Page 18 of Sinners Keepers
I wondered briefly what the chances of Ijah being there too were… if he’d see me there with another man—one ofhismen—and retaliate in some way. Maybe they were telling the truth and he no longer wanted me dead, but some twisted part of me hoped hewouldperhaps be jealous after all.
The drive there was shorter than I would have liked it to be for the sake of my nerves, but I knew the guys would do their best to keep me safe. It was me who’d not given them an option about whether or not I would be present tonight, so I couldn’t back out now that we were here.
I would make the most of it and hopefully end the night with one less man in my life to worry about. And if we were lucky, he could be coerced into telling us where my dad could be found and we could take care ofthatsoon too.
My stomach churned as we rolled up the long and winding driveway to a massive, stately mansion that seemed to stretch for miles. Every window glowed with golden light, and I couldn't shake the feeling of resentment towards all of these terrible people who had more fucking money than the average person could even begin to fathom. They didn’t deserve even half of what they had, mainly because of how they’d obtained it. It made me sick.
Law dropped us at the front door, foregoing valet parking. It dawned on me then; that he was pretending to be our driver.
An older man opened the door for us. Alec stepped out first, shaking his hand and leaning in to say something quietly to him before pulling away and taking my hand to help me out of the car. I slipped off my coat and left it in the back seat. We weren’t far from the door and I didn’t want to have to leave it behind if we needed to make a quick exit, which was likely.
As we walked toward the front entrance, I looped my arm through Alec’s, resting my hand on his forearm, willing it to stop trembling. He covered it with his own and mumbled out of the corner of his mouth, “Leo is an old friend.” He jerked a small nod toward the man he’d just spoken with.
I supposed that was how we’d been able to crash this friendly little get-together so easily.
My eyes widened in awe as we stepped into the entryway. Every square inch of the main room was covered with glittering decor. Garlands hung on the doorframes, and a snow-dusted Christmas tree stood in the far corner. I would have been downright giddy if not for the sinking feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.
Alec carefully chose a small table tucked away in the corner of the room. It was just big enough for two people and would provide us with the privacy we needed while we were here—and a full view of the room. A waiter appeared as if on cue, carrying a tray of appetizers. I eyed a bowl filled with shrimp dip and immediately grabbed it off the tray. Alec followed my lead, taking a plate of crostini, and quickly thanked the waiter before spooning some of the dip onto my plate.
“Wow. Soupy,” I noted, attempting to scrape some onto a crostini. “You’d think the rich asshole would at least have a food quality tester for a party like this.”
Alec snorted bitterly, “I think I probably should’ve left it in the bowl.”
“I’ll make it work, I’m a hoe for some dip,” I said, shoving a bite into my mouth.
He chuckled, scooping a heap from the bowl onto another piece of bread and holding it up for me to take a bite. I hesitated—it almost felt too intimate and I needed to keep my head on straight tonight—but ultimately relented and opened my mouth.
My eyes darted to the side, suddenly fully aware of all the potential eyes on me. I should have been afraid of the thought of Ijah being here, but right now I hoped like fuck he was… and that he was watching.
I could have gotten off on the combination of the crunchy bread and garlicky dip. It may have been watery, but it was good as fuck. As I bit down, the liquid seeped down my chin, dripping onto my neck and chest before I could catch it. With my free hand, I grabbed a napkin while continuing to chew, desperately trying to avoid anyone noticing.
So embarrassing.
Alec’s phone buzzed on the table. He tapped the screen, a bit of a grave look taking over his face as he picked it up and typed out a quick response to the text he’d just received. His eyes flicked to mine. “It’s Law. He sent out an SOS. Not sure what’s happened, but I need to get to him quickly. Can you stay put for five minutes?”
“You’re leaving me alone?” I didn’t like the idea of that.
“I have eyes on you. I don’t want to take you when I don’t know what I’m walking into. It may not be safe,” he replied. I assumed he meant the guy from out front, Leo. He was older and seemed kind of worn down from this line of work, but I guessed you couldn’t always judge a book by its cover.
I nodded, but internally I was panicking.
He stood, and as he walked by me, he palmed the side of my face, tugging me into him and placing a quick kiss on my temple. It was an innocent gesture, and I had to remind myself that we needed to appear as if we were heretogethertogether. It meant nothing.
He was gone before he noticed my reaction, and I returned my attention to the food in front of me, trying to keep myself occupied and hoping like hell that he wouldn’t be gone for very long.
And I hoped Law was okay.
Minutes dragged. I was sure it felt longer than it actually was because I was super freaking anxious, but I wished one of them would at least text me and let me know they were safe.
I nervously tapped my fingers on my phone, then paused when I felt someone's gaze land on me. I glanced up to see a stranger staring at me from across the room and quickly looked away. My heart sank, because even though I didn't recognize the man, I knew by the massive size of him compared to everyone else in the room that he had to be the guy Alec had warned me about.
I sent a quick text to both Alec and Law, letting them know I was leaving the table to use the bathroom. I didn’t want them to worry too much, and I could lock myself in there and stay until they sent word that Alec was back in the mix of the party.
I genuinely had no idea where I was going, but I made my way toward what looked like a long hallway, hoping to find a bathroom there. I kept my head down, stupidly oblivious to my surroundings in my effort to remain unnoticed, and made it barely three steps into the dimly lit hall before bumping directly into the very person I was trying to avoid.
Fuck my life.
I smacked into a hard wall of muscle and quickly tried to play off my misstep as if it were nothing at all.
