Page 40 of Heartless Sinner

Thief.

He’s not wrong.

“I… didn’t know who you were.” My voice comes out like a staccato, disjointed and barely audible.

Micah leans close, his breath hot against my ear. “Is that so?”

His voice is exactly as I remember it—smooth and dark like aged whiskey. It does the same to my insides that it did last night, even now, even here.

“I… didn’t know…” I don’t know what the hell more to say because I know what our meeting in New York looks like.

“Sorry, sweetheart, you stole something from me." He presses harder into my cheek. "And I'm not just talking about the chip."

He moves back to face me, and we stare at each other. I shudder with newfound fear while he glares with dark dominance unlike anything I’ve ever known. And yet, his words burn into me like a menacing song.

In the background, Dad is carried out, barely conscious, and I realize with crystal clarity that we've just traded one devil for another.

Anton for Micah.

I have a feeling Micah is worse.

Chapter Nine

Micah

Scarlett James.

I take the wooden stairs down to the basement floor of my family’s safe house, my mystery woman’s name bouncing off the walls of my mind like a relentless echo.

This place has come in handy for my very impromptu visit to find her. On the outside, it blends in perfectly with the other manor-style homes in Cherry Creek. Inside, the upstairs section continues the illusion that regular people live here, but downstairs—where I’m heading—is no different to a bomb shelter with separate rooms we use for interrogation and other unsavory things.

I brought Scarlett and her father here to interrogate them.

It feels strange to know Scarlett’s name after spending so many hours wondering who she was.

That business card from the Ever After Agency helped me find her, along with my facial rec system. I had her name, address, and work details by the time I boarded my jet to Denver.

I still don’t have full details about the link to the hacker yet, but Iwillget answers.

My investigation so far has found that the setup in New York originated with Scarlett’s father and brother, Johnny. That’s all I know right now.

The plan was to get here then wait for the right moment to strike. That was two hours ago when her house was under attack.

Now we’re here.

Brahm took Scarlett down to the interrogation room while I had her father placed in the sick bay so the on-site medic could patch him up. He was in so much pain from the beating, there was no way I would have gotten anything useful from him.

I’m going to talk to him first. I’m sure he must be lucid enough by now to speak to me.

I can’t see Scarlett yet.

The mere contact and brief exchange we had back at her house did a number on my mind and I realized I can’t focus around her. That’s a dangerous thing for me given our newfound situation of shit.

At the moment, I don’t know what kind of relationship she and her family have with the hackers. But I’m sure they weren’t pleased when she brought them back the dud chip.

I want to believe that she’s an innocent in this mess, but everything about this situation is fucked. I can't afford to let sentiment cloud my judgment any more than it already has.

When I reach the bottom of the stairs, I look around.

---