Page 31 of Sinner's Secret

The smile on Yvgeny’s face fell away as if it never existed. “No. And I don’t know if they’re fucking with you or the family.” Yvgeny said. “But either way, it brings too much attention to you and the family.”

“I was at the police station tonight. Someone showed up claiming to be my lawyer.”

Yvgeny waved this away. “Your name on an arrest warrant is enough to alert our legal team.”

Interesting. He hadn’t known that. “Since when?”

“Since you came to New York a couple of years ago.”

“So, what, you’re my babysitter now?”

“Someone needs to keep an eye on you, Baz. You’re not the most rational man...at times.”

He saw it then, the flash of fear crossing Yvgeny’s face. All this time, and his cousin was still afraid of him, afraid of what would happen if he let the evil creature inside him loose upon the world.

It had been a lot of years since he’d made humanity pay for the loss of his wife and child. Several centuries, in fact. He’d become a monster then, killing regular humans and vampires alike in the most gruesome of ways. It had taken more than a decade for him to cage the monster inside him. He’d spent the time between then and now, paying penance for his many, many sins.

Yvgeny wasn’t his babysitter, his job was a lot more dangerous. If Baz turned rabid again, Yvgeny was the one who would execute him.

Well, he’d try anyway.

“How many people do you have on the payroll at the Bronx police station?”

“None.” Yvgeny huffed. “The days of rampant corruption in the police force are long past.”

This should be interesting. Baz leaned forward. “I wasn’t under arrest and yet a lawyer showed up.”

Yvgeny stared at him for a long second before he frowned. “You had to be.”

Baz shook his head.

Yvgeny swore with creative enthusiasm. “Then he wasn’t my lawyer.”

“Or,” Baz said in a drawl. “He isn’t always your lawyer.”

Yvgeny exploded out of his chair. He paced around the room with clenched fists and a narrow gaze that meant he was thinking about killing something. Or someone. “It appears this problem of yours is bigger than just you.”

“That’s what I was afraid you’d say.”

His cousin flashed his teeth in a mockery of a smile. “You’re not afraid of anything. You’re the apex predator among us. The boogeyman hiding in the shadows.”

Yvgeny was sooooo much more paranoid than he was. “If that were true, the rest of you would have destroyed me completely, not left me alone to drown myself in alcohol.”

Yvgeny laughed, but it contained a high-pitched note of hysteria. “Don’t pretend you didn’t make the deal.”

Huh? “What deal?”

“My delightful aunt informed all of us, in great detail, of the pact you made with her. You’d stay out of politics, out of sight, and live like a pauper. But, you’d be set loose on anyone who didn’t follow the agreed upon rules of conduct.”

Holy shit. “Like some kind of attack dog?”

“Yes,” Yvgeny stopped next to Baz and flashed his canines at him. “A mindless killing machine. The monster every living thing on this planet should fear.”

Unfortunately, his mother had always had a taste for drama. He could see her delivering a threat like this, especially centuries ago.

But she should have told him.

“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Baz said in a bored drawl.

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