Page 79 of The Sin

I thought Roman was done, but he had more. He looked at Councilman Otter. “You have a gambling addiction. There’s a den in The Smelt that could be your second home. Now granted, gambling isn’t illegal, but you’re the self-claimed face of the Puritans. No doubt your pious brothers would consider that an unforgivable sin, not to mention the duplicity that wouldn’t reflect well on the Puritan church.”

Otter’s mouth flattened. He didn’t say a word.

Roman’s gaze flicked to the other two councilmen. Chesterfield and Langley. “I’m sure I could find your dirt if I went digging, but that’s not necessary, is it? When half the council members fall, you all fall, and the Eastern Coalition is bigger than the Capra Council. The Protectorate and the High Wardens may decide it’s time for a clean slate, time to bring in fresh blood, and they wouldn’t be wrong.”

Silent glances slithered between the five men like a snake, devious and toxic. Who could stab who in the back to save their own skin?Which one of you is more to blame than me?Or maybe they were looking for a collective loophole.

“I don’t give a damn about your narrative,” Roman told them. “Keep it. Make it known that Georga is committed to rehab. You should probably make that a life sentence. Because my wife comes home with me tonight. She will disappear into The Smoke, and no one will come looking. Is that understood?”

Julian was the first to realize there was no other option. “That seems like a reasonable solution.”

“Only if you’re gone, too,” Chesterfield said. “Rescind your bid for Senior Warden. Take your wife and leave.”

Thorpe set a grueling look on Roman. “And on the condition you hand over all this so-called evidence.”

“I’ll hang onto my evidence, if you don’t mind,” Roman said. “But I’ll be happy to remove myself from your town. I’m done with Capra.”

He was done.

I’d made sure of that.

Without his Senior Warden role, and the promise of being elected High Warden, he’d never get his seat around the table.

That’s what I’d taken from him.

And yes, there was a part of me that would be eternally grateful for Roman, for this, but I hated how much it had cost him. His ambitions to restore some semblance of governance to The Smoke, to obliterate the chokehold of The Families. His vengeance for Amelia, and his vow to make it right for the girls that came after, in her name.

I hated how much I had cost him.

But I didn’t get a chance to dwell on that. General Bickens came charging into the hall. His face was black thunder.

“We have a problem,” he ground out as soon as he was within hearing distance.

Thorpe gave him a steely look. “Tell me you’ve brought down the screening.”

“Forget the damn screening.” Bickens advanced on me, his snowy brows fluttering out from the deep furrow of his scowl. “What have you done?”

Roman stepped in front of me, protecting me from the man’s obvious wrath. “Take care, general.”

Julian intervened with a hand on the general’s shoulder. “What’s going on?”

“It’s the armory.” Bickens turned on him, scrubbing a hand up his jaw and over the straggling hairs on his scalp. “It’s been cleaned out.”

Julian frowned. “That’s impossible.”

Thorpe stood forward. “When?”

“Within the last hour,” Bickens informed him. “The guards on duty were taken out. One dead, the other still unconscious. When I got there, the vault door was flung wide open, and empty.”

“How?” Langley demanded, looking at his hands, then across to the other men. “The vault has a biometric lock. It doesn’t open without one of our handprints, and we’ve all been here since the ball started.”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

Roman dipped a look at me. A look that said,What else do I need to know?

I don’t know, I mouthed. I honestly didn’t. I mean, okay, I’d stolen Julian’s handprint for the Sisterhood. But I hadn’t known they planned to use it to rob an armory. I hadn’t known therewasan armory. The guards only carried batons and Tasers.

Just then, Geneva and Rose and a dozen Capra Sisters sauntered into the hall with vicious looking long-barreled weapons cradled in their arms.

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