Page 74 of Sinner

“You’re not God.”

Now I laughed. “Evidently not. Stop fighting me. You’re hurt and I am taking care of you.”

“Is Dorn part of the game?” She remained unblinking, staring at me with such uncertainty in her eyes. Not that I blamed her.

“The game?”

“My opponent in the game at your offices is one I’ve talked to before. Sinner. Dorn alluded that he is that man.”

It was impossible to keep from snorting loudly. “Dorn is not intelligent enough to be a part of the true gaming community, although he likes to think he is.”

“Then who is Sinner?”

She looked me directly in the eyes and the challenge was an interesting one. “The opponents were selected at random by use of a computer. Did the fact you’ve had some interaction with this person have some effect on the algorithms? Potentially. AI can be a powerful tool as long as it’s controlled.” I felt it necessary given her accusation to keep the cloak around my identity for the time being.

This had suddenly become far too complicated.

“And you do like to control everything in your grasp.”

“Another necessary evil. I’ll be right back. Use the shirt to keep the blood from running. Just relax. If you promise not to use it as a weapon, I’ll refill your drink.”

“I’ll be a good girl. Besides, I think you got the point.”

“And that is?”

“That I dislike you tremendously. But I’m stronger than Shanna was. You won’t use me as you did her.”

Well, fuck. This was a no-win situation.

“Duly noted.” I headed for the doorway, stopping only when I heard her deep exhale.

“Regardless of the fact I hate you, thank you for what you did. You didn’t have to go out of your way to protect me and you did.”

“Yes, I did and you’re very welcome. Perhaps you’ll learn I’m not your enemy. And I’m not the man your father portrayed me to be. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done some terrible things in my life, but caring about your sister wasn’t one of them. She was my world at the time.”

“You’re the epitome of everything I should despise. You’re everything I should be afraid of.”

Yes, I was, but she wasn’t running.

Even if she did, I would catch her.

That would be the moment I’d have no choice but to keep her.

Permanently.

CHAPTER 22

“Every uncorrected error and unrepented sin is, in its own right, a fountain of fresh error and fresh sin flowing on to the end of time.”

—C.S. Lewis

Jessica

Sin.

I’d had significant time to reflect on my own. I’d been brought up a good girl, told to follow the rules in all things and up until a few months before, that’s exactly what I’d done. I’d lived my life with virtue, believing in right versus wrong, but something had flipped inside of me. If I’d ever gone to see a shrink, my guess was that the respected professional would tell me the shift in my thinking was based solely on my hunger for revenge.

Maybe so.

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