Page 17 of Sin

“I’ve, ah, kind of befriended Ares and Hunter.”

Livia searched her face. “Both, as in both?”

“Yeah.”

“Those men don’t do friendship, Adira.”

“Well, it’s probably more accurate to say I’ll be a plaything.”

“Plaything? Oh, hell no! You’re not going back, and you’re certainly not going—”

Adira put her hand on Livia’s mouth, shutting her up.

“Please listen.” She didn’t move her hand away until Livia nodded her agreement. “My parents betrayed me in the worst possible way. While I thought they sheltered me from a wicked world, turns out they were the wicked in my world. There is a complete side of me that my upbringing suppressed, and I really want to explore myself.”

“Are you talking about sex?”

“Amongst other things,” Adria replied.

“Honey, most people don’t know what turns them on. But that doesn’t mean you go finding it in a motorcycle club. The Death Riders aren’t good people.”

Doubt crept into her mind, but then she remembered her involvement with Ares and Hunter was just a temporary thing. No strings attached. No hearts to be broken.

“You’re dating one of them,” she reminded her.

Livia groaned. “I should’ve seen that coming.”

“I know about them,” she told Livia. “Well, I have an idea. But I also know it’s not going to last. This isn’t about them taking advantage of me, Livia, this is about me learning who I am.”

“Through sex?”

“Sex is one part. It’s this part. A few weeks down the road it’ll be another part. I love that you worry about me, but this is something I’ve got to do.”

Livia threw her head back and let out a sigh. “Okay,” she said reluctantly. “But if they hurt you, I’m going to be taking names and busting ass.”

Adira laughed. “Deal.”

Chapter Eight

The next day, right at noon, she entered The Pussy Willow. Since it had just opened, there weren’t too many customers. The place looked different in the daytime. The bartender waved at her and she smiled back before slipping through the door marked PERSONNEL and hurried down the hallway. The door of Ares’s office stood ajar and she peeked in and saw him at his desk, sifting through paperwork. She gently knocked and he glanced up, a smile appearing.

“Is now a bad time?” she asked.

“No, come in. Sit down.”

She did just that and placed her backpack next to her. “I wasn’t sure what to wear so I brought back the black dress.”

He looked her over, from her jeans to her t-shirt. “The dress is perfect. Did you bring my paperwork?”

“Oh, yes.” She reached into the backpack to grab the folder and hand it over. “Here.”

Ares placed the folder on his desk but didn’t glance at it. He was too busy staring at her.

“What?” she asked, shifting a little in her seat. After what happened last night, her libido seemed to stand up and tap dance at the first sight of him.

“Have you changed your mind?”

She blinked. “Why would I change my mind?”

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