Page 60 of The Sinner's Bargain

“Change in here. I’ll make sure no one bothers you.” Without waiting for Blue to answer, I went to Cyrus and took the phone he held out. My gaze flitted to where Amari stood against the front counter, arms folded to matching the defiance painted across her face. I motioned for her to assist Blue before bringing the phone up. “What?”

The sound of grinding metal and shrieking blades filled my ear. I frowned as I made my way to the front of the store and the latch built into the side of the wall by the main opening.

“There was an incident at the factory. One of the machines malfunctioned. There was a casualty.”

I didn’t ask which factory. The fact that someone got hurt was the very reason I’d been pushing to have that specific one shut down a month ago, but too many shipments were still being directed to the location and rerouting them was a mess of paperwork I was still sifting through.

“Christ,” I muttered under my breath. I found the leaver and opened the compartment containing the shop gate. I sealed the place up to keep anyone from coming in. “Are the cops there?”

“Yes. They are waiting to talk with you.”

“Tell them I’ll meet them at the station.”

“And the worker?”

I raked five fingers back through my hair. “Call David. Have him take care of it.”

I cut the line before Vance could say anything more. I turned to find Cyrus where I’d left him by the changing rooms, back still to the room with an irate Amari hovering at his side.

It never failed to surprise me just how similar Amari was to Elena. They both had the same gold complexion. The same drive and vibrance. But where Elena was reasonable and levelheaded, Amari was fire and destruction. Her temper was a ticking time bomb that was always set to go off. After Elena’s death, I’d had a moment during the funeral where I wondered if Amari wouldn’t have been the better choice. Elena hadn’t been weak by any standard, but she’d been kind and sweet. Things the house sought in its victims. Her cousin was a different story.

Only Amari and I never got along. There was never a spark. Never even a possibility. She was beautiful without question, but I could never see myself with her and Elena was easy to talk to and charming, and the eldest daughter of a fellow leader so the match made sense. I didn’t love her. I thought maybe one day I could, but like the other four that followed year after year, I never got the chance to find out if love was even a possibility.

“You can’t just close my store, Lacroix,” Amari snapped, stepping into my path when I tried to get to Blue.

I peered down at her upturned face, but ignored her entirely, my patience finally hitting its peak.

“Blue,” I called back without looking. She appeared just over Amari’s shoulder. “Come on, love.”

She didn’t ask.

She said nothing as she hurried forward and took the hand I held out to her.

The flicker of confusion replacing Amari’s frown would have been comical, except I wasn’t in a laughing mood.

I drew Blue to my side and started for the door.

“Where are you going?” Amari shot after us.

“Somewhere else,” I retorted, never slowing in my strides. “Give Cyrus my card.”

At the entrance, I bent to take hold of the grate I’d brought down but made the mistake of glancing at Blue and the anxious gnawing she was doing on her lip. A tiny crease had formed between her brows, increasing the uncertainty she was trying to hold back.

“We’re still getting you clothes,” I assured her, misunderstanding her distress. “Just not from here.”

“Okay,” came her quiet response that contradicted her entire expression.

“Did you want to stay?”

Her fingers flexed at her side in that familiar twitch I was beginning to recognize. “We’re already here,” she began with a great deal of hesitation. “It would be ... she’s already helped so much...” She held her bottom lip with such vicious ferocity between her teeth I almost expected the skin to tear. “I like her.”

The last part was blurted in a rush as if the confession were something to be ashamed of.

Unwilling to deny her this small request, I relented. I straightened and exhaled before reaching out a hand and lightly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“If you want to stay, we’ll stay.”

If the assurance was supposed to erase the unease behind her eyes, it didn’t. “If that’s okay?”

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