Page 39 of Pretty Monsters

I hear someone inhale, probably Ford. I see him approach the exam table. He winces when he sees my face, and I can only imagine how bad it is. "I promise I won't say anything to anyone. You can trust me, Alice."

"I trusted my brother," I mutter.

"How about I help you set his balls on fire?" he teases.

"That will bring me closer to trusting you. Probably shouldn't let you though. Ask Jackson, he's got a mean right hook."

He smirks, and he really is handsome. He's the kind of guy I would have gone for if I'd had a chance at a normal life. "I was kind of hoping that was from you."

"Nah, but hopefully I'll get the next one," I quip.

"Are the two of you, together?"

"I'm not sure why we're talking about this now, but we aren't. I'm not even sure we're friends."

"Then why–"

"Stay in your lane, Ford," Sin warns. "We've had a shitty morning, and right now isn't the time for you to get shot down."

"Alice, you can come and stay with us. I don't want you to go back where you aren't safe."

"You can't keep her safe. And before you try and argue with me, you have no idea what kind of man we're running from."

"How are you involved in all of this, anyway?"

"That falls under the category of none of your fucking business."

"Sin!" I yell, and instantly regret it.

Rubber soles squeak over the flooring, and I feel his presence next to me before I can see him with my peripheral vision. "Look, she won't forgive herself if something happens to any of you. Anyone who gets involved in this is in danger. I can't protect her and the rest of you."

"If he's that bad, why not call the cops?"

Carmen speaks up, and I realize she never left the room. "I have to agree with Ford. You should be calling the police."

Sin laughs, but it sounds dark and foreboding rather than humorous. "He owns the police, several FBI agents, some judges, some attorneys general, and has trained killers on standby to do whatever he says."

"And you know this how?" Ford persists.

"Because up until the night I helped her brother sneak her out of the house I was one of them."

Ford shakes his head. "This sounds insane, and yet you're about as funny as a funeral, so I don't think you're joking. Alice, you've got to come and stay with us. No way you are better off in the hands of an assassin."

"I don't know. I think only a monster can destroy another one," I say throwing his words back at him.

"Well, he's doing a shit job protecting you. Your own brother did this? Shit," he blurts out and pulls at his hair.

"Do you think I'm worthless because I'm not a virgin?" I'm not sure why those words leave my mouth. I can blame being hit on the head, but I couldn't get Lucien's words out of my mind.

"What?" Ford freezes.

"Just forget it," I mumble.

"Is that what this is about?" he glares at Sin.

"No, just it's stupid. I'm blurting things out, and I'd very much like to take it back now."

"Tell me," he pushes. I'm starting to see he and Sin aren't very different. I doubt Ford has killed anyone, but maybe this is who Sin would be if he wasn't purchased by a sociopath as a child.

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