Page 98 of Breaking the Sinner

Waiting.

Waiting.

He waited for more than five minutes, like the lovesick dolt that he was. He waited seven minutes. Then he waited ten. Gen didn’t show.

He couldn’t have been clearer. But he couldn’t stay either.

Cobra started the car, taking deep, measured breaths.

It was time to leave.

He put the car in reverse and backed down the driveway.

Goodbye, Gen. You might hate me, but this is better for both of us.

Chapter 38

Gen took some time to weep into her hands before rejoining her family. Just to relieve a little bit of the pressure. So she could gather her strength to fix this train that had not only careened out of control, but had also flown off a cliff, crashed into a skyscraper, and consumed a city block in flames.

When she came back into the dining room, nobody would look at her.

“Thank you for alienating the one guest I’ve dared to bring into this household,” she said sharply, resuming her seat. “He now feels entirely unwelcome, and you all are to blame.”

“He should feel unwelcome,” Abigail retorted.

“You are such a bitch,” Gen spat, unable to keep it in any longer. Her mother gasped so loudly it was like she sucked in all the air of the room.

“He has tainted you,” Father murmured, like a funeral dirge. “You have lost your way, child. You had merely stumbled off course after you killed Bethany. You could have been redirected. Saved. But now? You are so far from the path that even we, your gracious and loving family, are standing in front of you, calling you home, and you still cannot hear us.”

“Gracious and loving,” she muttered, shaking her head. That stretched the truth a little. Cobra’s words came back to her.They talk to you like you’re a murderer needing forgiveness.Part of her had always believed that about herself. But dammit—shewasn’t. Confusion and grief and anxiety collided inside her. She’d come back for Mary. To maybe pretend like things were okay for a little bit longer.

But after this shit show, things were far from okay. They might never be okay again.

Gravel crunching caught her attention. She pushed up from the table and hurried out of the dining room, threading down the hallway. She pushed her forehead against the tall, skinny window lining the door.

Cobra’s car was gone.

Her heart raced as she turned away, then peeked out the window again. Still gone. Not a trick. Wringing her hands, she traced a small path back and forth in front of the door. Telling herself he’d come back. That it was a short drive to cool off. That he wouldn’t leave her here,stranded, like that.

Because he wouldn’t.

Would he?

She waited almost ten minutes, trapped in thought and growing more desperate by the second. Cobra didn’t come back. Then she remembered—her phone. Buried in her things upstairs, like contraband. She raced up the stairs, tripping on the second-to-last step, tumbling forward so that her chin bit the carpet runner of the upstairs hallway. She grunted, pushing to standing, then rushed to the austere room that she’d moved back into as of last night.

Gen fished the phone out of her purse and turned it on. Hands shaky, she waited for it to load. A missed text from Sophie came through: “Hope T-giving is going okay…” That ellipsis spoke on Sophie’s behalf. Said everything and more.

But no more texts. And when she tried to call Cobra’s phone, it went straight to voicemail.

Over. And over. Again.

After the tenth call she gave up, throwing her phone as hard as she could into her overnight bag. Then the tears came. Followed by the questions. Followed by the sad facts.

Cobra had left her here. Her only ride. Abandoned herandbroken up with her.

He wanted to end their agreement, which shocked her the most. It had stopped being an agreement long ago. And though she logically knew it had always been an agreement, that didn’t mean that her heart had continued to believe that.

To the softest, most intuitive parts of herself, she and Cobra were far beyond agreement. They were in love. Couldn’t he see that?

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