Page 146 of Syndicate of Sin Bundle

I crouched down beside one of the bags that Constantino had packed for me. He had thrown everything in there like any man would, without a care in the world, just happy that we were going on vacation. No sense of organization at all.

“I don’t know if Constantino packed sunscreen,” I said, scrounging through my bag and hoping that I had something for her. If he had let me pack myself, I would’ve grabbed a bunch of sunscreen. Sage was so fair-skinned. “Do you want tanning lotion?”

“I don’t tan like you.” She smiled softly. “No worries. I can go pick some up—”

“Found it,” I said, popping back up with a small bottle. “We can pick up more later.”

“Can you put some on my back?” she asked.

Anything to touch her like yesterday on the plane.

My lips curled into a smile, heart pounding. Nearly five years ago, when I had started dating Constantino, he had asked me to rub tanning lotion on his back while on vacation, giving me every opportunity to touch his body. I remembered all those butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

Now, all those little feelings returned.

She sat on a small stool in front of the mirror and hummed. I squeezed some pasty sunscreen into my hand and lathered it on her shoulders before my fingers ran over all her curves that I so desperately wanted again, especially after that flight.

“Were you talking to Bethany?” she asked quietly a couple of moments later.

I stiffened. “No. Just scrolling through her Instagram.”

“You must really like her, huh?”

“She’s my friend,” I said. Though Constantino had kept telling me otherwise. “Why?”

Sage set her lips into a tight line and shrugged. “No reason.”

“Do you think she’s attractive?” I asked before I could stop myself.

Sage shifted uncomfortably and nervously gazed into my eyes. “Do you?”

I opened and closed my mouth, not knowing what to say. Why didn’t she answer? Did she see that picture of Bethany on my phone? Of course, Bethany was fucking beautiful, but … but I didn’t want Sage to think so.

Sage was mine.

“She’s attractive,” I whispered, watching to gauge her interest.

“Oh,” Sage said, voice falling as she looked away.

“Do you think she is?” I asked again.

“No.”

“What about your friend?”

“My friend?” she asked, brows scrunching for a moment. “You mean, Poppy?”

“Yeah, her,” I said, loathing the sound of her name.

“She’s pretty, but not my type.”

“Who’s your type?”

“I hope it doesn’t offend you, but I would usually go for someone like Constantino, except without the whole gangster, mob boss thing.” She giggled, eyes flickering up to me again and cheeks flushing. “But I make exceptions sometimes.”

Exceptions …

I stared at her for a few moments, wondering if I should ask her if one of those exceptions was me. By the way she stared back, I sorta felt like it was, but … but … she had done this for the money. Not because of me.

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