Page 23 of Fearless Sinner

“I’ll give you three weeks, so you get until the end of the month to pay up. That’s it.” Those words sound wrong to me because I highly doubt she’ll come up with the money. That’s reason enough for me to say no, but I won’t.

Hope sparks in her eyes. It looks foreign on her, but it brightens her face. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I’m so sorry this has happened.I will do anything and everything in my power to find a way to pay back the loan.”

I’m hooked on the words anything and everything. Poor lass. She doesn’t seem to know thatyou don’t say shit like that to a man like me and not expect him to have indecorous thoughts of what anything and everything might mean.Or how far she’d go.

“Good luck.”

“Thank you.”

My gaze drops to her lips. She notices me staring and instantly looks flushed.

“I should go. Thank you for your time.” She gives me a polite, good-girl smile and tries to walk away, but I’m not done with her yet.

“What was a girl like you doing with a guy like Nathan Ferrera?”

She stops in her tracks and turns back slowly to face me. The unease returns to her expression.

“You looked up the case?”

“You told me to.” I give her a clipped smile.

“I… didn’t know he was like that. He played on my dreams and I believed his lies.”

“What were your dreams?” Curiosity has me again.

“To dance on a stage so the world could see me.”

“And you did.”

She pulls in a little breath. “Not long enough.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve given up.”

“No, it’s not that. Nathan clipped my wings. Literally.”

The way she says that makes my gaze drift to her legs, and I remember what I read about the GBH charges in relation to her. I didn’t go into specifics. Now I wish I had.

I would have known before now that the asshole broke her legs.

I don’t know her, but a flash of anger ripples through me when I think of what he must have done to her. And how she suffered.

As I stare back at her, I realize what interests me so much about her. She looks like a person who already knows what it feels like to lose everything, and she’s trying to find her way back.

She backs away, breaking my thoughts. “Good day, Mr. O’Ridian.”

“Cillian,” I correct her. “Call me Cillian.”

“Cillian.” She says my name like she’s just trying it out, then she dips her head and leaves.

I watch her until she disappears from my sight, then I stare at the door like I can still see her.

Miss Chloe Ricci definitely has my interest but now she also has my attention.

And I want to know more.

Chapter Seven

Chloe

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