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He’s lucky he didn’t get Rowan’s closed fist.
“You… you must repent, Lucinda,” he hollers from the floor, one arm outstretched, as if he could only reach me, he might be able to save my doomed soul.
“Buddy, could you shut the fuck up?” Rowan yells.
And because Sandy continues bellowing his fire and brimstone absurdities, Max and Greyson pick him up with a hand under each arm, escort him out of my apartment, and close the door to shut out his racket.
That leaves my mom and dad, who stand there, mouths open.
“What is it you want, baby?” Max asks.
Ah. Could I say it? Dare I say it?
“I… want there to be something real between us. Not some sort of transactional arrangement.”
Dad clears his throat and taps me on the shoulder. “Honey, I think we’ll be leaving now.” He kisses me on the forehead and leaves, dragging Mom, who won’t even make eye contact with me.
Before he pulls the door closed behind them, he gives me a sad smile. “We don’t approve of what you’re doing, honey, but we will always love you.”
The sadness in both his eyes and words contribute to the already-huge lump in my throat, and the resulting tears in my own eyes are not lost on the guys.
The doorclicksafter Dad. The sound is so quiet and so, so sad.
Like something died.
The loss of a pretend existence, where I’m my parents’ nice church-going, god-fearing daughter, is something I thought I’d be happy about. Saying goodbye to the old, conflicted, torturedme. But I never considered how it might hurt them. No matter how wrong they are, I’ve never felt vindictive toward them.
What the hell do I do now? I can’t go back home, not that I want to, and I am certain my days at Club Sin are numbered. Sure, I’ve got some money in the bank for the first time in my life, but that will only last so long.
Maybe Charleigh will have some ideas. Her dad owns a shop, after all.
“Sweetie,” Rowan says, pulling me out of my thoughts with an arm around my shoulders, “you never told us about this part of your upbringing.”
No, I hadn’t. Wouldtheyhave toldme, had they come from the same place?
“I didn’t want you to know. I don’t want anyone to know. Ever. You wouldn’t either. Can you understand that?” I ask.
He nods slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I can.”
“Now you know my biggest secret. If you feel the need to run away from me as fast as you can, I’ll understand,” I say with a pathetic laugh.
It’s beyond me why these guys are interested in me anyway, and I’m sure their attraction is tenuous at best. Sure, we had plenty of fun in the sack, but now that they know who I am and what I come from, I’m sure they’re even less interested. Men in the mafia—or syndicate, as they call it—don’t need someone like me around.
Max frowns at me. “What? Run away? Are you kidding? Look at all you’ve accomplished. You’ve escaped a tyrannical upbringing. You know how big a deal that is?”
Um, yeah.
But I just shrug. I’m tired. So tired.
“Look,” Max says, “why don’t you let us take you back to Greyson’s? He’s got the biggest house, and you’ll be the most comfortable there. No strings attached, sweetie. No sex or anything… unless you want it, of course. You can just chill there as long as you want, or until you come down from this… shitshow.”
He pauses long enough to throw me that dimpled smile.
Damn him.
He’s so hard to say no to. All the guys are.
And it might be my last opportunity to spend time with them before everything starts to go south.
