Page 59 of Saint's Sinner

“Damn, that smells delicious.”

“Good for ulcer flare ups too,” Night replied as he set a cranberry juice on the counter beside Mark’s food.

Mark chuckled at that and shook his head. “Thanks.”

“No problem, Prez, enjoy, there’s plenty where that came from.”

“I’ll just bet there is.”

Chapter 21

(Sinn)

Trapping a Lying Bastard in his Untruths

There were moments, like this one, when Sinn was alone on the dunes, staring out over the water, desperately yearning to see the fine details of the waves, that he wished he had spent more time by the ocean when he was young. It sounded magnificent, but his memories of it were spotty. Oh, he could see the rolling, differentiate between the white caps and the darker pull of the ocean deep, but he couldn’t see the mist as anything more than shimmering blotches hurled skyward. He could see the shadow shapes of the gulls and remembered from when he was a kid, what their feathers looked like and the determination in their eyes when they’d attempted to steal part of a sandwich from him.

It was a blessing and a curse that this disease of his was a slowly progressing one. It meant that he had memories of a time when he didn’t struggle to make out the world around him. He’d been able to run without the fear of tripping on some unseen thing, his odds the same as any other child his age. Now though, he was learning to be creative in the face of adversity, and thanks to Night and one of the tales he’d spun about backyard wrestlingand the occasional events he snuck into, Sinn now had a means of ensuring that he could fight his own battles without having to worry about losing track of his opponent.

The issue now was how to lure that opponent into the combat circle, or at the very least, trick him into revealing his deception so he could finally be dealt with. With no way to squash the beef with an unwilling Teddy, Sinn had resigned himself to having to beat the shit out of him instead, if only to bring some measure of peace to the household.

Kat’s concern for Mark’s ulcer had shone through when he’d overheard her talking to Night about food options her stubborn husband might eat and if it was possible to dilute his Crown Royal with sweet tea and mask that by mixing himsampledrinks they planned to unveil on club night. Night had assured her that he’d figure a way to make that work. It wasn’t like Sinn would ever say anything. As far as he was concerned, she was acting in her husband’s best interests in order to give him the best chance at being around for her, their children and their club longer. A healthy Prez was something every last one of them wanted, including Teddy, Sinn was certain, even when the man was being surly and avoiding his Dom and Dominatrix.

Learning that Teddy was bunking with the hang-around kid, Scout, had come as a bit of a shock to Sinn, who hated feeling like he’d contributed to Kat and Mark’s unhappiness. He knew the mistake he’d made when he climbed in the wrong bed wasn’t what had kickstarted their issues, but it was the one Teddy had latched on to and was willing to ride to his grave if need be, if only to get his way.

If the man would just stop being stubborn and talk to Kat and Mark about whatever the real issue was, Sinn was certain they’d do everything in their power to try to make things right because no way was it all a jealousy issue.

Saint moving Sinn into his room hadn’t come with any special position within the household, or inside the club. Hell, Teddy had wanted him gone before that point anyway. Saint claimed that he hadn’t touched the man in years, not since deciding that sharing what his brother had wasn’t as appealing as building a relationship like that of his own. According to Creature, who never minded sharing history or gossip with him while they worked together, Teddy had never acted that way towards any of the other men Saint had toyed around with.

Maybe because that’s all it had been, toying around, while with Sinn and Night he was serious, right down to the collar he’d secured around Sinn’s neck. They were already searching for one for Night, something with two strands of metal entwined, one to represent each of them. But if they were going to enjoy the connections they’d forged and all the potential that lay in it, then this bullshit with Teddy had to end.

Which brought Sinn back to what had driven him to seek solace among the dunes in the first place.

Confronting Teddy had failed.

Ignoring him had failed.

At the rate Sinn was cycling through ideas and dismissing them, he was sure he’d look like a madman if anyone was out there watching him scowl, frown, sift sand through his fingers and run his fingers in slow circles over shells. Everything from unleashing mini plagues upon Teddy in the form of fire ants in his bed and bed bugs in his underwear to repeatedly spiking his coffee with Ex-lax until he didn’t dare leave the bathroom again flittered through Sinn’s mind, providing some small measure of amusement while he sought out a serious solution.

Then it hit and he damn near face planted scrambling to his feet as fast as he could. As quickly as he could manage, he made his way back to the house, the voices drifting from the kitchen making it a simple task to track his prey.

Teddy was in the kitchen with Kat and Mark, so Sinn sauntered that way, heading to the cabinet for a glass, completely ignoring the intensity of the conversation the trio was engaged in.

“Excuse you!” Teddy snapped, unable to hold his tongue for more than the ten seconds it took Sinn to retrieve it and head for the fridge. “This is a private conversation!”

“Which is why I didn’t say hello and interrupt,” Sinn said. “Though Iamglad that I ran into you.”

He wished he could see Teddy’s face, though his pause and the way he sputtered a little were clear indicators of his shock at hearing Sinn’s words.

“Why?” Teddy asked, his voice holding notes of both hesitation and suspicion.

“To thank you.”

“The fuck are you thanking me for?” Teddy snapped.

“Telling these guys you saw the plate of the van that snatched me,” Sinn said. “Horace freaked the fuck out when you saw him and damn near aborted the whole mission and chucked me out the side door, which would have sucked. Talk about a bad case of road rash. As fast as they were moving, I doubt a good tuck and roll would have done me any good.”

“Wh-what…” Teddy sputtered. “The fuck are you going on about! I didn’t say fuck all about any van or a Texas license plate.”

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