Truth Be Told (Blackbridge Security Book 4) by Marie James (snow like ashes TXT) 📕

clinging to his skin from practicing hard instead of gone, skipping another practice because he knows he won’t be able to play in this week’s game.

I don’t ask him about Ignacio even though his expensive truck stands out like a sore thumb in the school parking lot. Did they talk? Have they spent time together since that text after Alex first heard about his paternity? I know Alex came home with more information on the man than I’ve ever been privileged to, but he’s never mentioned that they sat down and discussed anything since.

“I want you to tell that man to stay away from me,” he says as we pull up outside of the house, the first words he’s spoken to me since he left me sitting in the living room days ago.

The silent treatment from him isn’t a new thing, but it never lasts this long.

“I’ll speak with him,” I assure him, but I don’t say that his dad being around might be a good thing.

I watch Alex go inside after slamming the car door and ponder what my next step should be.

Tinley Holland, the woman who fell head over heels for the bad boy over fifteen years ago, doesn’t deserve to know a single thing about Ignacio Torres’s life. Her lies alone don’t give her that right, but as Alex’s mother, I need to know what kind of man his father is before I start planting seeds that spending time with him wouldn’t be all that bad.

Alex told me good things about his dad that he learned, but that doesn’t mean they’re all true or accurate. Kids see what they want to see. They use bits and pieces of information as ammunition in arguments, not taking into account all the bad things that they may have heard. If it doesn’t suit them, it doesn’t exist.

Despite wanting to stay as far away as possible, I have to get to know the man that is insistent on spending time with my son. I fire off a text to Alex, reminding him that he’s still grounded and to stay home before heading across town.

Ignacio’s truck isn’t in the driveway or parked in the street, but I still climb out of the car and head to the front door anyway, praying his crotchety old grandfather isn’t here either.

My knock goes unanswered, and I think I’ve dodged a bullet for just a little longer, but as I turn away from the door, I notice him pulling into the drive.

Of course, he takes his sweet ass time gathering his things and climbing out. His face is set in a scowl as he approaches, and he doesn’t say a word as he steps past me to unlock the front door.

“Are you coming in or staying out there?” he calls from inside the house.

Against my better judgment, I head inside, looking around the room for his grandfather.

“Is Mateo around?” I ask in a low voice because the last thing I need to do is alert the bastard that I’m here.

If my dad hated Ignacio, Mateo Costa despised me. I think it had more to do with not wanting his grandson to have even a pinch of happiness than me personally.

“Yeah,” Ignacio says, pointing across the room to a plain wooden box.

My eyes flash back to him. “He died? When?”

“I’m here because he had a stroke. The asshole stuck around for several days after.”

“Did you have a service? An obituary?” I’m certain Mom would’ve mentioned the old man dying if it had been in the newspaper.

“Nope.” Ignacio drops his things on the side table before looking back in my direction. “He didn’t deserve any of that shit.”

As horrible as it sounds, I have to agree with him. He never went into detail about his homelife, but from what I saw and experienced the two times I came over here, I know things were pretty bad.

“Why are you here?” he asks as he pulls a Styrofoam container from the plastic bag he carried inside the house. The spicy scent of Thai fills the air, and a small smile forms on my lips. I’d bet money it’s red curry beef.

“I want to get to know you better.”

He huffs a humorless laugh, and my hackles immediately go up.

“If you’re going to be around Alex, I need to make sure you’re a good influence,” I hiss, already annoyed with his dismissive attitude.

His jaw flexes, eyes still focused on the table. The man hates me so much, he can’t even be bothered with giving me his full attention while we’re having a conversation. It’s clear that he’s no longer the man I knew, much like I’m no longer that naïve girl who held my breath when he spoke because I was afraid I’d miss something. Before, he couldn’t take his eyes off of me. Before, he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. Before, I was the center of his world, and now I’m merely the woman who kept an indefensible secret from him.

“You know me, Tinley.” Finally, his dark eyes find mine, and I’m trapped in his glare. The tiny, devious smirk playing on his lips takes me back to a time when I coveted that look from him. That look held so much promise back then, but I know now it was just another manipulation. “You know so many things about me.”

My body heats as my throat works on a rough swallow. I’m finding it impossible to reconcile the present with the past.

His eyes follow the action of my swallow, that stupid grin growing even more. He’s well aware that he still affects me after all this time, and I want to pull my heart from my chest and hide it in my pocket so he can’t hurt it again.

My real life never included you. Those words have played over and over in my head since he spoke them that night he ripped me in two. They come rushing back again as if the malicious words have slipped from his lips