“I can’t imagine what James keeps in there. I’ve never heard him talk about a safe of any kind.” Sin brings my hand to his lips and kisses the back of it. The kiss finds its way to dark and private parts of me that have been quiet for so long.
“Let’s go,” Sin says, releasing my hand. He hops out of the car and has my door open before I can blink. He gathers my belongings out of the car.
“We won’t be taking this car when we leave.” He tightens his hold on my lone box of books and drags my small suitcase by its rolling wheels. “I’m thinking we’ll be cabbing it to a nearby hotel.”
Sin and I walk side by side and I can’t help sneaking sideways glances at him. A few days ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed of being here with him and leaving James. A strange peace fills me, even with all the uncertainty over what lies ahead. I am convinced my next step is the right one. Beyond that, I must walk in faith. Without Sin by my side, I don’t think I could muster up the courage. It’s his faith in me that gives me strength.
Finally, we make our way to an elevator and I push the up button. It’s the only one there. The door opens and we enter the elevator.
“Would you please take the wallet from my back pocket?” Sin turns to the side and I get a better view of his finer assets. I reach to grab the wallet from its confines and my fingers meet the backside of him. I look up at Sin as I remove the wallet and see a pair of hooded eyes. Being close, touching in ways forbidden before, feels too intimate.
“Pull out the blank white card and insert it in the slot, then push the PH button,” he rasps, and I find the card with shaky fingers. Not from fear or worry, but from this unknown feeling for him. Maybe it’s the closed elevator and his scent adding to touching him, but the air in the small space between us buzzes in a mix of desire and adrenaline.
I do as he asks and the elevator begins to move. I return the card to his wallet and place it back in his pocket, letting my fingers linger a second longer than I should before pulling away.
“Thanks,” Sin says, and I lick my lips as I stare up into his searching eyes. An odd silence grows between us as the facts sink in.
I left James. Sin punched his uncle out and now must leave the city. Where do I go from here? I’m tempted to get on a Greyhound bus to somewhere, anywhere but here. This town will never hide me from James.
Sin directs me down a hallway with only two doors, one on each end.
The old building where my mother and I lived had four apartments in a space compared to what would be just one here.
When Sin opens the door with a few punches on a keypad, I see what lies beyond the walls. A place fit for a king—a rich, shallow king who enjoys owning things and people.
“Wow,” I say in stunned shock. I spin around on my toes and view the room large enough to land a plane in.
James never called it a penthouse, just his condo by The Clinic. Jeez. I envisioned a small, single bedroom apartment resembling more of a crash pad. I figured it wasn’t up to par since he never brought me down here, but I realize that’s not true.
I thought his house was over the top without a penny being spared for its furnishings. This place resembles a modern museum.
“Sinclair,” a man calls from deeper inside the apartment, or more like the mausoleum, since a soulless aura permeates the air. I try to imagine actually living here and shiver from a chill.
“Hey, Kurt.” Sin takes my hand as my shock begins to wear off.
“You’ll wanna come back here ASAP,” Kurt answers through the walls and open doors.
Sin quickens his step as we follow the sound of Kurt’s voice, tightening his grip on my hands. He gives me a reassuring smile as I follow him down a wide hallway.
We enter a bedroom with papers and a cardboard box scattered across the bed.
I glance up above the bed and stop dead in my tracks. A painting hangs on the wall. Another cold chill creeps over my skin and goose bumps rise in its wake.
“That’s me?” I whisper while glancing at Sin in confusion. He is at my side, embracing me before I can say a word.
“God, I should’ve warned you about the painting. I’m sorry.”
Sin holds me a little tighter and I remain stunned. “When did he do this?”
“I asked, and he said the painting was commissioned before you met him.” Sin runs his eyes over my face as the truth hits me.
James stalked me.
I grab Sin as the world around me swirls. My instincts were right. Yesterday at brunch, he knew the story of how I was named. Somehow, he knew my mother—and me …
My chills turn into a cold sweat as my palms perspire and stomach rolls with waves of nausea.
“It’s okay, Harlow,” Sin says, but he sounds like he is miles away. I’m grounded in his arms, but the room still spins around me.
“Is she all right? Looks like she saw a ghost,” Kurt says somewhere near me, but my eyes stay glued on the painting. Even though the head in the picture is facing away, I know it’s me. I am the ghost.
“When was this painted?” I ask Sin, afraid to find out the answer.
“Sometime last year.” Sin’s arms tighten around me.