Page 100 of Sins & Secrets

I glance down at the photographs and then immediately back up to my father’s gaze.Jace Anderson and Liam’s wife, Cecile?

“No,” I say and the word leaves me without my consent.

“They’re getting a divorce, so I imagine Liam found out about the affair somehow,” my father says absently.

“Maybe Liam? Maybe his wife?” my father says, shrugging. “Either way, I’m sure now that the hit failed, I doubt they’ll attempt it again.”

His last statement catches me by surprise, and I tear my eyes away from the evidence of Cecile’s affair to gauge my father’s reaction.

“I’m keeping my ear to the ground and waiting to hear back from a certain someone,” he says then shakes his head slightly, “but no one knows anything according to my source.”

I can’t imagine how deep my father’s depravity goes that he has contacts in such low places.

My father continues without looking at me. “I talked to the commissioner.” I’ve been waiting for this. I know there are consequences to what happened the other night. Liam’s gunning for me.

“You may have to go in for questioning. You won’t be charged with anything, of course. But they have to make it seem like they’ve done their due diligence.”Thatchers belong on only one side of the courtroom.It’s a saying the men in my family have carried for years.

“I need to go,” my father tells me, rising from his seat and gesturing to the door. “If you need help this time, let me know.”

JULES

It’s not the anger toward him,

It’s not the dimming fire.

It’s not the love I feel for him,

Or how my heart bleeds with desire.

My soul is broken, torn and bent,

Never to repair.

To truly hate oneself,

The sin leaves me in despair.

Seventeen days have passed since I got the anonymous letter in the mail.

Each day, Mason looks at me differently. It’s like he knows I’m leaving. I’m not convinced leaving is the answer; I’m not convinced I should stay though either.

The bedroom door creaks open as I brush my hair, getting ready for bed. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be sleeping in bed with me tonight. He walks into the room quietly, shutting the door behind him. The left side of his face is bruised and cut,but somehow it only adds to his beauty. A prince, wounded in battle saving his princess.

I almost laugh. A hint of it must have escaped at the thought, because he turns to look at me as the door clicks shut. The only light in the room is from the small lamp on the nightstand and the way the shadows sharpen his features does the worst things to me.

There’s an odd dynamic between the two of us. He wants to touch me, he keeps coming close to doing just that, circling me and waiting, but he doesn’t.

The part that’s truly insane is that it disappoints me, every single time. I’m crazy for feeling any attraction to him at all, but I’m drawn like a moth to a flame.

He picked me up when I fell.

He protected me when I was weak.

And even though I hate him for what he’s done, he’s the only reason I’m still alive.

“You can’t hide in here forever, Jules,” Mason comments half-heartedly with a small smile on his lips that doesn’t reach his eyes. He closes the space between us easily, and I let him. His lips brush against mine in what I presume will be a gentle kiss, but he deepens it and without my conscious consent, I lean into it. I didn’t realize how much I missed his touch.

He moans into my mouth as he kisses me deeply, not holding back a damn thing. I wish I could do the same, but all I find myself doing is forcing myself to stay away, to keep my guard up around him. I can’t let myself fall again. I won’t. I utterly refuse to give him that chance or else I know he’ll keep me forever. And I don’t know who exactly I’ll be if I let that happen.

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