Page 50 of The Sinner's Bargain

“In case she tries to run?”

I hadn’t even thought of that. The possibility hadn’t even occurred to me, but I supposed it should have given the situation.

“Yes, and make sure no one sees her.” Which had been my initial concern; the person she was running from warranted a whole new identity and while I would have liked nothing more than to see the fucker try and get to her, I wasn’t going to put Blue at risk just to get my hands on him.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

NAYA

I didn’t understand him.

How could this man be friends with a monster like Jarrett? How could someone who willingly and without provocation, continuously and selflessly cares for a complete stranger even associate with someone who went out of their way to hurt and abuse? Jarrett had been the boogieman in my life since I was fourteen. He’d been the creature waiting in the dark to snatch me up and carry me off. I had lost six years of my life to isolation and fear because he had taken a liking to me.

Lacroix had done more for me in two days than my own mother. He had been gentle and thoughtful, and kind.

So kind.

I didn’t even know how to accept it.

I stole a glance at his side profile sitting next to the driver. Mother would never, nor would Father. Sitting with the help was simply unheard of, but Lacroix seemed to be friends with the other man. Yet another odd thing. There seemed to be many of those when it came to the master of Lacroix House.

I liked it.

I liked the many layers that made up a man that size, even if he was a killer. An unapologetic one.

“Blue?”

I blinked away from the winding highway of damp asphalt and looming forest rising like sentinels to the man I couldn’t keep off my mind, to find him watching me already.

My cheeks warmed as I realized he’d been speaking to me. “I’m sorry?”

“I said to stay in the car, love, all right? Cyrus will stay with you. I won’t be long.”

I peeked at our surroundings. We were miles from possibly any sort of civilization. All I could see were rising hills of trees shrouded in fog and rain. I didn’t know what sort of person lived so far from anything, but I supposed Lacroix did. People who liked their privacy.

People who killed other people.

“Are you sure that’s safe?” I asked before I could question the wisdom of questioning his decision. “What if you need Mr. Cyrus? I’m fine waiting on my own.”

A ghost of a smile danced in the corners of Lacroix’s lips. “No need to worry about me, Little Blue. I can handle myself.”

I didn’t doubt it. He seemed perfectly capable of handling anything, yet I wasn’t keen on him waltzing in there on his own. Still, I kept the comment to myself. It wasn’t my place to tell him how to do his job. He was better at it than I was and clearly had things thought out.

Cyrus took a sweeping bend off the main road and through a heavily shrouded path. Walls of pine guided us through the scent of wet earth and something thick and pungent I could only describe as rot. It dominated what should have been cleaned by the rain drizzling against the metal roof.

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