Page 14 of The Fall of Sin (The Sins of Saint 2)

There was a knock on the door, and I cursed under my breath as I quietly made my way across the bedroom.

I opened the door, and James’s worried eyes greeted me. I glanced back at Mila, who was still sound asleep, then stepped out and gently closed the door behind me. “What is it?”

“Your father is on his way here.”

“What?”

“One of my guys just spotted him getting out of his car, and he’s coming this way.”

“Jesus.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Okay. Stay here.”

James frowned. “We should leave the marina. Now.”

“No.” I rested my hands on my hips. “If my father wants an audience with me, that’s what I’ll give him. But you need to stay here and make sure no one,” I stepped up close to him, “and I mean no one goes into her room.”

“Let me get someone else to guard her room. I need to be out there with you.”

“No. I don’t trust anyone else with her, James. I need you here, and I need you to protect her.”

“I don’t trust—”

“I know. I don’t trust him either. But you and I both know what my father is capable of.”

James pulled his hand through his dark hair, and I could see the frustration in every line on his face. “Fine,” he reluctantly conceded.

“Okay.” I straightened my suit jacket and walked in the other direction. “Oh, and James,” I stopped and turned to face him, “if anyone comes looking for her, shoot them. Don’t even fucking hesitate.”

With a simple nod, he set me at ease. There was no one I trusted more than him. If I had to put Mila’s life in someone else’s hands, it would be his. When I actually started caring about who I trusted her with, I didn’t fucking know.

My feet hit the deck, and I put every thought of Mila in the back of my mind. Facing my father was a deed that needed every ounce of anger and hate I could muster. I wondered how many children hated their parents as much as I hated my father. The thought was unsettling. It wasn’t normal for kids to feel disdain whenever they thought of their parents.

I stepped off the Empress and saw my father approaching with two brutes flanking him. It wasn’t his lawyers. The men who walked beside him like guard dogs proved my father was too much of a coward to face me alone, man to man. It brought a smile to my face knowing he saw me as a threat, that he’d tread on the side of caution when it came to me. Smart man.

“Since when does an old man need protection when he pays his son a visit?” I smirked.

“Since the day my son made it clear he’d ruin me, no matter the cost.” He stopped four feet away, and the cocky look on his face instantly irked me.

“What do you want?” I tucked my hands into my pants pockets.

“I want to talk.”

“About?”

“The girl.”

I lifted my chin. “What about her?”

He glanced around before looking me in the eye. “How did you find her?”

“None of your business.”

“Come, now, son,” he widened his arms as if he was ready to welcome me home, “let’s stop with all this hostility. It’s not healthy for any of us.”

I clenched my jaw, agitation gnawing at my bones. “What do you want?”

His top lip curled into a snarl. “I want you to stop whatever the fuck it is you think you’re doing.”

A subtle breeze started up, and I pulled my hand through my hair. “The day I stop is the day you man up to all the lies. Admit what you did.”

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