“Are you okay, Alanna?” Ryan asks, concerned. “Your face is flushed.”
I swallow hard and look at him, teetering on the edge of an orgasm that his brother has brought me to.
“Actually,” I murmur, turning to face Mona. “Ryan and I broke up weeks ago.”
I see Silas smile in my peripheral vision right before he gives me what I want, slipping a third finger in just as he teases my clit harder. I suck down on my spoon as I come for him, my hips moving against my will.
“You what?”
“Alanna,” Ryan says, his tone pleading.
Silas leans into me, his lips brushing past my ear. “Good girl,” he whispers. “I’ll reward you later.”
Then he pulls his fingers away and brings them to his lips, sucking them clean. Ryan doesn’t seem to realize what just went down, and thankfully, neither does Mona.
I look down at my plate, surprised at the lack of guilt I feel. For so long, guilt is what held me back. It’s what kept me away from Silas, and it’s what kept me from reaching for the happiness he brings me.
I look up at Mona and smile. “Ryan and I broke up. We won’t be getting back together. I’m here today as a friend, if that.”
Ryan looks at me accusatorially, but I merely smile back at him. I don’t owe him anything. Not anymore, and certainly not at Silas’s expense.
Chapter Sixty
Silas
I lean back against the living room doorway, my eyes on Mona. She seems distraught, her gaze traveling over the family photos on the wall.
“Did you think you’d get away with it?”
She whirls around, her eyes widening. “Silas.” Mona runs a hand through her hair, her movements coquettish and extremely irritating. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I nod. “Yeah, when you’ve done so much fucked up shit, it could be anything.”
She locks her jaw, and I smile at her sweetly. I still remember the way she threw me out of the house a mere few days after we lost my father. For years, everything went her way, but she should’ve known better.
“Alanna,” I clarify.
She takes a seat on the sofa and crosses her ankles. “It doesn’t matter that they broke up,” she tells me. “They’ll get back together.”
I cross my arms and stare at her, confused. “Why are you doing this? What did you think you’d accomplish through Alanna? What made you think I still cared about her after all these years?”
Mona leans back and smirks. “You carry a photo of her everywhere you go. I saw it in your wallet once, about a year ago, My Ray of Sunshine written on the back of it. I’d heard Ryan mention that there’s a girl named Ray that you call for when you’re drunk, and I’ve been curious about her ever since. A few months later, I saw her walking down the street. Now tell me, Silas. Don’t you think that was a blessing from above? I found her through sheer coincidence. Your one and only weakness… and she doesn’t even know who you are. It’s priceless. I mentioned you a few times just to be sure, but she didn’t recognize your name.”
Fucking bitch. “Does Ryan know? About her and me?”
Her smile wavers. “No. Of course not. Despite my best efforts, he still thinks the world of you, even when he tries to convince himself that he doesn’t. My little boy despises that you took everything from us, but he still loves you. I suppose that was a good thing, in the end. What would you have done to me if not for him?”
I nod, my shoulder slumping in relief. At least I wasn’t entirely wrong about Ryan. Mona has him in her clutches, but he’s not a lost cause. Not just yet.
“That must have been annoying, huh? You spent years talking shit about me, getting him to hate me, only for you to have to switch gears so you could use your own son to get to me. It’s strange to me that women like you are allowed to be mothers at all.”
She grits her teeth, and the way she’s holding herself back is bringing me a strange sense of satisfaction. For years, she squandered away my father’s fortune, only to find herself standing in the same house she once threw me out of, at my mercy.
“What were you trying to accomplish with Alanna? Was it just to hurt me?”
“Partially,” she admits. “But let’s be real, Silas. Would you deny her anything? I know you whisper her name in your sleep. I know you beg her not to leave you when you’re drunk. Ryan told me all about your obsession with Ray. Even if she’s with Ryan, you’ll want her to have the best of everything, won’t you?”