Page 35 of His Little Secret in Discretion

My hands dragged over my face in slow, painful realization.

As far as I was concerned, Brielle worked in a library. Nobody mentioned she taught dance, let alone that her niece took classes here. If they did, clearly I wasn’t listening.

So Brielle used to work with Maia. Now I’d gone and introduced myself to her niece. And that same niece? About to be shacking up with Kiki while Brielle plays PA.

Wouldn’t be a big deal if Killian were a sensible human being. But he wasn’t. And the second he found out I was still seeing Maia, I was done. Finished.

This is absolutely fucked.

“What’s wrong? Do you want a nickname too?” Delilah asked, tilting her head, genuinely sad for me.

I shook my head, sighing.Jesus Christ. Why am I spiraling? It’s not like I’ll ever see her again.

…Who am I kidding? With our luck, the odds of running into this kid just went from slim to guaranteed. She might not even remember my face or my name—

But she seems smart. Too smart.

“Delilah… can you keep a secret?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I can try.”

Great. Just fucking great.

“I know Killy and Bribri.”

“You do!” Her eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning.

“Yes. But they can’t know I came here to see my friend Maia.”

“Why not?” she asked, all wide-eyed curiosity.

I bit my lip. “We’re… not supposed to be friends right now.”

“Why not?”

This kid.I groaned internally. “It’s another secret, okay?”

“What’s in it for me?”

I narrowed my eyes. Yeah… a little too fucking smart. “Nothing. You’d just be doing me a favor.”

“Then I don’t know if I can keep a secret.”

I blinked at her. “How old are you?”

“Four.” She swung her feet happily.

Jesus Christ. Why am I negotiating with a preschooler?

“What do you even want for keeping the secret?”

“I can negotiate.”

“You don’t even know what that word means.”

She shrugged. “I heard it in a movie once.”

“You’re four.”