Page 77 of Sins

Simon

“Nice place you got here. Hope you don’t mind me droppin’ in.” Kurt moved around my living room and stopped at my bookshelf. “I see you have your beloved books.” He hooked the top of the spine of a book with his finger then tilted the books forward one at a time. “I don’t get why people keep books.” I slid the chicken casserole into the oven with an eyeroll. “You’ve read ’em all, so why keep them?”

I swallowed back my surprise at his unexpected visit and decided to make an effort. “You love the movieShawshank, right?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, “it’s a classic.”

“How many times have you seen it?”

“At least thirty.”

“What’s the difference with books?” I made my point. “I re-read them all the time. They’re classics to me like your movies.”

“I guess.” His lips tugged upward, but I could tell he didn’t get it at all. He had no understanding of the love for literature. He let the book he fingered go, and it fell back into place, then he plucked up the one and only photo I kept of my family. “Is this the notorious bastard?” I gave him a hard look to be careful on that subject, and he made a face. “I’m just shocked you have one, let alone on display.”

I set the timer and tossed the oven mitt on the table. “It’s the only one of my mother and me, and I can’t help it if he’s in it. At least he’s not wearing that stupid leather vest.” I pulled the photo from his hand and slammed it into a desk drawer.

“Shit, he really did a number on you, didn’t he?”

I sank into the chair while he moved to the couch across from me. “My skull still has the scars from his temper,” I answered rather dramatically with my hands to my head. “My father was a man who didn’t take no for an answer. He beat me whenever he felt like it, and the older I got, the worse it got.”

“And when it got to be too much, a Stripe Back did the deed.” He smiled because he thought he knew the truth, but he didn’t.

“Not entirely.” I inched my glasses up my nose. “The Stripe Back was already dead, actually,” I grinned and enjoyed how delicious it felt to risk the truth for once. “He just took the blame.”

“Hold up.” He threw up his hands and pulled in his chin. I could see he got a sick thrill from my confession. “You dog! How’d you kill him? Gunshot? Stabbing?”

I lifted my eyebrows at him. I ignored his question “I remember his words exactly. The ones that pushed me over the edge. ‘You’re such a waste.’ That’s when I drove an axe into his chest.”

“Damn, Simon!” He looked impressed and cheered. “You are a sick son of a bitch. That’s cold. Your own father, damn!” He smacked his thigh.

I looked away and took a deep breath to steady myself. His death was on my hands, it was true, but the reality was it had come down to me or him, and I’d just swung first.

“Just when I think you’re too boring for me,” he slapped his hands together, “bam! You hit me with another surprise. Christ, you’d make a great Potens member.”

“No.” I shot that shit down quick like I always did whenever he brought it up.

He raised his hands. “I know, I know, no memberships allowed.” He rubbed the back of his head. “What about your mom? Did you off her too?” I glared at him, and his mouth jerked at my response. “Sorry. You just never talk about them.”

I closed my eyes when I thought about my father and Allen and the unthinkable things they’d done to my precious mother. “She died.” I stood when I smelled the casserole. “Which you will if you don’t leave.”

“Fine,” he kicked his feet up on the table, “but not ’til dinner’s served. It smells really good.”

I rolled my eyes and headed for the kitchen. When would he learn I hated company?

My doorbell rang and jerked me from my memory. I rubbed my eyes then tapped my phone to see it was just after one in the morning. I had taken a fistful of painkillers and must have passed out on the couch. It rang again, and when I moved, I felt a sharp pain rip through my entire body.

“Answer it or I’ll kick it down,” Grim barked. I limped to the door and opened it to find him and Jesse looking like members of some gangster crew. “Invite us in.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.” He stepped forward as I moved out of the way.

I peeked around to see if anyone else was out there, but I couldn’t spot anyone, and that almost was more nerve-wracking. “I don’t have much more flesh to pound.”

“There’s always bones.” Grim undid the button on his jacket, sat on the couch, and ran an arm along the back of the chair. “Sit.”

Jesse stepped back and folded his hands in front of him. He alone was frightening, but I’d seen what the two of them were capable of, so I didn’t waste any time doing what I was told.

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