Page 41 of Sinners Reunion

And I repaid her by breaking her heart.

No, it never would have worked with Quinn’s mother. I loved her, but she represented something I couldn’t have.

Perhaps that’s why I wanted her so badly. I’ve long suspected as much. I would have been faithful and true to her, but I wouldn’t have been happy. Not in the long run.

Would it be so bad to settle down, though? Especially now, when I have plans to retire from the bureau. What am I so afraid of? While I still wish to sate my bloodlust, killing won’t take up all of my time. I could share my life with someone.

But then again, so much could happen by the end of this trip.

“So what’s the deal with the Carter shit?” Josie asks. “You’ve tried to explain some of it, and the girls and Jim peppered in some lore, but I’m failing to grasp why the kids can’t just go kill their dad.”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“The fact that no one knows about the time you wore my red lace panties on the beach should be proof enough of that.”

“Because I lost a bet!”

“Still. My lips are always sealed, dude.”

I smirk. “Not both sets.”

I nearly pat her on the ass like old times, but I pull back. My smile drops.

“The goal isn’t actually for the children to kill their father. Rather, we hope for . . .” I roll my hand through the air, searching for the correct word. “Reunification.”

“So what you’re telling me is I’ve actually stumbled into some fucked-up family reunion shit? Why did no one make matching shirts?”

I motion to our clothes. “We often have matching outfits. It’s actually been part of the psychology.”

Josie starts walking again, picking her way through the brush as we draw closer to the stream. A squirrel scampers across her path, and her smile brightens.

She may think I forgot her love for animals, but I haven’t. I remember so many things. My only fear is that it would hurt her to know just how much I remember.

The desire I have for her, the way I did and do love her—these are the things a man should feel for a woman, but I’m not a man, and she’s no woman. We’re not even human, and we can’t pretend to be anything other than what we are.

She would want something I can’t give her, like stability or reassurance. By keeping my distance, I’m merely protecting her from the walking disaster that is me.

I’ve made some questionable choices in my life. She was never one of them, but I doubt she could get past the things I’ve done.

There are things far worse than murder, after all.

We reach the stream and stop. The wide stretch of water is more akin to a river than a stream, however. At least we don’t have to cross it, but that doesn’t tell us which way to go. Jim didn’t say if the cabin was upstream or down.

“What are you thinking?” Josie brushes a strand of red hair from her face, then puts her hands on her hips. “We have a fifty-fifty shot whichever way we go unless your bestie gave you a clue.”

“Jim told me nothing. He likes to keep things fair.”

A shotgun breaks the quiet to our left, and we nod and head in that direction.

“So why’d you do it?” Josie asks as we trudge up a rocky hill. “Fucking Charity, I mean. I might not like you, but you know I’m always down to fuck. If you had needs . . .”

I wish she’d stop reminding me.

“I told you. I didn’t fuck the girl. Not for lack of effort on her part, I assure you, but I turned her down.”

“King turning down pussy?” She tips back her head and laughs. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

I stop walking. “I’ll have you know I do not accept every offered invitation. I’m very picky about which events I attend.”