Page 6 of Where Sinners Repent

The room fades in and out around me.

Someone is talking. Maybe Ash. Maybe Maddy. Maybe the man standing just a few metres away. I can’t tell anymore.

My heartbeat is too loud.

The tang of coppery blood coats the back of my tongue; every breath pulling it deeper into my lungs until I’m sure I will never smell anything else again.

I flinch as a large hand circles my wrist. Still, I don’t dare look up.

He peels the phone from my death grip, pulling the bloodied thing to his own ear.

Both of my hands wrap around the base of the baseball bat. The wood, stained red, comforts me.

“Yes, Boss,” a quiet, raspy voice replies before hanging up the phone.

His gaze burns my bloodied face. I hug my arms tighter around Kitty.

He moves closer, his dark boots stepping through the mess. Once again, he grips my wrist. Trying to fight him off proves futile, and in seconds he has the bat from my grip, silently walking away with my only sense of safety.

Not that it would help. This man is... more powerful than Jacob could ever pretend to be.

Finally, I pry my eyes off the bloody mess. Watching as he prowls across the studio to the sink. My face scrunches in confusion as he brings Kitty under the spray of water, washing the mess off the worn surface.

Now that he isn’t facing me, I soak him in. His tall body, clad in dark combat pants and a long sleeve black shirt that shows all the rippling muscles underneath. Dark hair, as black as midnight, and with dark olive skin.

When he turns, I inhale sharply.

I remember this man. Remember staring at him in a coffee shop with Maddy, when he was watching our every move. Only now, up close, his presence is more than I know what to do with.

As he advances on me, with eyes as dark as his hair and endless as the moonless sky, my skin erupts in goosebumps.

As if I’m staring death right in the eyes.

I’m so taken aback, I almost don’t notice the way he’s handing Kitty back to me, clean from the stain of life that decorated her. Quickly, I reach out and snatch her from his hand, hugging her to my body. Not even caring how insane I must look right now.

Not a single expression dances on his face as he stares at me for a beat before he turns those eyes onto Jacob. Or what is left of him.

Finally, he gives me a sign of life. Just the slightest raise of an eyebrow at the mess I’ve made.

“He attacked me first,” I bite out through clenched teeth.

He turns, watching me through his long lashes.

“Well, he won’t do that again,” he murmurs.

His voice is quiet, but rough around the edges. I almost think he’s telling a joke, though it would be impossible to tell.

Glancing back at the dead body on the floor, I murmur, “No. He won’t.”

Weirdly, it makes me feel better. One of my nightmares that can never haunt me again in this lifetime.

“Let’s go,” he murmurs, turning towards the door. “Ash said we can stop by your home to get what you need, and then we’ll go to Maddison’s apartment.”

I swallow the embarrassment that creeps in, my cheeks heating. Owning a studio in the city is expensive, as well as owning an apartment. Chewing money that I don’t have.

Slowly, I peel myself from the table, tiptoeing my Doc Martens around the gore that I created and trudging into my office. It’s the perfect size for a small mattress and a box full of things I tossed into it when I received my last eviction notice. Placing Kitty in the box, I lift the clunky thing off the ground.

It’s ridiculous that walking out of my makeshift bedroom makes me feel humiliated. This man is here because I murdered someone. He doesn’t give a single shit where I sleep at night.