Page 30 of Sin

“I wouldn’t even know what to say to a reporter.”

“Your talking points will be sent to you. Basically, I want you to double down on the prodigy angle and talk about the sacrifices we’ve made for you to realize your lifelong dream of being a pediatrician.”

“But I’m planning on going into cancer research.”

He waves my correction away. “Pediatrician will read better with theGospel Review’sdemographics.”

“I’m not going to lie to a reporter.” I try to sound as firm and resolute as possible.

Gideon’s eyes narrow on me. He reaches over to grab my mother’s hand, which is resting on the table. “Sheila, you’ve raised a righteous young man.” He squeezes her hand. “But I fear he’s listening to his own selfish needs.” He squeezes her hand harder, the perma-smile on her face tightens, and I swear I see pain in her eyes.

“Mom,” I say, worried he’s hurting her.

“Listen to your father,” she grits out through a clenched smile. “Support the man who’s taken care of you all these years.”

“Your mother speaks the wisdom of the Lord, Cassidy.” His hand continues to tighten around my mother’s until I’m afraid I’m going to hear the small bones of her hand snap. “‘Children, obey your parents in all things.’” A tear begins to slip down her cheek.

“I’ll do the interview,” I practically shout, ready to do anything to stop this.

“Excellent,” Gideon says, casually releasing my mother’s hand from his grip. She immediately brings it down below the table and picks up her martini and gulps it down. He gives my mother a nod. “Now that’s settled, let Leticia know we are ready for dessert.”

Shaken and not at all hungry, I decline dessert and watch as Gideon and my mother serenely chat about their itineraries for the next few days and their scheduled trip to Jordan while sipping their after-dinner cocktails and eating a torte. It’s like the previous few minutes never happened.

Once I’m sure my mother is safe from any more abuse, I escape the table and flee to my room and ruminate over what just happened.What in the hell was that? That really happened, right? Am I overreacting?

I’ve never liked Gideon. From the moment I met him, he treated me as an unwanted accessory of my mother’s. He rarely spoke to me, and I felt my only value to him was when we were in front of an audience. Because I was away at school, I’d never spent much time in Gideon’s actual presence. He’d always been a cold but distant omnipotent presence in my life.

Tonight, I can see why Sin hates him so badly, and why he seems to spend most of his energy openly defying him. A part of me wonders what it was like for Sin growing up all alone with Gideon. I think about tonight’s dinner, and a disturbingchill goes up my spine at the thought of a young Sin at Gideon’s mercy.

Chapter 15

Sin

I’m booking it through campus in a hurry to meet with Cassidy when I hear footsteps coming up behind me. Suddenly, a strong bicep is draped around me. “Hello, best friend,” Mercer says with a crafty smile that alerts me he’s definitely here to try to talk me into something.

“What’s going on?” I ask, waiting for the hook.

“Devlin is in town.”

“Again? He wasn’t in Nashville this much when he lived here.”

“He has some deal he’s working on,” Mercer answers vaguely, not meeting my eyes and his eyebrow doing a funny little twitch, which I know from playing and winning at poker with him are two of his tells.Something is up.

“Must be some deal.”

“Yeah, must be,” he says, clearly ready to move the conversation along. “I’m stuck having dinner with him, and I need you to tag along to annoy him.”

“Why me?”

“Please,” he rolls his eyes, “Just the sight of you gives him heartburn. Plus, you have the gift to piss off people better than anyone I know.”

I clutch at my heart. “You see me. You really see me.”

He laughs. “So, you’ll come?”

“Can’t tonight. I have that tutoring session with Cassidy I told you about.”

“Oh, you mean your date with your stepbrother?”

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