Page 167 of Syndicate of Sin Bundle

He ran his tongue across his lower lip. “Kill Bethany.”

53

sage

Rain poured outside my window, deep gray clouds capturing the city skyline. I curled up in my bed and pulled the blankets to my chest as a tear slipped down my cheek. It was so stupid to cry because I had done nothing wrong.

But Laila had made me feel terrible.

After everything that Bethany had done to her, all the insecurities that she had caused, Laila had still blindly believed her. She hadn’t even given me a chance to explain myself, to tell her that I’d had nothing to do with Constantino hurting her.

In fact—while I wasn’t complaining that he had done it—I would never have asked him to do such a thing. Bethany was a bitch, but that didn’t mean I wanted Constantino to hurt anyone because of me. I was just his … toy.

Another tear fell down my cheek, but I pushed it away.

I knew that it wasn’t true, but I had an awful way of hurting myself more with words. Constantino and Laila both meant more to me than a stupid contract. And this past vacation, I’d realized that I meant more to them too. I wasn’t just a toy. They had taken me out to dinner and cuddled with me, smothered sunscreen on me while I burned on their yacht.

But honestly, tonight, I felt like I was just their toy. Laila had been so hurtful.

And it wasn’t her fault. She had trauma. We all did. Still, her words had had meaning.

Someone banged on my door. I curled up into a ball on my bed and pulled the blankets over my head. Tears were streaming down my face now, and I couldn’t even stop them. I didn’t want to face whoever was outside my door.

Especially if it was Laila.

The bang came again, this time harder.

“Please,” I whispered. “Go away.”

“Open the door,” Constantino said from outside the apartment.

He was still angry, furious. I didn’t know if I wanted to deal with him right now. What will he say to me? Will this be my fault too? Will he tell me that me being with them is causing too many problems for him?

“Sage!” he called. “Open up.”

If I didn’t open the door, I knew he would come in anyway. I stood up and swaddled myself in my blankets, and then I walked to the front door. I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to do this right now. We had spent all day traveling.

After his second knock, I opened the door. He stood in the hallway, his expression much softer than I’d expected. We stared at each other for a couple of moments before I lunged forward and wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my face into his chest.

More tears sprang from my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. I wanted to stop crying because I had no place to feel anything in this relationship, but, damn … this fucking hurt so much. I hadn’t realized it before tonight.

“Sorry,” I whimpered, sniffling.

I didn’t know why I was so weak around him, but he made me feel safe. Especially after what he had done to Bethany for me. It made me feel like he would do anything for me, just as he would do anything for his wife.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Yes, I do,” I whispered. “For causing so much drama between you and Laila.”

“You’re not causing drama.”

“You’re fighting with her.”

Constantino wrapped his arms around me, walked with me into the apartment, and shut the door behind us. “We are fighting because she keeps making terrible decisions, because she …” He paused, his entire body tensing. “Because nobody—”

He stopped completely, as if he wanted to tell me what was on his mind but he didn’t want to say a word aloud. Instead, he grasped me even tighter as the rain pounded against my windows and buried his face into the crook of my neck.

I held him tightly and cried. I didn’t want to opt out of the contract early. I didn’t want to opt out at all. But Laila was making this so hard. I didn’t know why she just kept choosing Bethany over and over, even after everything she had done to her. I’d thought I was making her feel good about herself.

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