Page 46 of Pretty Broken Promises

“I know what you're thinking,” he says. I don't say anything, because I'm sure he's going to continue speaking whether I ask him to clarify or not.

“I can see the wheels turning in your head. I bet right about now you are feeling guilty that you haven't been fucked up the same way the three of us have been. But think about this, Raven, Tessa, and I belong to this exclusive club that no one wants to join. You don't want to really understand what we're saying, but part of you feels left out nonetheless.”

I scoff. “That's stupid.” It's not stupid. “I'm just pissed because I can't take away her pain.”

Sin nods. “I believe that, but you're also feeling guilty because you think that our trauma is worse than yours. That's not how it works. Your pain is yours, just because someone else is perceived to have endured something worse doesn't mean what you've lived through is not awful. Don't let your dickhead of a father off the hook just because I fell into the hands of a demon. Because, see here’s the thing, Damien is not my father. The man who abused me, who let other men abuse me, was not the man responsible for creating me. My parents never stopped looking for me, yours didn't protect you. So, my pain isn't worse than yours, it's just different.”

I let those words sink in and realize he’s right, I have a right to my pain. Another epiphany hits me, and I look down at Tessa to make sure she hears every word I say. “Just because you were only there for three days doesn't mean that you suffered less than Tracy and Lydia.”

“I want to get my power back,” she whispers to me.

“Anything you want, Vixen, and it's yours,” I promise her again.

“I might have a suggestion,” Sin says.

I don't know what he's going to say exactly, but I already hate it.

ChapterTwenty

TESSA

“Are you guys hungry?”Sin asks.

“It’s like five in the afternoon, Sin,” Ford points out.

Sin assesses each of us. “We’re going to want to change. Our ladies are probably going to want to do what they do to drive us insane.”

Raven stretches up on her toes and kisses him on the cheek. “You love it, don't complain.”

“Mmm, but I'm a little bit of a masochist,” he teases her back.

Raven heads my way, grabs my arm, and tugs me toward the house. “C’mon, I'll do your hair.”

“How dressy is the place you're taking us to? I don't have a trust fund anymore, so unless this is a place with a value menu, it's probably out of our price range,” I protest.

She shakes her head. “Our suggestion, our treat.”

“Tessa’s right, it's too much. You guys already helped us with our plane tickets,” Ford adds.

“Do you think I give a shit about money? You were there with me when I got my identity, so do you think I had money before that?” He points at Raven. “She's all I need. As long as I have her, the rest is just details. All that money in our account means nothing if we can't use it to take care of our family, and as far as Raven and I are concerned, you guys are family.”

My mouth is open in shock. Jackson Sinclair is not a warm and fuzzy guy. We call the man Sin for fuck’s sake, so to hear him talk about us as family kind of chokes me up a little bit. Raven tips her head slightly acknowledging the emotional overload I am feeling.

She gives my hand another tug, and together we walk into the house. I have no idea what I'm going to wear because I don't know where we're going. “What kind of dress are we talking here?”

It's not like I've never been to a fancy restaurant. This is the world I grew up in after all. I'm not even worried that I won't have anything to wear. I gave up my trust fund, not my closet. Sure, some of my clothes might be out of style by several seasons, if you were someone who keeps up on such things, but I tended to buy the more classic pieces that never go out of style.

I lay a couple of options down on the bed. Raven considers each one and sets them aside. She has a serious expression on her face when she sits down at the end of my bed facing me.

“The restaurant we're going to is more like a club. Not a nightclub, but more like a country club. Javier belongs to it, and he gave us a membership as a wedding present. They have all of the things that you would imagine at a country club, golf, tennis, a pool, and a few things you wouldn’t. The members of this club are younger than most country clubs, and they have activities that cater to this crowd.”

I can tell by the way she's hedging her words that there's an underlying meaning that she's having trouble spelling out. Then it hits me like a cliché moment in a cartoon where a lightbulb suddenly illuminates over a character’s head, and I blurt out, “Oh my God, you're taking us to a sex club!”

Her blue eyes open as wide as saucers, but despite the shocked look on her face, she doesn't dispute what I said immediately. “It's not exactly a sex club. There are parties—” She holds her hands out in front of her, probably because of the look of horror and curiosity on my face. “We haven't gone to those. I just know about them because people talk. However, they have these private dining rooms where you are mostly secluded, but there’s still a chance someone could walk in. We have taken advantage of those.”

I gasp slightly, and she just shrugs. “He has a thing for being watched. I'm not really into it, so we've compromised. The public location and the chance of being caught is still enough for him.”

“And you? How do you feel about it?” I ask her.

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