Page 38 of Perfect Sin

“It doesn’t have to be complicated, unless you make it that way.”

“The hell it doesn’t. You can’t keep pulling this cord and expecting me to jump,” she snaps, some of her fire returning.

“I wouldn’t have had to if you would have replied to my texts.”

Raven turns to face me and fists her hands in my shirt. My woman is struggling, and I’m not sure how to help her. It makes me feel powerless, and that’s a feeling I can’t accept.

She takes a deep breath and turns back around. “You aren’t supposed to get me to talk to you. There’s no reason for us to have any contact. Get this through your thick skull once and for all, you and I are nothing. We’ll never be anything.”

She holds up her left hand, flashing her wedding ring. “See this? I’m married. There’s no reason for you to try and contact me again.”

He rolls his eyes dismissively. “We’ll see about that. I’ve heard his parents don’t exactly support your marriage.”

“I don’t give a shit what you’ve heard, and Sin doesn’t care what his parents think. Whatever angle you think you can exploit here doesn’t exist.”

“You guys really know how to have a good time,” Jesse chides. He turns to Kyle. “I’m neglecting my guests.”

He reaches behind him and pulls Tessa from the crush of bodies. “The party is just getting started.”

“Hey, Sin,” she shouts over the noise.

“Looks like you found a new group of friends,” I comment.

“I didn’t really have a choice. Everyone dropped me after the weekend at the cabin.”

A woman comes over and loops her arm through Tessa’s. “Who’s your friend?”

“Poppy, this is Sin. He’s a friend of Ford’s,” Tessa introduces us.

Poppy moves closer to me and pushes Raven out of the way. I move her aside and reach for Raven. “Watch yourself.”

She ignores my warning and trails her long red nails down my arm. “Sin? What an interesting name. I’d love to hear how you got it.”

“Get out of my way,” I say through clenched teeth as I try and get around her again. There are people everywhere, and the more I try and move them, the more they push back. I could force them aside, but I’m equally as likely to start a fight as get closer to Raven.

When she doesn’t listen, I grab her arms and push her aside. I look around, but Raven is gone.

“Don’t go,” she pouts. “We just met. I can show you a good time.” She reaches out to touch me again, and I grab her wrist.

“I don’t care to figure out why you’re so desperate for attention from a guy who clearly doesn’t want anything to do with you. That’s something for you to work out with your therapist. You need to get the fuck out of my way so I can find my wife.”

Poppy pouts. “Wife? You can do better. Marriage is boring. Come on, live a little. Let me show you how.”

“Still not interested.”

Ford and Shane finally shove their way through the crowd. “Come on, I saw them drag her toward the back. Let’s go,” Ford says.

The three of us push and shove our way through the crowd, earning glares and some elbows as we move.

Lucien cuts through the crowd and stops next to us. “Where is my sister?”

I yank Tessa by the arm and pull her toward the kitchen in the back. “Where the fuck did they take her? Was this your plan? Distract me so they could get her alone?”

She lifts her chin and crosses her arms. “I don’t owe you anything.”

Ford puts his hand on my shoulder, but I shake it off. “Sin, let me handle this,” he insists.

Tessa relaxes for a second, until he roughly grasps her chin. “Don’t fuck with me right now, Tess. You know what Jesse is capable of. Where did they take her?”

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