Page 30 of When Sinners Rise
“So, she’s alive?” I smile, and there’s a moment of relief that there’s something to hold out for.
He grabs my face in his hand and wipes at my lips. “You shouldn’t smile. You might give someone the impression you’re enjoying this.”
I punch out at his arm, and he releases his grip on me as I spit in his face.
He takes a few steps back, and I jump to my feet, grimacing at their less-than-stable state. They shake when I try putting my weight through them, ready to push off towards the door.
Be spirited. Play the role. Don’t be frightened.
The words ring in my head as I almost fall into the metal wall. But my hands still fumble with the handle before they grip and yank. It opens, but then it’s jolted back closed. Shaw’s hand blocks the opening, but I try again, rattling the metal.
“Don’t make this harder, Miri,” he whispers over my shoulder. Potent alcohol is on his breath, sweet and rich.
“I’m not sure you could make this harder, Shaw. You don’t have it in you. That’s why you seduced me. You wanted to play nice. You're not like them, are you?”
Pain sears over my scalp as he grabs my hair and pulls, dragging me back into the room. He spins me, using the pain to control my direction before letting go. Once again, he’s in between me and the exit.
His phone starts to ring, and he slides it from his pocket. He reads the screen and looks more angry than I just made him. “Fuck off! Fuck!” he roars, shoving it back away.
I study him. Taking in every movement and every reaction, I use it to amend and build the Shaw character in my mind. He was the charmer: kind, funny, handsome, with gorgeous deep blue eyes. He had me fooled so easily, even when I was on alert. He might use that fact against me – that I waseasy to get into bed – but that was him at the top of his game. This side of him, he’s wrestling. Sure, he did a great job of taking what he wanted – of showing me what a Cortez man is all about while spouting some crap about vengeance and ownership, but he’s in pieces. He’s brooding. He’s uncomfortable. Nothing like those other men at all.
He leaves, taking his anger with him.
He might mask that behind his actions and his name, but he’s not revelling in this. Not like his brother did. No, Shaw Cortez revelled in being the ultimate catch – the gentleman who would go to lengths to make my pleasure last.
That’s my way out.
That’s what I have to use.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SHAW
I’m not good at this. No matter how much I try to get in the goddamn zone, she’s just a scared, lonely girl to me. That doesn’t stop what I am and who my family is, though. Doesn’t stop the reason I’m here, either.
Phone calls keep coming, or texts, from them. They remind me what I am – what I should be. There’s information about New York and Logan going through the group chat – all legitimate shit that makes us seem like some business we’re not. The real crap doesn’t get written down anywhere, despite Knox’s ability to get rid of it all instantly when told to. No, that stays on a face-to-face basis only. The more I read it all, the more I want to be there, not here. Killing and beating is easy. Being a fucking asshole to women isn’t. Got a job to do, though.
I keep focused on the room she’s in, keep thinking about a dead brother and the thought of him in there being killed. It’s easier if I do that, more realistic anyway. It’ll be done and over soon enough. Abel’s getting organised, getting me and her out of here. I’ll be home then. I’ve just gotta forget she’s human, that’s all. Ignore her.
“SHAW!” I shake my head and back off some steps into the recess of the corridor. “I need water, the bathroom, food?” She’s already been to the bathroom. I dragged her out when she asked last time and got zero thanks for it. Bitch tried running for it when I pushed her into a corner of the cellar and surprised me with her speed. Didn’t work, though. All that happened is she made me more pissed, and then it was easier to treat her like a dog again for a while.
“SHAW! SHAW!”
I walk back, annoyed with her constant volume level, and look through the small opening in the door.“I told you to shut the hell up. You don’t want me to make you quieten down, do you?”
She stands at the far wall, eyes like slits at me again. “I need the bathroom.”
“After the last time? Fuck you. You piss where you stand.”
Something about her face changes, softens. I’m not bowing to that crap. She knows exactly what she’s doing, and I don’t doubt she’s trying to find a way under my skin. It’s one thing you learn when you spend most of your life fucking anything that moves – women are clever as hell. They know all about manipulating and finding a route to get what they want.
“Please, Shaw. I’m hungry. And thirsty.” I backstep a few paces, pick up a bottle of water, and toss it into the room. She looks at it as it rolls towards her and eventually reaches for it a few feet from her. “Thank you.” She drinks and looks back up at me. “Any food out there?”
“You gonna keep shouting?”
“No. I’ll stop. I just …. I don’t like being alone.” My own stare narrows at her admitting that. “I was with others last time.” She slides down the wall to sit and drinks some more. “I don’t suppose you’d know that, though. I was never alone here last time. Why weren’t you here then?”
Conversation? I’m not getting into that. Cattle. Nothing to me.
