Page 53 of The Sinner's Bargain

Cyrus said nothing, despite it being offered as a question. He turned the engine on and maneuvered the car in a half circle back the way we’d come.

I had never been so happy to finally leave a place.

I focused on the man taking up all the air in the car. The man half folded in his seat. His long limbs seemed cramped despite the ample amount of space behind him. He couldn’t have been comfortable, yet he sat with one arm propped up on the edge of the window, the elbow bent inward. His chin rested on the loosely bunched fist. The other hand drummed long fingers on the middle console separating him from Cyrus. Rain clung to his wild mane and the wide width of his broad shoulders.

But it was more than rain that clung to him. There was tension. A frustration that hardened his lips and formed creases between his brow. I knew the tells, the warnings to keep my mouth shut and do nothing to set him off. I closed my nails into my bloody palms and regulated my breaths so they weren’t too loud, too distracting. I stayed still and small, becoming part of the seat.

No one spoke as we drove for what felt like hours away from the sprawling hills and forestry to a different kind of jungle. The one made of sharp spears of metal and gleaming glass. The bustle of activity, the noise jolted my senses after several days of unimaginable peace and quiet. We passed shops and offices, and people living their lives. It was all so ridiculously normal.

My thoughts were interrupted by the turn of the wheel leading us into a sea of parked cars surrounding a structure made of dark, gleaming glass and white stone. Cyrus located an empty spot at the very back and killed the engine.

I tore my attention away from the three stories of jagged edges and harsh lines to the man turning his head back to meet my gaze.

“You ready, love?” he asked.

I had no idea where we were, but if he was taking me along with him, I guessed we were getting clothes.

“What is this?”

If my question seemed absurd, Lacroix never showed it — much to my gratitude. “The mall.”

Mother would never have dared to even suggest such a place. The mall was for the other people. The ones with budgets and a lack of sophistication.

“It’s for people who don’t know they have no taste,” she’d said once during a gown fitting.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” Lacroix interjected my thoughts once again.

I didn’t. Despite Mother’s aversion, I’d always been curious by the idea of a single place that contained a multitude of smaller stores. Malcolm used to sneak me mall food when Mother wasn’t home, which tasted like regular food, but in a Styrofoam container, but the fact that it was forbidden had made it that much tastier.

“I would like to see it, if that’s okay?”

Lacroix raised a shoulder as if it didn’t matter either way, but he didn’t seem upset. He opened his door and pushed out into the slight downpour. His frame moved around to the back of the car and the trunk was popped open. A moment later, my door was being opened and a broad hand with long fingers was extended to help me out.

His touch was warm.

His skin rough.

His hold strong as he guided me out carefully. The fingers stayed curled around mine long after I was standing with him in the chilly air. An umbrella was positioned over my head and I felt my stomach flutter at the simple gesture.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

Lacroix gave my hand a gentle squeeze that I felt all the way through me like a hot current.

We walked in a comfortable silence with the rain pattering against the dark fabric of the umbrella that he’d angled to only protect me. The fact didn’t go unnoticed, nor the fact that he still held my hand.

The inside was filled with the flow of mothers with strollers and too many toddlers running rampant. Elderly couples dominated benches and seats, watching the children give their mothers an impossible time.

There were others, men and women hurrying about their business, shopping bags in tow. They slipped in and out of brightly lit cubes holding different products. There were dozens upon dozens of different shops lined down endless corridors selling everything from clothes to eyebrow waxing and sandwiches. All in one building.

It was amazing.

I couldn’t stop staring.

Every few feet, I found another thing behind gleaming windows that had me pausing to look. Lacroix said nothing but waited patiently while I gaped at all the assortments. The sheer quantity baffled the mind. How could Mother not be thrilled by such a place? It was three floors of ... things. All things. Everything. Why go anywhere else? And there were sales everywhere. Granted, Mother didn’t like sales. It made the item less valuable.

“This place is incredible,” I blurted out loud.

“Because of all the windows?” Lacroix teased, and I couldn’t help laughing at the statement. “You never been to a mall before, Blue?”

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