Bittersweet Memories (Off-Limits #4)(65)

I feel Silas tense beside me and glance up at him. His expression looks calm, but I can feel the anger radiating off him. He wraps his arm around my waist and looks into my eyes. “Sister-in-law?” he asks, his eyes dropping to my lips. “You were never going to become my sister-in-law,” he says, his tone harsh. “Besides, didn’t Ryan and you break up before you even started at Sinclair Security? What is this bullshit?”

Jessica giggles, clearly intoxicated. “It’s just a joke, boss.”

He locks his jaw and stares her down. “It’s slander.”

“Silas,” I whisper, placing my hand on his chest. He looks so distressed by her words, and all I want to do is take away his anger. “Just leave it. She’s drunk.”

He looks into my eyes, his gaze searching, though what for, I’m not sure. He nods but doesn’t let go of me, his thumb drawing circles on my waist. I should pull away, but I find myself not wanting to.

“Look who it is!” Josh shouts, walking up to us with even more shots in his hands. Just how long have they been drinking? They’re both wasted. Josh holds a shot glass up to Silas, the drink spilling over the edges and onto his shirt. I’m relatively certain that Silas really regrets walking me in now.

He sighs and pulls his arm away to dab at his shirt, and I root through my clutch to find my handkerchief. I raise it to his chest and carefully wipe off the stain, though the damage is already done.

Silas wraps his hand over mine, but his gaze is on the handkerchief. He pulls it out of my hand and stares at the embroidered ψ logo on it.

“Oh! That’s not… it’s got nothing to do with the ψ division,” I tell him. “I’m not some kind of crazy person. This is mine. It’s something I’ve always had.”

He looks at me, his gaze intense. “Is that so? You carry this with you everywhere?”

I nod hesitantly. “Is there something wrong?”

Silas shakes his head and hands it back to me with an intimate smile on his face, his eyes filled with affection. “No. Nothing at all.”

His fingers brush against mine as I take the handkerchief from him, unable to look away. Silas Sinclair… he’s addictive, and I’m not even sure he realizes it.

“I wish I could stay and endure this with you,” he tells me, glancing back at my drunk colleagues, “but I need to head out or I’ll be late for dinner. Don’t be late, okay? And please, don’t end up like these two. Let me know when you’re done and I’ll come pick you up.”

I nod at him, unable to deny him even though I know I’ll take a taxi home, and then he walks away, leaving me staring after him, my heart racing.

“Damn it! I wanted to ask him about the rumors!” Jessica complains.

I turn back to her and frown. “What rumors?”

“I want to know if it’s true that Sinclair Security was founded because of a woman.”

Josh nods and holds up his finger. “It was. Everyone knows this,” he says, slurring his words.

I frown as I grab one of the shots he’s holding. The company was founded because of a woman? Who is she?

White hot jealousy sears through me as I listen to Jessica and Josh’s theories, my thoughts drifting. Could any of this be true? What kind of woman could possibly have Silas Sinclair so obsessed?





Chapter Forty-Two





Alanna



I sign as I flex my fingers, tired from the hours of typing I’ve done. Sinclair Security was hired to investigate foreign influences on our elections, and our division has been put in charge of social media monitoring. We’re supposed to create an algorithm that’ll flag fake news, and I’ve been tasked with the initial design of it. I’m worried I can’t pull it off. While I understand how to get this done in theory, I’ve never had to do something like this in practise.

“Hot damn,” Josh mutters, and I glance over to find a beautiful dark-haired woman walking our way. She walks straight to Silas’s office, and much to my surprise, no one stops her. “Looks like our boss is taking his lunch break early today. What a snack.”

“Who is she?” I ask against better judgement.

Josh looks at me in surprise. “Are you serious? She’s a supermodel, and our boss’s girlfriend. Her name is Raven.”

Girlfriend? Silas has a girlfriend? My heart twists painfully as pure venom settles in my stomach. Did he touch me when he belongs to someone else? Is she the reason he’s rarely ever home at night? I see him every morning, but that doesn’t mean he’s sleeping in his own bed. He might just be coming in to change. Once, when I asked why he’s rarely home, he told me he’s just been busy with work. Was that all a lie?

I tense when the sound of Raven’s laughter fills the office, followed by Silas’s office door slamming closed. Josh laughs and shakes his head. “Lucky bastard,” he mutters.

I try my hardest to focus on my work, but all I can think about is Silas. In my mind, I see the two of them together, his hands on her body, the way they were on mine. This isn’t just simple jealousy. It hurts to see him with someone else, and I can’t figure out why.

I gather the files on my desk and shuffle them, barely able to think straight. Before I know what I’m doing, I’m out of my seat and halfway to Silas’s office. Amy looks up at me, and much to my surprise, she grins at me instead of stopping me from storming into Silas’s office.