Page 12 of Holy Sinner

Like a ghost just barely surviving.

Kit makes everything feel real. That means I have memorized every mannerism and smile, every pitch to her voice and nervous tick she has. There isn’t a thing about Kit that I don’t know and love. That’s how I knew she was off earlier when she poured me a whiskey and brought it to me. She does this regularly after a long day but from the lip print on my glass, I knew she’d had some for herself.

Kit doesn’t drink whiskey.

She likes wine and cocktails. Give my woman a Long Island and she’s one and done. Sometimes she’ll throw back a shot of the vodka Grant keeps in the freezer when she’s feeling wild and wants to play. She always climbs into bed with us, a faint chill to her kiss from the freezing vodka shot she’d just downed on those nights.

But whiskey? No, that isn’t Kit’s style. Except tonight it is.

Secrets, secrets, secrets.

“I love it so much. I-It’s like something a princess would wear,” Kit whispers and stares down at the open box in front of her. It’s from an up-and-coming boutique. The fashion designer that opened it won some reality show or something recently, so lines are out the door and the one-of-a-kind pieces there are bought out for months. But not if you’re Rafe Burdock and his idiot boyfriend Grant Stone. When we walk into a boutique, shit happens and dresses that make Kit look like she’s going to burst into tears are delivered right the fuck now. This dress is strapless and gold, the layers delicate and airy, made to flow around her when she moves. She won’t look like a princess in it, though.

She’s going to look like a golden goddess.

“And that’s not all, sweetheart,” Grant tells her. I can hear the pride in his voice. I’d normally sneer at him but not now. Not when he actually has a reason to sound smug about something that matters.

“What do you mean?” Kit looks up from the box and to him but not before her eyes come to me. I lift my glass and smile at her.

“It’s from both of us.”

“You didn’t have to get something. I-I mean, it’s too much for a two month anniversary and-”

“We know we didn’t,” I tell her and throw back the last of my drink, “we’ve never done a thing we didn’t want to do.”

Grant sniffs like he’s annoyed with me but I know different. “He’s right. Everything we do for you, we want to. Including this.” He opens the velvet box in his hand with a snap and Kit gasps.

“I love it.”

It’s a bracelet. Simple, really, for what I would have wanted to get her, but Kit’s tastes are on the discreet side. She’d never let me drape her in diamonds like I’d want to. Once we get her into her dress it’s still going to be a battle to stop her from getting nervous. She’s gotten better at it–at least she was before the photos.

Today’s photo feels like it set her back but in a different way.

Kit reaches for the bracelet but Grant stops her. He holds it up for a moment. A solid band with a delicate chain clasp to keep it fastened. All our names are engraved into the inside of the bracelet, Kit’s in the middle, mine on the left and Grant’s on the right with sapphires between each name. The jeweler we contacted told us the pattern represented eternal fidelity and loyalty, which felt as close to an engagement ring as we were going to get Kit to accept. Not to mention, the jeweler wasn’t shy about sharing how sapphires “also promote peace between adversaries–it’s really a wonderful stone for a harmonious home,” she’d said, glancing between Grant and me with a grin. She knew there was tension between us from the murder-death looks Grant sent my way. For what? Who fucking knew–but we’d liked the idea of giving Kit that as a promise.

We’re warming her up to the idea of more. It’s going to happen anyway, but I’d rather have an excited Kit than a skittish one. One step at a time.

Fuck. Is that why she’s hiding something from us? Why she was different today at the end of filming? What if someone is threatening her? Would I know? I’d have to. I’m not that fucking stupid. Of course I would know if someone was threatening her.

“Let me do that, sweetheart.” Grant turns the bracelet so she can see our names and the glittering stones linking them together. “There’s a surprise, too.”

Kit whimpers and claps a hand over her mouth. I know what that means. “Shy girl,” I sigh and move to her side. She turns and throws her arms around me.

“It’s so thoughtful and beautiful. No one has ever gotten me anything like this.” Her shoulders shake from crying and I wrap my arm around her shoulder and drop a kiss to the top of her head. She feels so small against me, slight and vulnerable. I want to wrap myself around her until she’s safe.

But what is she keeping from me?

Does she have a secret because she feels like she has to?

I take a deep breath and force a smile for Kit, even though she can’t see. “You deserve nothing but thoughtful and beautiful,” I murmur to her and Kit cries harder.

Grant looks like he’s hurting too from the sight of Kit crying. “There’s sapphires. They mean loyalty and fidelity. It’s our promise to you, Kit. We’re yours forever.”

Kit wails and Grant looks like he’s going to pass out. I get it.

I snag her wrist and lift it to my mouth, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist. “No tears, shy girl. We can’t take it. Now, let Grant put that on.”

“I-I can’t help it. You’re both so perfect,” Kit sniffles, but she holds out her wrist like I asked her to and Grant fastens the bracelet. It looks good on her, the gold a pretty contrast to the tan of her skin. She brings her wrist and the bracelet close to her chest and hugs it with a watery smile.

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