Page 14 of Ugly Truths (The Veiled Truths Trilogy #2)

Silas

I ’ve lasted in this room longer than I expected. Seeing Elena cleaned up had eased some of the lingering guilt, but it did nothing to cool the fury burning through me since my visit to Luis’s holding room.

Cillian really did a number on him. Luis was still tied to a chair—silly me for forgetting to instruct the team to make him more comfortable. It must have slipped my mind.

His face was a mess of deep purple bruises, his arms marked with nicks and gashes.

There was even a raw indentation around his pinky and thumb where Cillian had threatened to sever them with an industrial-grade crimper.

Still, the bastard hadn’t lost all hope.

There was fight left in his eyes when I walked in.

His first mistake was demanding to know where Elena was. As if he had a right. As if anyone but me had a right.

The way he cares for her was written all over his stupid, battered face, and he still had the nerve to deny any relationship between them. I only started to believe it when I asked if it was unrequited love. His glare told me everything.

The twisted satisfaction I felt from that was something I wasn’t ready to unpack.

I only visited to inform him of the deal Elena struck with Davey and that I’d return after she and Natalie spoke to discuss the conditions of his release. The entire interaction was forgettable. Except for his parting words.

“You’re a sick fuck, you know that?” Luis spat, lunging forward as far as the ropes allowed, dried blood splitting on his skin. “If you’re in here pressing me, you haven’t even asked her. She tore herself to pieces trying to protect you and your sister.”

With a bitter laugh, he looked me dead in the eyes. “You don’t deserve El. You never have. I hope to God she sees that now that you’ve done this to her.”

I blink, forcing Luis’s words from my mind, but they linger like a splinter beneath the skin.

El.

The way he said the nickname grates on me. It was so casual. Intimate.

I should’ve told Cillian to slit his throat and be done with it. I still could, but there’s more work to be done, and whether I like it or not, I need him. So he’ll be fed, given medical attention, and kept in one piece. No matter how much I want to feel the life drain from his body.

I inhale slowly through my nose, relaxing my jaw.

Natalie is leaning back in her chair now, arms folded across her chest as she probes Elena with questions. She’s keeping them about their friendship, which is what Davey and I expected. Still, I underestimated my sister. She’s handling this better than I anticipated.

I should give her more credit. Nat’s always been the most resilient out of all of us.

The few answers Elena gave about her childhood align with the information my team has found. It should be reassuring, but she’s smart enough to know there’s no hiding those details. What a convenient way to try to lull us into a false sense of security.

Without warning, Natalie’s questions shift. “Why did you come to Chicago?” Her words are sharp, and I expect hesitation, but Elena doesn’t flinch. “What were you looking for? ”

The questions I was close to choking out of my ex just two days ago sit heavy between them, but Elena steadies her back against the wall, straightening her legs out in front of her.

Without thinking, I lean forward, elbows on my thighs. Beside me, Davey straightens up, crossing one ankle over the opposite knee. Our slight movement has Elena’s eyes flicking toward us for only a second before landing back on my sister.

The way Elena speaks is as if she’s rehearsed this story a hundred times in her head before saying it aloud.

Maybe she has. She tells Natalie how she found her handler, Peter Lynch, when she was desperate in college.

The jobs seemed harmless at first, and the money kept her afloat; however, before she knew it, she was trapped and blackmailed into compliance with no way out.

There’s something she isn’t saying. She pushes past certain details too quickly, fidgeting with her hands as if she’s trying to prevent herself from spilling another truth. Before I can demand an explanation, she moves on.

“This past winter, I was told to breach your cloud,” she says.

“Your contract was vaguer than any other I’d been given.

Peter gave me a list of terms and phrases to run searches with, but it never amounted to anything.

Any file that might have had value was encrypted beyond my capabilities.

When I exhausted all my resources, he sent me here. ”

Davey and I exchange a glance. She was already inside, digging, before I even knew her name. I exhale slowly, frustration settling deep in my chest.

How the hell did I not see this sooner?

Elena shakes her head with a pitiful chuckle.

“I don’t know why Peter didn’t just bring someone else in when I couldn’t get anywhere.

He usually didn’t waste time when something wasn’t working, but he also loved to punish me.

Sending me out on jobs was something he knew I struggled with, and sometimes he did it because he could. ”

“I knew who you were the moment we met,” she continues, casting her eyes down at her lap. “That night when you saved me from that banker who wouldn’t stop flirting with me… I saw an opportunity, and I took it.”

The words settle like a stone in my stomach. I already assumed this; I just never really thought about what it would be like to hear her admit it.

“I sought you out after that to see what you knew.” She runs her fingers through her caramel hair, drawing attention to the irritated skin at her wrists from the bindings. “But it got harder the more time I spent with you.”

Elena doesn’t let the quiet linger for long before clearing her throat. “I told myself it was just part of the job, but you made me feel normal, and the more time I spent with you, the harder it became to separate the two.”

Her body language is open, but I know better than anyone how easily she can mold the truth into whatever shape suits her best.

And yet.. .

I shake the idiotic thought from my head.

“I started to question everything.” Her voice takes on a hardened edge.

“Then, I was sent to the Gilded Sear. I didn’t even know why I was there other than to help Harrison with a job.

It wasn’t until the end of the date that I realized Peter staged it as a way to upset Silas.

He seemed to realize we were attracted to one another. ”

I’ve already made peace with the fact that what I saw that night was staged. What doesn’t settle well is how she describes it.

Attracted to one another. As if it were that simple.

I suppose for her, it was. She’s the one who orchestrated it, after all. Played God with my life to make every chance meeting feel like fate. Like something bigger than us kept pulling her back into my path.

And Elena played the part to perfection. Gave me what I didn’t realize I wanted until I was drowning in it. She pulled me in so fast and deep, I couldn’t imagine a version of my life where she wasn’t orbiting somewhere inside it. Two planets destined to collide.

She wanted me to feel that way. She designed it.

“I threatened to kill Harrison and Peter for the way they used me,” she admits.

“I knew I’d be punished for it eventually, and that’s why I was mugged.

Everything I told you about what happened in that alley was true.

I have no idea who that man was, but he was sent there to hurt me and put me in my place. ”

Elena shakes her head in frustration. “At first, I thought they wanted to use you to punish me, but I learned later that was only part of it. Peter hoped I’d turn to you all for help and force us even closer.

If I looked like someone who needed it, you would step in.

And I… I accidentally played right into it. ”

Davey stiffens at this news just as I do.

The past two months, we’ve assumed that Elena’s “attack” was staged. But if she’s telling the truth, Peter might still be watching Natalie. Waiting.

Elena keeps going. “After that and all that you did for me, I realized I needed to find whatever was on those servers to have leverage against him. I wasn’t convinced he would leave you alone with how angry he was at me.”

Before I can even look at him, Davey is on his phone, shooting off what I assume is a message to Cillian and the rest of the team.

“I didn’t think anyone would believe me if I told the truth.” Elena almost shrugs in defeat. “I understand why, but I had to do something . That’s when Luis started to help me.”

My teeth grind so hard, I’m surprised a molar doesn’t crack.

She looks up at Natalie, guilt weighing on every inch of her expression. “And then, I was trying to find any excuse to stay longer. I lied to myself more than once about it, but that dinner with your father is when I knew it was time to go. Before I caused more damage than I already had.”

I inhale sharply .

Elena turns toward the sound. Her brown eyes glisten, full lips trembling as the tip of her nose reddens the way it does when she’s upset. Despite everything, the instinct to reach for her still crawls its way to the surface.

I beat it down.

It doesn’t matter if my ribcage feels like it’s caving inward, crushing my lungs, my esophagus, my heart.

It doesn’t matter.

“Leaving was the hardest decision I’ve ever made.” She speaks with such conviction and longing that it almost pulls me under. Then, as if she can’t stand the reminder of what happened, she drops her gaze to break the spell. “But I knew that in order to keep Natalie safe, I had to.”

The tears she just barely held back while looking at me finally fall, darkening the fabric of her sweatshirt, one by one.

“All I wanted was to disappear so you could all move on with your lives. After everything I’ve done…” Her voice cracks. “I deserve everything that happened to me. How I felt after and still feel. And you all deserve to be free of me.”

Free of her .

Like I haven't been trapped in this purgatory for two months—chasing shadows, unable to last ten fucking minutes without a thought that contradicted the last. Missing her. Loathing her. Clinging to the memories I also wanted to let die. Wishing we’d never met.

Mourning her. Wanting to burn her at the fucking stake.

And now she’s here, talking about choices and handlers and reasons that don’t change the facts. She chose to betray us and leave.

Something sharp lodges itself in my chest and twists. It leaks under my skin, and the pressure builds with it. Tightening up through my shoulders and down my spine. I stare at the woman who caused it, trying to keep my breathing steady, but it’s slipping.

Her tears don’t help. And the ones Natalie starts to shed don’t either.

All I can see is her face that night, crumpling when I pleaded for her to stay. Her voice, trembling as she promised me she wouldn’t leave, even though I knew she was lying. I just thought I had more time to convince her and fix it.

Begging her wasn’t enough. Confessing my stupid fucking love to her never even stood a chance. She was always going to do this. No matter what I said or did or offered, it was never going to change a damn thing.

My chair scrapes loudly against the floor as I stand, cutting off whatever Natalie was about to say. Elena’s wide, tear-streaked eyes snap to mine. For a split second, she looks exactly like she did that night—lost, fragile, breaking.

It’s almost enough to make me stop.

My feet carry me towards the door and I shove it open, rushing into the hallway. The sound of it slamming shut behind me barely registers over the roar in my ears.