Page 50 of Stolen Sin

She keeps talking. I can’t hear it. I turn away from her and walk over to the sink, blinking rapidly, afraid I might throw up.

He was just inside me. He was just fucking me and telling me how good this feels. I admitted that I want to be with him, that I like our relationship, and all the while he has a way to get exactly what he really wants. Leave me. Marry her. Become the Don. That’s the whole point of our relationship, right? And if he can’t get that with me, why not get it with her? What’s it matter if it’s one set of tits or another?

“I have to get out of here.” I turn to look at my sister-in-law and I don’t know how she’s going to react, but she’s one of them. She’s part of this sick, twisted world, only I like her, I genuinely like her, and I feel so damn desperate I don’t know what to do. “Please, Elena. I can’t stay here right now.”

“Oh. Shit.” She wrings her hands. “Where are you going to go?”

“My dad’s place. Please, can you help me? I can’t leave on my own, and I can’t be here with Simon right now. He didn’t tell me. We just had sex, and he didn’t tell me.”

Elena's expression darkens. She looks over her shoulder and shakes her head. “That fucking prick,” she whispers and rubs her face before gesturing at me. “Come on. Fuck him.”

I’ve never felt more grateful to someone in my life. I follow her to the door and outside. She hustles me down the block and when we reach the edge of the oasis, she tells Matty to fuck off and call a damn car for me. He disappears, looking more than a little aggrieved, but I’m too busy hugging myself and feeling like my guts might spill out on the pavement.

“I don’t know what he was thinking,” Elena’s saying as a black SUV appears. “But he’s got to have a reason. When he comes to talk to you, just hear him out, okay? And if he was just being a piece of shit to you, I swear to God, I will cut his dick off.”

I pull her into a tight hug. “Don’t castrate your brother,” I whisper to her, even though I don’t think she could possibly understand how good it feels to hear her say it. “I’ll be fine.”

Which isn’t true, and she seems to know it, but she doesn’t argue as I get into the back seat of the SUV.

“Where to?” the driver asks. He’s one of the young guards I’ve seen around.

I give him my dad’s address and tell him to drive fast. He pulls out and I don’t look back as I speed away from my husband with nothing but a pair of shorts and a crop top to my name.

Chapter 30

Emily

Dad doesn’t even hesitate to get me inside. He asks some questions, but when I make it clear that I don’t want to talk, he doesn’t push, only offers to make some coffee.

There are stacks of papers on the dining room table and the living room looks messy and disorganized. He’s got books piled all over the place, thick and heavy books, but I brush past it all and head up to my room. Lucky for me, I still have some clothes stashed in the closet, and I get into sweats before curling up in my childhood bed.

This can’t be happening. I keep wondering if I’m overreacting, but then I think about sitting in Simon’s lap and telling him how much I like being with him, and the way he said it back but never once mentioned that there’s some other girl waiting out there, some other girl that can give him all his wildest dreams.

He doesn’t need me anymore.

I’m worthless to him. Our deal is meaningless. Our marriage is exactly what it’s always been: a total sham.

I should’ve seen this coming. His father didn’t react well to Simon marrying me to start with, and it didn’t seem like the old Don was ever going to come around.

Eventually, Simon was going to have to admit that his plan backfired.

Then he’d have to leave me.

He made promises. He swore to take care of my father for the rest of his life. He said he’d even make sure I’m comfortable for as long as I’m alive. But now that there’s another girl, I don’t know if he’ll try to weasel his way out of the bargain when he inevitably decides to cast me aside.

Maybe I’m being dramatic. I knew our relationship wasn’t real from the start. It’s just that so much is going wrong for me right now, and I was willing to overlook all the obvious problems with our marriage because things were starting to go well, but now I can see how I’ve just been completely naive.

I wish I could talk to Rachel, but my husband got her killed.

I cry for a while. Mostly, I’m crying for my dead friend, but I’m also crying for myself. I’ve been so stupid, thinking that maybe this thing with Simon could turn into a real relationship, instead of what it’s always been. Just a business deal.

There’s a knock at my bedroom door a while later. I don’t know how long I’ve been holed up inside. I call out and Dad pokes his head inside, looking worried. “You okay, kiddo?”

“I’m just holding it together, I guess.” I force a smile. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Yeah, well, the thing is there’s a guy at the door. He says he’s Simon and he’s your husband.”

I shove myself to my feet. I must look like a mess right now, but I shouldn’t care about that. Dad’s looking uncomfortable, and I can’t blame him. He knows about Simon, but he hasn’t actually met my fake husband just yet.

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