Page 91 of A Sinner's Saint

I was a fool to think everything would be okay this time around. This is why I kept my heart guarded. It’s going to hurt, but not as much. I hope.

I was the idiot, fool me once and all that. I wanted it so badly I jumped in head-first and hoped for the best. That’s the thing with hope. It doesn’t always work out. Times like this, I wish I was the saint Vin claims me to be. If I were, I’d perform miracles and make Vin mine. Really mine. I’d make his nightmares disappear, and I’d make sure we got the happy ending to our story.

“Cammi, you’re thinking so loud I can hear you all the way over here,” Dash says.

“I’m reading,” I tell him.

“Some talent you have there, reading upside down and all.” He laughs.

I look down at the book I’m holding and quickly turn it the other way. “Don’t be jealous, Dash. We all have talents.”

“You know he’s going to show up,” Dash says.

“I know.” The lie slips from my lips.

“Do you?”

“I want to,” I admit.

“But you’re worried.” Dash nods. “Understandable. But trust me when I tell you that boy loves you, Cammi. More than loves you. He’s downright obsessed.”

“I know he loves me. It’s not that, that I’m worried about,” I tell Dash.

“What are you worried about then?”

Before I can answer his question, my bedroom window opens. Dash is about to get up off the bed when a foot pops through, and he relaxes back against the headboard with a smirk.

“Told you,” he says to me.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ilove my family. I really do. But sometimes I wish they weren’t so fucking needy. I’ve been gone all afternoon and night, dealing with a problem Gio needed fixing. I’ve finally made it to Cammi’s house. I was going to message her, but it’s late and I didn’t want to wake her if she was asleep. When I stop on the street, I see Dash’s car still parked in the driveway. I’dasked him to keep an eye on her for me. I didn’t expect him to still be here, though.

My hand reaches for the tree next to Cammi’s window when my phone rings. I pull it out and press answer. “What’s up?” I try to keep the annoyance out of my voice. Because Gio might be my older brother, but he’s also the boss of the family. Which means no matter what I’m feeling, he’s owed a level of respect.

“You good? Where are you?” Gio asks.

“Just got to Cammi’s. Are you really calling to check up on me, bro?”

“Ellie wanted to know. How is she?”

“Ah, tell her I’m fine. I’m good. I haven’t seen Cammi for hours. Is there anything else you need? I’m kinda busy,” I tell my brother.

“Nope, Marcel said you went overboard,” Gio says, and there’s his real reason for checking up on me.

“I did what you asked. I delivered a message,” I tell him.

“Usually, people need to be alive to spread the message, Vin. No one learns shit from a dead man.”

“Huh, I’ll keep that in mind.” I know I’m being a smart-ass. I might have lost my cool today, but I don’t care. I needed to let off some pent-up anger and resentment. All directed at myself, because I fucking broke the woman I love. In trying to protect her, I nearly fucking killed her. A mistake I’m not going to make twice.

“You do that,” Gio says, then cuts the call.

“Nice chat.” I shake my head and pocket my phone. When I climb through Cammi’s bedroom window, all that anger comes back to the surface and is directed right at my fucking best friend sitting on my fiancée’s bed like he doesn’t have a care in the world. “Move, asshole,” I growl at him.

“Thanks for keeping my girl company while I was busy, Dash,”he says while mimicking my voice before answering himself. “Oh, no worries, mate. Don’t mention it.”

“Thank you. I didn’t expect you to still be here,” I tell him, while moving my eyes over to Cammi. She’s sitting on the small chair in the corner of her room.

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