Page 124 of Thorns of Silence

I almost snorted. Almost. But I kept up my performance while studying him as if seeing him for the first time.

He looked as handsome as I remembered, albeit tired. He wore faded jeans and a black cashmere shirt, and he smelled like he’d recently taken a shower.Fresh and woodsy. His hair was styled and neat, ever the professional.

“Sir, I’m not sure what you mean,” I signed. “I would never fuck with you or any stranger. It’s unbecoming.”

His gaze was intense, danger emanating off him in waves and aiming daggers straight at my chest. Under the relaxed, unbothered facade hid a killer.

“Do you remember me?” He signed the question casually while I held my—our—daughter’s hand. The three of us, the way it should have been from the beginning.We would dance through life together.The words he’d given me five years ago danced in my mind.

His finger brushed over my cheek so tenderly I had to stifle a shudder. I tried to convince myself it was due to fear. If he found me, the Nikolaevs were bound to find us too. I had to get moving, and that realization snapped my spine straight. I didn’t want to get caught. I still had a number of things to show Skye, we had so many things to live for.

“No,” I lied, feigning surprise at his use of ASL. Let him suffer for a bit. “Your ASL is excellent.”

He eyed me suspiciously, as if debating whether to believe my act. “What happened to you?” he questioned.

I blinked innocently, giving him an Oscar-worthy performance. “I’m not sure what you mean, sir.”

He smirked. “You can call me Dante. After all, I’m your fiancé.”

This goddamned man and his boldness. I couldn’t decide whether I liked it or not. Definitely not. Except what should I do now? If I called him out on his lie, he’d know I faked my amnesia. If I went along with it… Well, that might not be such a terrible idea.

Dante could protect Skye and me from the Nikolaevs’ wrath. That whole bunch was mental. Let the maniacs battle it out with Dante.Ingenious.

“Really?” I even fluttered my lashes. Damn, I was good. “How can that be? I don’t remember you.” Then I lowered my eyes to my fingers. “And no ring.” I raised my hand up between us. “See, no ring.”

“I have the ring in my safe.” He sure had an answer for everything.

“But that would mean you haven’t asked me to marry you,” I pointed out, ensuring I wouldn’t glare at him when I really wanted to punch him in his beautiful face. The fucker arranged a marriage with my sister, and now he thought he could settle with me.

He smiled softly. “I did, and you said yes. We love each other very much.” Jesus, the man knew how to lie with a straight face. He brushed his thumb over my bottom lip gently, making my heart skip a beat. “I like you as a brunette better.”

“I like you dead better.” Shit, that came out without my permission, and I instantly regretted it. By now, it had become second nature to fight him. “It’s rude to criticize someone you barely know.” I tried to dig myself out of this shit. “And how do you know I’m actually a brunette?”

“You’re my fiancée, remember?” I shot him a glare.As if I could forget.“You and I will get married. It’s been a long time coming.”

Maybe this amnesia play wasn’t so smart. It was preventing me from letting out my rage.

His eyes lowered to Skye who eyed him warily. She’d endured too many changes over the last month. She needed stability, not psychotic Dante in her life. Although, hewasher biological father.

I shrugged. “This is my daughter.” I lowered my eyes to Skye and smiled reassuringly. “We’ve been traveling the world.” Except, we’d gotten too comfortable here. I pushed the thought away—I needed to stay on task. I shot him a bewildered look.“But you must know that already, being my fiancé and all.”

The look on Dante’s face was priceless. Shock. Disbelief. Back to shock. “She looks like you,” he remarked. I nodded, my chest constricting and making it difficult to breathe and keep up the ruse. I believed she had some of his traits too. “I’m not much for kids.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I’m not much for men, but here we are.” Goddammit. I had to do a better job of controlling myself. “Anyhow, as my fiancé, you’d know Skye and I are a package deal.”

Skye’s eyes were darting from him to me, and I worried she’d get a bout of whiplash. She tugged on my hand and I lowered my eyes. “Is he really your fiancé?”

I bit the inside of my cheek, wishing I could have some alone time to talk it through with her. “He claims so, but we shall see.”

Her delicate brows furrowed. “Would that make him my dad, or do I have another dad?”

Okay, it seemed I was digging myself in deep here. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth with Dante’s eyes on me.

“Let’s not worry about daddies right now,” I signed. It was the best I could come up with.

“Actually, let’s worry about them,” Dante butted in. Then his face became an unreadable mask, his nostrils the only betrayal of his fury. “Does your father know about Skye?” I shook my head. “Your sister?”

“No.”