince you to love me,I almost say.

Sydney shakes her head, jaw tight. “You don’t get to make those choices for me. You don’t get to lie to me and pretend you know best.”

You would have left,I want to argue.If you knew everything, you never would have stayed.But I don’t say that to her. I hold my hands up, palms out, in defeat.

“No more lies,” I promise. “Whatever you want to know, darling, it’s yours.”

“Why did you keep Viper from me?” she asks.

There are so many reasons, many of them stained in blood. But if she wants the truth, here is as good a place to start as any.

“I didn’t want to scare you,” I tell her. “And I … I didn’t want him to hurt you.”

It’s an effort not to look at the wound on her lip as I say it. At the cuts on her hand.

“Because he hurts people?” Sydney asks. “Because he’s dangerous?”

I nod.

“Sebastian told me you’re all dangerous.” Her voice drops as she says it, her gaze falling to the carpet. She wraps her arms around herself in a defensive hug, clutching her elbows. “All of you.”

It’s not until she looks up at me, expectant, that I realize it’s a question.

“Anyone can be dangerous under the right circumstances,” I say carefully.

“That’s not—” Sydney shakes her head angrily. “Honesty, Alec! For once, just be honest with me!”

I’m going to lose her. My heart feels like it’s gripped in a vise as that realization sets in. I might have already lost her.

“We are.” My voice is so soft even I barely hear it. “Sebastian told you the truth.”

She swallows hard.

“Do you hurt people?” she asks.

“Sydney—”