Page 77 of Sinner

“Do you think I care about material things?”

“By the look of this house, the art on your walls, my answer is an easy yes.”

He tilted his gaze while opening a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. “I could easily go without any material things, Jessica. For mostof my life I lived in squalor. You should continue with the ice on your eye.”

The Blackwell brothers’ past had been kept very private. While there were whispers they’d grown up separately, I had no idea of the details. Neither did anyone else. I thought about what little Stephanie had told me, wondering if her father actually knew more than he’d been willing to tell.

“But you must prefer living in such luxury.” I did as he asked, placing it tenderly against my aching eye. The pain was still there, my head throbbing, but the damage could have been so much worse had he not intervened.

After tugging out a few cotton balls, he surveyed my wound again before pouring the peroxide onto the swabs. “This might sting a little and I’m sorry if it does.”

I winced as soon as he pressed a swab against the cut. “It’s fine.”

He chuckled. “A favorite word when around me. I enjoy nice things, I can’t lie to you that I do, but I respect those who can raise a family with little money. Especially the ones who keep the family together through thick and thin.”

“Does that mean you didn’t experience that as a child?” For as much as I wanted to hate him, when I noticed the dark swell in his eyes, I felt another sense of sorrow.

“My childhood is of no concern. Not to you or anyone else. What happened was the only thing that could have occurred.”

“I’m sorry, Xander. I really am. We have our crosses to bear. However, that doesn’t give you an excuse or the right to take out what you’d suffered on anyone else.” As soon as I gripped his hand, the same flurry of butterflies swarmed my stomach andI was momentarily caught off guard by the electricity shooting through every cell and muscle.

I instinctively pulled my hand away, curling my fingers just as he offered me a soulful look. It was entirely different than any expression I’d seen before.

“There is no reason to be sorry and perhaps you’re right, but keep in mind not all stories are filled with one hundred percent truths. Suffering, anger, sadness, and hatred often jade everything. We’re all given things to endure in our lives that make us stronger. Sadly, if it doesn’t, then we succumb to the kind of darkness that can’t be controlled.”

Was this a strange reasoning for why he’d gone into the gaming business?

He concentrated on what he was doing for another two minutes before taking a deep breath. “I don’t think this will become infected.” He rose to his full height as he’d done before, standing over me for just a few seconds before taking the items away and toward the bar.

I kept the compress on my eye as I watched him preparing fresh drinks. Even the muscles in his back were perfectly sculpted. How could a man so dangerously handsome be such a dick?

That’s what I continued to tell myself as he returned with the tumblers in his hand. The stern look he offered while handing me a glass matched the one from before.

In return, I handed him the ruined shirt. He smirked as he accepted the gesture, continuing to stare down at me.

“I’m really okay. Just rattled,” I told him as if repeating what I’d said would change his mind and he’d take me home. I placedthe icepack on the table between the two chairs and smiled, forcing myself not to wince. If the punch had been any harder, I wouldn’t be able to see out of one eye, but my vision was just fine.

Other than that I was staring into the cold, hard eyes of a predator.

Was Sinner really that dangerous or was this just an excuse to see how I’d handle being close to him as Xander? Well, I was an excellent opponent. He’d found out in his virtual death I was quite formidable. As if proving a point, I stood, no longer as shaky as I had been before.

He was close, so close to me that I felt his incredible body heat resonating into mine. He never blinked, didn’t say a single word as I brushed against him. But the electricity was different, starting out as tiny prickles dancing across my skin before exploding into rockets of extreme power and heat.

I was breathless, the butterflies remaining as I returned to the picture I’d looked at before. It was interesting how the artist had used bold colors for some aspects and muted ones that made the person gazing on the work of art look more closely.

The masked man had his hand around her throat.

Brilliant.

I felt Xander’s presence behind me, yet he was keeping his distance, allowing me to explore on my own.

But the pressure was building. I could feel it spiraling to the point of being out of control. I held my breath as I stood in front of another painting, colors in the masterpiece matching the gothic red painted on the wall.

“The artist is incredible,” I finally said to break the silence and the nervousness that continued to build.

“A reflection of one’s soul,” he said as he moved right behind me.

It was almost impossible to concentrate, but the painting continued to draw me as the artist must have intended. The landscape was beautiful, a dark forest completely thick with lush foliage in deep greens with hints of moss. There were no flowers, no vibrant colors other than the mask the man was wearing. It held a neon reflection, just enough to linger over what he was doing.

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