Page 15 of Pride
Parker said nothing.
“Then you won’t mind if I tinker with it,” Flint said.
“Be my guest.”
Parker shoved the arm at his father and then ushered him out with Sloan before bolting the door behind them and returning to his room. It was empty.
The ties he’d used to secure Alice were discarded. The bed was rumpled but vacant. The balcony bifold doors had been shoved open and wind billowed the sheer drapes. Parker inhaled deeply and caught remnants of her scent. Her smell shouldn’t bring such satisfaction, but it did. She was gone, which meant he’d have to hunt her down.
A slow grin formed on his lips. She’d played right into his plan.
7
Alice was Parker’s mate.
Mate.
Mate.
The word bounced around her head as she stormed through the front entrance of the Cardinal City Cathedral, heedless of the proper protocol for Sinners. Her mind was awhirl, her body afloat, and her insides twisted.
He was clearly wrong.
How could she be his mate? She wasn’t virtuous, or good, or anything a hero like him needed by his side to save the world. Sure, she had skills when it came to hunting down bad people and ending their lives, but Alice had too much to atone for to be his mate.
She’d used her body to lure corrupt congressmen to their deaths. She’d silently poisoned a CEO who ran a human trafficking ring. Not all her missions ended in death, but when they had, the Sisterhood’s justice had been in the shadows. There had always been a worthy female candidate to fill the space the corrupt target left. It was how they worked. Get rid of the trash and let a better woman do the job. The Sinners were building a better world at the expense of their souls.
But Parker had kidnapped her. Of all the gall. Who did he think he was, anyway? Out of them,hewas the one who should be setting a virtuous example.Hewas the one the media watched and judged like a hawk. Alice snorted to herself, paraphrasing his words in a mocking tone.“I’ll never trust a woman who represents the organization that tried to kill me as a child. You’re not worth holding on to.”
“I’ll give you something to hold on to,” she snarled as she stomped. She should have choked harder with her thighs.
Why would she want to be with Parker? Maybe the fantasy of him had been nice, but in reality he was being an asshole. Alice let out a frustrated snarl. How could she be the mate of one of the Deadly Seven?
Mate.
She kicked the carpet.
Did she even believe him? And if so, what did this mean for her? What did it mean for her friends and the trouble brewing on the horizon? She couldn’t very well abandon the Sinners. They were a family, albeit messed up. They needed her.
The other members of his family were in love with their mates. She just couldn’t see a future with Parker. Sinners never married. They never even had relationships. They hadrelations, and they used it as a weapon. Then they died and went to Hell. Fun times.
The cathedral was empty at this early hour, but Alice knew the other Sinners would be awake in the underground level they’d borrowed from the archbishop in charge. There was one benefit to the Vatican discovering their secret society—it opened new avenues and opportunities. And new challenges. But she wouldn’t think about that part. They now had a network of churches and cathedrals around town and beyond for which to conduct emergency meetings. Before the Vatican, before Mary Lazarus had shafted them with her defection, the Sisterhood had secrecy, but limitations.
So far since discovery, the Vatican had continued to support them, with only minor orders of their own. Alice knew eventually they’d come knocking, and when they did, the original mission Saint Hildegard had envisioned all those years ago would be in jeopardy. Alice sometimes wondered if maybe that was a good thing. Women’s rights had moved a long way since medieval times. Now there were new problems, new evils, and new enemies. Things were changing, and Alice wasn’t sure if she was too old to learn new tricks.
She strode down the aisle leading up to the altar and the crucifix. She felt like Christ’s eyes watched her as she stomped up the steps and veered into the priest’s vestry. Another door led down to a vast secret basement, usually used for storing useless relics, furniture, and other cathedral items. For the past four months it had been converted into headquarters for the Sinners to congregate.
Their black and red Sinner uniforms were in lockers on the right wall. Near the base of the stairs, Alice walked down to two lounge settees facing each other. Laptops, food, mini bar fridges and tables were littered around. Behind the settees, research and pictures plastered a whiteboard on wheels. Most of the details were about the Deadly Seven—the Lazarus family. Most of the details were there because of Alice. Beyond was an exercise mat surrounded by a weapons rack that held everything from guns to spears to shuriken.
Five women casually sat on the two lounges, eating breakfast. It was unusual to have so many Sinners together. Normally they were all off on individual missions, but for the past year, slowly their missions had become shorter and infrequent. It was the trouble on the horizon. The one that was bigger than the Syndicate.
The Sinners looked up when Alice walked in.
“You look like a regular ray of sunshine,” Mercy said with a smirk on her plump red lips.
If Jessica Rabbit was real, she’d look like Mercy. Red hair, big bust, curves that could knock you out. Deadly. Next to her sat Raven, their resident psychic, puffing on an early morning cigarette. In Raven’s opinion, they were all going to die in the line of duty before cancer could ever take them. She may as well do what she wanted. Raven blew out smoke and gave Alice the once over, then grinned impishly.
“You knew,” Alice accused Raven, jabbing a finger near her face. “You goddamned knew, didn’t you?”
