Page 84 of His Trick

I looked at him, confused by his fucking riddles.

“You don’t even realize, do you?” Edmund said softly, his gaze finally dragging back to Carrington with a knowing leer. “You’re not just his crutch, Harding. This shield you chose. Using my son? You’ve always been part of this story.”

Ifelt it before I heard the words. The subtle shift in the air, the way Edmund’s gaze sharpened, like a predator circling closer.

I’m part of Shiloh’s story?

“He’s always been part of your story,” Edmund repeated, slow and deliberate.

I froze, my body so stiff, Shiloh noticed. He shifted, his stormy eyes searching for mine. Confusion flickered, and I couldn’t wrap my head around this game Edmund was playing.

I forced my shoulders back and folded my arms.

This dickhead wasn’t going to shake me. I smiled faintly, a casual, controlling leer matching his, but inside, my chest was tightening, and my stomach had turned in on itself.

Shiloh’s hand flexed on the edge of the table. I could see him bracing, trying not to snap, trying not to let Edmund read him like an open book.

My job as ‘whatever the fuck’ I was was to keep him tethered, keep him human, keep him from tearing the old man apart with his bare hands.

I took a slow breath.

“Ignore him, Shiloh,” I murmured, low, more hardness than comfort, my own discomfort surfacing in the shaky hint to my tone. “He’s baiting you. Trying to pull you into his game. We aren’t playing.”

Shiloh’s jaw twitched.

“He’s twisting everything,” he muttered, his voice tight and too rough.

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “That’s the point. Don’t give him the win.”

Edmund leaned forward slightly, his silver chains clinking, his dark eyes glinting like he’d found the string he could pull to unravel everything. “Ah, I see…you don’t even know, do you?”

Shiloh’s head shot toward me. “Know what?”

I clenched my fists under the table, forcing my jaw to stay tight.

What demon did Edmund drag from my closet?

Edmund’s smirk widened, a poisonous slow burn. “The truth is…some things you carry, you didn’t even choose. Some men, some jobs…they shape the world before the next generation even realizes it.”

I felt Shiloh’s tension spike and the slight tremor in his shoulder. I wanted to reach for him, grip his arm, and shake him awake, but I held back. He was too unstable, and without knowing Edmund’s angle, I didn’t have a way to comfort him.

“You’ve got questions,” Edmund continued, his deep tone deliberate, patient, oh so cruel. “Oh, I know you do. Butnot all questions are meant to be answered at once. Some answers…” He let the pause hang like a blade. “They destroy the messenger.”

I leaned closer to Shiloh.

“Breathe, Sunshine. Stay with me. Don’t let him see how deep this goes,” I said, making sure my voice was a whisper:

Shiloh swallowed hard. “I…fuck. I can’t…”

“Yes, you can,” I growled, low and controlled. “You have to. And I’ve got you. Always. Make this bastard shake.”

Edmund’s eyes flicked between us, sharp and fucking calculating, like he could smell the bond and wanted to sever it. He was toying with us, enjoying each uncertain glance of Shiloh as he looked between us. The bastard thought he had the advantage.

But I couldn’t let him break Shiloh.

That was my job.

I felt the weight of Edmund’s gaze like a physical force. Every move I made, every breath I drew, he was there, measuring me, judging each movement, and continuing to circle, looking for a weakness. He had Shiloh, and he clearly thought he had me.