Page 17 of Merciless Sinner

I’m lying on my side facing the sliding glass windows, so I roll onto my back, but then I quickly realize there’s a sticky wetness on my bare arms and legs.

When I look down at my body, I shriek and nearly jump out of my skin when I notice I’m covered in blood.

I bolt up, only to bump into Petr lying naked next to me, but he’s drenched in blood from head to toe.

Bullet holes riddle his body, and his eyes are wide open. Cold and lifeless.

I scream, falling off the bed and pulling the sheet with me as I hit the floor.

Just then, the room door flies open, smashing into the wall.

Men with guns rush in, and I scream louder. But I realize when I see their uniforms that they’re no ordinary men.

They’re the police.

“Hands up, you’re under arrest,” the tallest one shouts, pointing his gun at me, and it feels like my world just ended.

ChapterFive

Virgo

Ilook at the clock on the wall as I enter my hotel suite. My heart shrinks when I see it's just gone one in the morning.

Three hours have now passed since I last saw Olivia and watched her walk away with Petr.

Three fucking hours. Now I’m back here with the bitter taste of failure tearing me up from the inside out.

Allowing Olivia to leave with Petr did not come easy to me.

It felt like the worst thing I could have ever done. If I were my normal self, I would have killed Petr for his insolence and taken Olivia away somewhere I could convince her that I'm not the bad guy.

I decided against doing either of those things because it was my recklessness that sealed my fate in this disaster in the first place.

Sure, whatever was happening with her family would have always happened. But it was my decision to kill recklessly that took me out of the picture, so I wasn't there when Olivia and her family needed me most.

That one reckless mistake created this alternate path where my girl doesn’t know me. And doesn’t trust me.

I saw it in her eyes as she spoke and during the moments when it seemed like parts of her mind were trying to remember me. But there was a mental block that wanted to keep me out. A guard to protect herself. I understand it, but I blame myself for its presence.

It was only when I kissed her that her body gave over control to me. I hadn’t meant to do that. It just happened, and like an idiot, as her soft, tempting body molded to mine and she kissed me back, I almost believed her memories would return. But I found the same distrust in her eyes after we pulled apart.

Tonight felt like a curse. I had Olivia right there in my sight. I talked to her, touched her, kissed her, and I let her go.Again.

Watching her walk away with Petr was like a fucked-up déjà vu moment coming back to bite me in the ass. And just like years ago, I had to stand there and watch her leave me.

The only differences between then and now are that tonight, she was with Petr, and years ago, she fled from me after I broke her heart.

I never got to tell her the real reason I hurt her was to protect my sister from my father’s unhinged plans.

My one mistake gave my bastard father ammunition to use against me when he got footage of me killing a man who is important to the people in my world. The man who raped my sister.

Instead of siding with me, my father threatened to use the footage against me if I didn’t break up with Olivia. All because of the damn feud between our families.

I don’t regret killing that asshole; I just wish I’d done things differently.

Like tonight. But I don’t know what I could have done differentlytonightbecause I’ve had to play everything by ear. The only thing I had on my side was the power of persuasion that comes with being part of the Bratva.

Those powers got me the intel from Madame Noir that Olivia had just been hired/bought by Petr. The same powers got me a seat without question at the invite-only high-stakes poker game. But that’s as far as my powers went.

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