Page 13 of Perfect Sin

I search the crowd trying to catch the first sight of him in days. Finally, I spot him standing off to the side talking with a beautiful blonde. He told me what his parents were planning, and I tried to prepare myself for it, but actually seeing it hurts.

Maybe it’s because it dredges up feelings from seeing him with Tessa, or it could just be because unlike me, he was meant for this world. If my father never took him and destroyed his life, perhaps the blonde would be exactly the type of woman he’d have sought out.

My chest aches. Over and over he tried to push me away thinking he wasn’t good enough for me. The reality is he’s the son of a governor, upstanding and contributing members of society. I’m the daughter of a crime lord. He might have lived in the shadows, but I was born here.

Is this how he felt? This feeling that I should let him go to give him a chance to be happy?

“Stop it,” Lucien whispers.

I lick my lips. “Maybe we should let him have this world. We shouldn’t drag him back down into ours.”

Lucien grasps both of my shoulders and turns me to face him. “He loves you, Raven. You want to give him what he deserves? His life has been pain and suffering. You are the first person to take him as he is. Don’t you dare turn your back on him to save him. It won’t work, and all you will do is make him feel more alone than ever.”

“He looks happy, though,” I mumble. Not to mention, there is a darkness swirling around me. He has a chance to escape, and I should let him if he chooses to free himself from the turmoil I bring.

As if he can sense our presence his head snaps up and locks on us. He smiles, and my heart seizes. Sin takes a step away from his date, but before he gets far she grabs his elbow. The move makes me want to punch her in the throat.

“Retract your claws,” Lucien says quietly.

Together, Sin and the blonde move through the crowd toward us. She glances back over her shoulder and picks up her pace. He matches it and in seconds I’m standing in front of him for the first time in days.

Sin grabs my left hand and fondles the simple ring he put on my finger what feels like a lifetime ago, but was actually only a few days. There is so much to say, and yet no words will express succinctly how much I’ve missed him.

He drops my hand and cradles my face. “You are my everything.”

Before I can tell him I love him, he kisses me. Our lips mold together gently, then faster. My body is alive for the first time since we’ve been apart, and I gasp into his mouth. He takes the opportunity to plunge his tongue into my mouth and remind me of all the wonderfully naughty things he’s capable of doing.

Lucien clears his throat. “Unlike Ford, some of us don’t like watching the two of you get it on.”

My face burns as I recall the night Sin bound me in the gym and fucked me while Ford watched. Marrying me would have been enough of a message that I was his, but Sin doesn’t do anything the normal way.

Sin drops his hands from my face and takes my hand again. “Raven, I want to introduce you to Whitney.”

She beams at me. “It’s really nice to meet you. Sin’s told me so much about you.”

Whitney bumps him with her shoulder. “She’s hot.”

“Don’t flirt with my wife,” he growls.

She laughs at my confused expression. “I’m a lesbian. I think he’s feeling threatened.”

Lucien smiles and shakes his head. “Sin is a possessive asshole. Be careful or he’ll tie her up and show you exactly who she belongs to.”

“Oh my god,” I snap under my breath. “I’m going to kill Ford for telling you that.”

“There are cameras in the gym, dumbass.”

“You didn’t watch it,” Sin growls.

“No, I erased it, but I got the gist. Thanks for that, by the way. Did you know eyeball bleach doesn’t exist?”

Whitney looks over her shoulder again, and her expression falls. “Uh oh, here come the parents.”

Sin drops my hand and I frown. I know they don’t like me, but I hadn’t anticipated he’d let that determine how he acts around me. Those feelings flitter away when he puts his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to his side.

“Jackson,” his father snaps. “This display is unacceptable. I thought I made myself clear that you aren’t to have anything to do with the Blackthorne girl.”

His fingers tighten on my skin, as if I can be pulled away from him any minute. “I thought I made myself clear that you won’t keep me away from my wife. Also, I’m not a child, so stop trying to treat me like one.”

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