Slater

I couldn’t believe I had just dragged Dane over to crack a safe—all while Izzy watched on. Fucking hell…so much for delaying telling her about my family. Though I supposed it would be a relief to finally get it out in the open. Unless, of course, she couldn’t see past it, and decided she was better off without me.

Dane had some sort of contraption that he attached to the front of the safe, while wires ran off it and attached to some sort of electronic device. And just like that, all on its own, it started dialing different combinations. “It could take a long while, so if you have something else to do, I’d go and do it.”

Izzy looked at the contraption curiously before turning her attention to Dane. “Wow. I have to say, that’s pretty damn impressive.”

“It’s called an autodialer. The technology incorporates listening to the tumblers in the lock and making educated guesses on the combination, which actually cuts down on the time significantly.” Dane’s eyes flicked to mine in question, but only for a split second—not that he really needed an answer to figure out that Izzy didn’t know about the family business. “Not that I get to use this sort of thing very often. But as a teenager, I was fascinated with picking locks and becoming a locksmith. Far too many cop shows with people picking their handcuffs using nothing but a paper clip. My mother was constantly yelling at me for stealing her bobby pins.”

She laughed, looking at the both of us. “Six boys, right? I can’t even imagine the trouble you must have gotten yourselves into.”

“We definitely got into our fair share, though it was never anything too bad. It was usually nothing more than good-humored mischief—or our mother would have hung us up by our ears. She never tolerated us being unkind.” Dane’s easy manner set Izzy at ease, and for that I was incredibly grateful to my older brother.

“I can take care of it from here, if you want to head out. I don’t want to eat into your whole day.” I was just relieved that he’d been able to come over on such short notice.

Dane nodded and grabbed his laptop bag, leaving everything else behind. But before heading out, he turned to Izzy. “I just wanted to let you know that I’ve already started the search for Andrew, though I highly recommend submitting your DNA to the main adoption sites to see if there might already be a match to your brother. It’ll take some time to get your sample processed, but I think it might be your best bet. And…given the size of your fortune…you’ll want to make sure that the person you think is your brother truly is.”

“The DNA kit is already being overnighted to me.” She sighed, wrapping her arms around her body. “And I appreciate the tip about verifying our relations. It’s an unfortunate reality, isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so.” Dane glanced in my direction, wishing me luck with the situation, no words needed between us. He knew well enough the difficulties we faced when it came to dealing with the life we’d once led. But he’d managed to overcome even more dire circumstances, and was now happy. I just hoped I’d fare as well. “Call me if you run into any difficulties, or if you need help with anything else. And in the meantime, I’ll keep you updated if I come across anything.”

We saw Dane off, but before wandering back to the bedroom, I grabbed Izzy’s hand. “It’s probably going to be awhile before the autodialer figures out the combination. Why don’t we get out of here for a bit? Maybe head back to your place to let Lola out and then grab a bite to eat.”

Maybe even figure out if there was a way to tell her about my past without completely freaking her out. Because I had a sneaking suspicion that she might have questions for me, given that I was currently breaking into her safe. I just hoped that what little time we’d had together would be enough to reassure her that I wasn’t a horrible person, even if I’d done more than a few horrible things.

“I probably should have just brought her with us. And a bite to eat sounds perfect, since I’m starving.” She slipped her arms around my neck when I pulled her close, unable to resist her. “Don’t suppose you’d be in the mood for pizza? I can never get enough of it when I’m here in the States.”

“I know just the place.” It was a bit out of the way, but well worth the drive since it was some of the tastiest pizza I’d ever had. “We can stop there first, then grab Lola and come back here. Maybe by then the autodialer will have worked its magic.”

Izzy slipped out of my arms, her smile fading just a little, though her eyes were locked on mine. “I was wondering…”

I took over when she hesitated, since she was clearly trying to find a way to ask the obvious, but was trying not to insult me. “Why my family would have an autodialer just hanging around?”

She nodded, her eyes finally looking away. “I’m sorry if it’s none of my business, but…I feel like I know so little about you. And given that I’m in love with you, I feel like I should probably change that and get to know you better.”

There was no avoiding this conversation any longer. I’d managed to push it off this far, but if I didn’t tell her now, when she was asking me directly, I knew I’d only make matters worse once I did get around to telling her. I just had to come clean, and hope that if she did truly love me, then it would be enough for her to see past all the warning signs telling her that she should get as far away from me as possible, and not look back.

“Come here, love.” I took her hand and sat us down on the sofa, knowing this would be a bit of a long conversation.

Yet as I mulled over how to tell my story, I was hit with so many memories…so many emotions. Losing my father to the violence that came with this life. My mother’s house being set on fire and my pregnant sister-in-law barely escaping the flames. Ash’s wife being raped. The rest of my brothers’ wives and fiancées being abducted or abused, and used as pawns to manipulate my brothers into doing some asshole’s bidding…

How the hell could I justify dragging her into that sort of life?

Fucking hell…I wouldn’t want this for my worst enemy, let alone the woman I loved.

Yet another part of me—the part of me that was too selfish to give Izzy up—was convinced that my family had somehow finally managed to break away from that sort of life. It had taken us years to cut those ties, especially when there were people constantly threatening to drag us back in. But for the first time in a very long time, it felt as if my life was free from those sorts of influences. Even my brothers and their wives and fiancées were now happy and starting their families.

And I wanted that sort of happiness too. I wanted Izzy in my life…wanted us to get married and start a family. I wanted us to grow old together.

But none of that would happen if I couldn’t be honest with her.