Page 2 of Perfect Sin

Of course, I’d grown up believing I was sold by my parents. It never occurred to me I was actually taken. Not that I have all the details yet, but nothing he’s said so far indicates they willingly gave me up. If I’d spent more time trying to figure out the mystery of my past I wouldn’t be away from Raven right now.

“If that is the case, it’ll be annulled,” he sniffs, wrenching me from my musing.

“And you can do that without my participation?” He could, if he were willing to use bribery and coercion. Simply because he doesn’t have the reputation for such practices doesn’t mean he won’t. He could just be a much better criminal than Damien.

“I’m not scum like Blackthorne. I assure you, you’ll sign where instructed when the time comes.”

“How exactly do you expect to compel me?” I cock my head to the side. “What tools could you possibly have to force me to do something, anything, I don’t want to do?”

Whitmore, because I can’t think of this sniveling bitch as my father, is floundering. “Like I said, once you’ve settled in, you’ll see things more clearly. You’ll have a chance to become who you were always meant to be.”

Another dark chuckle rumbles in my chest. “You’re a fool. I’m never going to be the son you lost. Nothing in your world appeals to me. They don’t just call me Sin because it’s short for Sinclair. I’m the nightmare that wakes you up in the middle of the night. Corner me and see how that works out for you.”

* * *

The journeyback from Playa Pacifica feels longer than the days Lucien, Raven, and I spent in our truck. Having Raven pressed against me was the sweetest torture. Back when I had to fight to keep my reactions to her locked down and I thought I’d burn from unrequited desire.

Whitmore expects me to be swayed by the extravagance he has access to. A town car to the airport, a private plane to Chicago, followed by another town car to his sprawling mansion in Cedar Hills. The suburb is the home of the super rich who have escaped the escalating violence of the city. His world is isolated and insulated from people like me. How he imagines I’ll fit in here is mind baffling.

Soon enough, though, he’ll see me as the shadow looming in the corner. For too long I’ve existed in the darkness, operating on the fringe of society. Maybe if I hadn’t been taken as a child, if I didn’t spend my childhood being degraded and used, and my teenage years being turned into a tool for a war that I never signed up to fight, I might fit in this glittering palace.

I didn’t belong with Blackthorne, but I don’t belong here either. The only place I fit is beside Raven. She’s the only person who’s seen all of me and accepted me anyway.

“Jackson!” A tiny woman shrieks and runs toward me the second I step out of the car.

My reflexes are honed to a knife’s edge, and I evade her before she can wrap her arms around me. “I don’t like being touched,” I warn her.

She starts to cry. “I’ve missed you so much,” she wails and tries to hug me again.

I grip her arms and keep her from getting too close. In the back of my mind I know the right thing to do would be to extend sympathy to this woman who lost her child. However, it’s hard for me to reconcile the fact I was that child. Whether they found me or not, I doubt I’ll ever be anything close to the person she is searching for.

“I appreciate you’ve lost your child. I’m not ever going to be whoever you need me to be.” Fuck this. I don’t have a plan, but staying here isn’t going to do shit for my goals.

I turn to walk right back down the long ass driveway, determined to climb the gate to get out if I need to. The guards, agents of the governor’s protective detail step in front of me blocking my retreat. “Mr. Whitmore, you need to follow your parents into the house.”

“And if I choose not to? Are you all willing to detain me against my will? Do you really think you can stop me?”

I calculate the moves I’ll need to make to take down both men. It won’t be easy. They’re likely former military, and both are the size of mountains. However, they are used to working on the right side of the law. I have no such limitations.

“Governor, we can’t legally hold him if he wants to go,” one of the guards agrees.

“Get him inside or you’re fired,” Arthur threatens.

The other giant grabs me from behind. I really hate being touched. I bash my head backward into his nose. The crack is audible, and he drops my arms to try and stop the torrent of blood gushing from his face.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” I shout. My breath comes out in ragged pants. Not now. I can’t have a panic attack now.

“Jackson, please come in. I’d very much like to talk to you,” Carina Whitmore begs.

I continue to walk away from the house. She reaches out to grab my arm, and then drops it before she makes impact. “It’s already quite late. Where are you going to go tonight?”

She has a point. I doubt I can stroll right back into Blackthorne Manor and take Raven with me. I need to regroup, get a hold of Lucien, and figure out what to do next.

“Give me my phone back, and I’ll come in. I’m not staying long,” I warn.

Arthur isn’t ready to back down so easily. “I will not give you your phone so you can contact the Blackthorne girl.”

“She’s. My. Wife,” I say through my teeth. “No one is keeping me away from her. Keep pushing me and I’ll walk right now. I think your wife would prefer I visit a bit though.”

---