Page 67 of Beautiful Sinners

In the fifteen minutes of solitude I’ve gotten since Evan left with Alana, I’ve been thinking about what Aleksander said. The doubts he planted with his insinuation that the guys are also keeping things from me. Those tiny seeds of doubt have a way of growing into a jungle filled with dangerous creatures that lie in wait, ready to strike you with their sharp, poisonous fangs. I can’t give Aleksander that kind of power over me. My weakness, however, is my curiosity. I don’t doubt that he knows something. The question I need to answer for myself is: Am I willing to play his game to find out what it is?

Afraid that Constantine will see right through me, I stare off into the blackness of the horizon. “Don’t go after Aleksander.”

He stiffens.

I know it’s not fair of me to ask. They each want their pound of flesh from Aleksander for different reasons. The justice in our world is not ruled by man’s laws or the judicial system. The only repercussions are those ordered by the Council. I’m at a crossroads of wanting a normal life and wanting to take back my father’s legacy in order to punish those who betrayed him.

Aleksander deserves what’s coming to him, but not yet. There’s a proverb by Sun Tzu that says keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

“You done sulking?” Hendrix says when he and Tristan come outside onto the balcony.

I guess my quiet time has officially ended.

Constantine rotates us around and holds me with a loose grip around my waist.

“I wasn’t sulking. I just didn’t want to get yelled at anymore. And you and I are going to have a seriously long discussion about your propensity to speak to me like a jackass.”

I know I’m in trouble when I see the hot look he gives me. “I’d be more than happy to have that talk while you sit on my face.”

I’m instantly wet. How the hell does he do that?

“Did you talk to Alana?” I ask Tristan with as much nonchalance as possible.

“She said she was turning in.”

Relief rushes through me. She kept her word.

“Which is what I’d like to do.” Hendrix takes off his shirt and tucks it into his pants, and yes, I stare. “We came all the way out here, to bloody fucking Texas, so you could confront your sister.”

“When the fuck have I had time?”

“And can we stop with this Dierdre-Alana nonsense? The different names are confusing as hell. Pick one and stick to it.” Hendrix bends to the side, stretching his obliques. All that inked skin stretched taut over lean muscle.

“Mine don’t seem to bother you.”

Syn. Aoife. Red. Firefly. Trouble. I kind of like having the various nicknames. Each one represents a different facet of who I am.

“You’re special, baby girl,” Hendrix replies.

Hearing thebaby girlexcites me because it sounds so much likegood girl.

Tristan drops down onto one of the deck loungers and digs his palms into his temples. I extricate myself from Constantine and go to him. The stress, lack of sleep, and constant noise are a perfect recipe to trigger a migraine, and he doesn’t have his medication. Everything we took with us to the Catskills is still sitting in the smoking remains of what’s left of the Knight Estate.

When I straddle him, his knees bend to support me so I don’t fall off the back of the lounger.

He sighs with pleasure as I rub clockwise circles from his forehead to the mastoid processes, the bony projections that are located behind the ears. The way he melts into the lounger cushions is like pulling the plug from an inflatable innertube and watching as it gradually deflates.

“Is it bad?”

“No headache. Just tired.”

He pulls my right hand to his lips and sucks the tips of each finger with arousing whirls of his tongue that make my belly swoop and my pussy clench. I’m intimately aware of what that wicked tongue can do.

Those lusty musings evaporate when he says, “We’re leaving first thing in the morning. Jax hooked us up with new phones, a laptop, and some cash, courtesy of your cousin.”

I drop my hands from his face. I don’t like that they made decisions without me, but it would be very hypocritical of me to get upset about it since I just did the same thing regarding Alana.

“We’re going back to Darlington?” I ask hopefully.

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