Page 61 of Be My Sinner

I don’t answer him. My throat constricts at the thought of Dinah still being able to release the pent-up rage inside of her that almost consumed her. She needs that outlet if she’s going to survive. He’s willing to give her that, no doubt, for a price.Her obedience.Will she be able to submit to him? The thought of her submitting to anyone other than me fills me with a burning fire, and the need to wrap my hands around his throat.

“I suggest you conserve that anger, Sammy. I’m not your biggest fan, but I’m also not the one who wants to hurt Dinah. I will, if that is the only way to keep her safe. Make no mistake, she is mine. She has always been mine. I could kill you here and now for taking what belongs to me. For depriving me of being her first, as was my right. I won’t, however. Dinah has already lost too much. I won’t take what remains of her family unless you force me to.”

“What do you want from me?” I run over his words in my mind. He knows I am her first and only. He knows she has belonged to me all these years that we have been together. Rather than kill me, he offers me a way to stay at her side, to keep protecting her.

“To help me convince her that this is the only way that she remains safe. Help her see reason. Make her understand that I will not clip her wings, nor take you away from her. That she will not be treated like her mother was. No one will abuse her; I will kill any man who tries. She will belong to me… and Abraham, and you. The three of us will be her protectors, ensuring the Brotherhood never gets their filthy hands on her.”

I let his words ring in my mind, mulling them on a vicious cycle, trying to detect the lie within them. “You’re not a believer, are you? You play the game. Allow them to see you as one of theirs, but you don’t believe in the cause.”

“No, the only cause I give a shit about is my own. I care about keeping Abraham safe, and now Dinah. If you were to die, I wouldn’t shed a fucking tear. This whole world can implode, and I wouldn’t care as long as they were safe.”

“Safe? Safe like you kept Gabriel? I know he didn’t kill himself. I know both you and Abe were more than best friends with him. How did you keep him safe, Ezekiel? The same way you plan to keep Dinah safe?” I move towards him and grab onto the front of his black button-down shirt. I pull him towards me until we are mere inches apart, and his warm breath skates across my lips.

“I won’t let you hurt her. I won’t allow her to be collateral damage in one of your sick games. She isn’t a game piece to be used like Gabriel was.” I watch as his eyes widen and his nostrils flare. He’s trying to control himself when all he really wants is to hurt me. The mention of Gabriel’s name hurts him, just like I hoped it would.

He wrenches himself away from me, a few buttons on his shirt popping off and scattering across the cold stone floor. “You have no fucking clue what you are talking about. I played no games with Gabriel. I tried to keep him safe, but he wouldn’t listen. Wouldn’t use common fucking sense to protect himself. I will never let anyone hurt her like they did to him. I made him a promise.”

I watch him, looking deeply into his eyes, and I see the sincerity there. The pain and loss that fills him with Gabriel’s untimely death. He loved him, and losing him has broken him. He genuinely believes that he can protect Dinah and Abraham. I’m not sure he can, but I’m also not willing to end up on the wrong side of this. If I can remain by Dinah’s side, then I can continue to protect her from the Brotherhood, from Ezekiel Rothesay and Abraham Mercier, and from herself.

“Take me to her. I will make her listen.”

“One more thing, she has to be a virgin when I marry her, old man. The Order will make her go through the marriage ritual. No exceptions can be made. Don’t worry, I have come up with a solution, but you’ll have to convince her to go through with it.” He walks away from me and out the cellar door, not even waiting to see if I will follow him like an obedient dog. He knows I will. That for Dinah, I would do anything.

How the fuck am I not only going to convince her to marry this jackass without a fight, but also allow him to perform the marriage ritual before a bunch of men from the Brotherhood?

Fuck, let’s hope she doesn’t murder me for even suggesting it. With a last look back at my prison, I walk out the door and follow the man who is about to change both of our lives. Whether for the better or the worse, that remains to be seen.

Chapter 31

The Sinner

Dinah

Thesoundofapproachingheavy footsteps has me preparing myself for an attack. If that fucker thinks he will come back into this room and once again get his rocks off, he has another thing coming to him.Actually, I’m pretty sure you were the only one coming before; my mind reminds me with sarcasm.

The lock disengages, and the heavy door swings open just as I launch myself at whoever comes through the door, and knock them forcefully into the frame. “Holy shit, Dinah! What the fuck are you doing?” Sammy’s voice bellows in my ears as I rain punches down on him, and he uses his arms to shield his head and face.

A harsh laugh echoes from the hallway behind him. “That’s why I said you had to go first. I had a feeling she would attack whoever came through the door.” Ezekiel’s voice, filled with humor, reaches me, and I immediately stop slamming my fist forward.

“Sammy?”

“Yeah, Nightstar! Do you think you could let go of my fucking hair before you rip it all out?”

I let go of him with a huff and take a few steps backward, my chest heaving and adrenaline still flowing through my system and making me tremble. Sammy studies me from a slight distance with tempestuous blue eyes as dark as the night sky. I can’t stop myself from launching at him again, a cry of relief leaving my lips.

This time, however, I wrap my arms and legs around him as he catches me and holds me tight to his strong, muscled body. I can finally take a deep breath in his arms. Being separated from him, and not knowing what was happening to him, has been the worst form of torture.Home. He feels like home.

He nuzzles into the side of my neck, his arms painfully tight and causing my breath to falter. Unbidden tears try to make their way to my eyes, and I have to bury my face in his messy hair to stop them from descending down my cheeks, and showing my weakened state. He takes a few steps forward, allowing Ezekiel to enter the room behind him, who closes the door firmly.

“Are you ok, Dinah? Has anyone tried to hurt you?” Sammy questions, and I can hear the worry in his tone.

“I told you she’s not hurt. No one would hurt her here; I won’t allow it. Besides, you’ve seen for yourself she’s a violent psycho. She can handle herself,” Ezekiel scoffs with irritation.

“SHUT UP, EZEKIEL!” Sammy yells as he puts me down, still keeping me close to him as he turns his wrath on the asshole with his hands in his pockets.

“Big words from a man only still alive by my good grace. Keep it up, and I’ll change my mind about letting you continue breathing.” Green eyes filled with malice meet mine, and I see not only anger in their depths, but something else.Is that jealousy?

Why would Ezekiel Rothesay be jealous right now? I know the dick said I was his, and he always was a spoiled shit growing up, but this feels like something more. My fists tighten in Sammy’s blood-splattered shirt, and the desire to run from this room fills me. The energy in the room feels wrong, and not just because I am a captive. A sick feeling starts in the pit of my stomach, bringing with it nausea and trepidation.

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