Page 34 of Breaking the Sinner

“Maybe. I can’t remember.”

“I thought I was the one who hadn’t done regular stuff in life.” She sent him a playful look.

“Don’t worry. You still are.” He reached for a book that caught his eye. “Russian? Shit, I didn’t know you could learn a language from a book.”

She assessed the book, then picked up a different one. “Or maybe German?”

“Nah. None of those, thanks.” Cobra pushed the book back into its spot, and they wandered farther. Gen dragged a creamy index finger over the spine of the books as she walked.

“Oh, hang on.” Cobra slowed, blinking to focus his lazy gaze.Figures 101. Drawing for Dummies. Mastering the Landscapes.He read each spine, then moved to the next shelf down. He must have been super focused, because when he stood up, Gen had a wry smile.

“Do you draw?”

She had wandered up a bit farther, a few books stacked in her arms. He hadn’t drawn in years…but it had always been his secret love. “I used to.”

Drawing had gotten him through some of the darkest times of his life. He’d stopped because it wasn’t cool to be good at anything. Unless that something was beating the shit out of another guy.

He yanked his fingertips away from the books and kept moving. “What books you got there?”

“Some research.” She shrugged. The top book in her arms saidA History of the Ottoman Empire.“I have a lot to catch up on.”

If she thought he knew a damn thing about the Ottoman Empire, she was mistaken. Yet he was supposedly the normal one. “Why don’t you know so much? What happened to you?”

Emotion flashed in her gaze, and she turned her head. “I was raised very conservatively. That’s all.”

Somehow, it didn’t seem like all. “Conservatively how?”

She lobbed a sigh. “Like, very religious. Very strict. Very…sheltered.”

“So, what, you had a curfew?”

“Yeah. A curfew for everything.” Her gaze danced over more spines as they strolled down the aisle together. “No swearing. No dancing. No movies. No nothing.”

“Is that why you won’t say ‘fuck?’”

“I said it,” she reminded him.

“Fine. So why all the rules?”

“Because Jesus,” she said. She paused in front of a shelf, then slid out a book titledThe Infidelity of the Bible.“Sinning was forbidden in my community.”

“Movies don’t sound like sinning.”

“Oh, they are.” She sent him a heavy look. “Trust me.”

“Then I’m the biggest sinner of them all.”

“You probably are.” She laughed. “But I won’t tell.”

They wandered a bit farther until they found the cooking section. Gen grabbed for a book about vegetarian dishes. The stack in her arms became a mountain.

“Red. You seriously gonna read all these?”

She nodded without looking at him, then picked a book titledThug Kitchen.She giggled after reading the cover. “This one looks good. Maybe you’ll want it after me.”

Cobra frowned as he peered over her shoulder. He hadn’t cooked a proper meal in his entire life. It was all takeout and leftovers for him, but maybe he should learn a thing or two. Travis always harped on whole foods.

“I don’t know how to cook,” Cobra said, tugging at the longest part of his hair at the front. “Maybe I’m the sheltered one.”

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