The Sinner

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

SIN

I’VE SPENT ALL weekend inside Elli. I’ve dreamed of having unlimited time with her, and I’ve taken advantage of every second. I’ve woken her up, and I’ve fucked her while she was still asleep. She has let me have my way with her. But then again, it’s hard to stop me when her hands are tied. Or tell me no when she’s gagged.

I enter the house of Lords and make my way to the only elevator that has access to the basement. We were called in. We can have an assignment at any given time once we’re initiated. So the fact that I was balls deep inside her mouth when I got the text still has me hard.

The house was given to the Lords years ago, along with many other properties all over the world. It was once a hotel. A bunker was added in after the Lords took it over. We train down here to shoot, to hunt. We spent a lot of our first two years down here learning how to take what we want.

“Hey, did you see what’s going on?” Jayce asks me as I sit down at the large table. Looking around, it occurs to me that only the seniors were called in.

“No. Been busy.” My cell went off, saying I had to be here. Otherwise, I’d still be with my little demon.

“It’s the DA,” Corbin whispers, leaning forward and placing his forearms on the table.

“What about him?” Jayce asks Corbin.

“It was on the news. Break-in at the DA’s house, shots fired. Body found.” He shrugs. “That’s all that was said before his security broke the camera of the reporter standing on the front lawn.”

Pulling my cell out of my pocket, I put in my code and look over the camera I have of Elli in her room. I placed it there the second time I visited her a couple of years back. There were times I wasn’t able to make it to see her, but I was able to watch her. I wanted to know if any other man was ever in that room. And if so, I’d take care of him. Thankfully, there never has been.

She lies there on her stomach, her arms spread wide, and each wrist tied to a bedpost. She’s naked, her ass up in the air. I told her if she moved, I’d know it and she’d be punished. A part of me hopes she does. I love making her cry.

The elevator dings, signaling its arrival before opening. I close my cell and look up to see Ryat, Prickett, and Gunner enter.

They take their seats, and I don’t miss the tension between Ryat and Matt. I still have no clue what’s going on there.

My eyes catch sight of Lincoln walking off the elevator, and I stiffen. He was out of town, but he must have returned early. I saw that Elli’s mother texted her yesterday that they were having guests over for dinner tomorrow night after she returns from her weekend away. I haven’t told Elli I know about it, but my ass will be there. He’ll have to throw me out and then explain to her mother and Elli why.

He claps his hands and gets right to the reason we’re here. “I’m guessing everyone has seen the news by now and is aware of what’s happened.”

We all say yes. If Corbin told us what he saw, then I’d say I’m caught up enough.

He plops down at the head of the table. “I need two volunteers for an assignment. I can’t give you any other details other than the job might take a day, might take three weeks. That all depends on how long it takes you to get it done.”

“Ryat and I will handle it,” Matt speaks before anyone else can say a word.

A silence blankets the room as all eyes shoot to Ryat. He sits there looking unaffected. If he’s pissed or worried, he’s not showing it.

“Ryat?” Lincoln asks him for confirmation.

“Sounds good, sir,” he answers.

“Perfect. You all are dismissed.” Linc gets up and exits like he’s the one with a woman tied to a bed waiting to be fucked. Which he probably does. There are fifteen seniors in this room right now, and I guarantee at least three of us has a girl tied up and waiting for us to get back to them.

I stand and make my way to the elevator, pulling up the footage again to see she’s relaxed on the bed. Her body now flat, her head to the side. She looks like she’s sleeping with her eyes closed. Smiling, I pocket my cell. Punishment it is.

ELLINGTON

MONDAY EVENING, I look at myself in my floor-length mirror, my hands running down my white halter dress, red heels, and matching lipstick. Kira and I are meeting up after I’m done with dinner. My makeup is done heavy, and my hair fixed in a high pony. We’re going to go out. I’m going to pop some pills, get hammered, and then go home with her and crawl into bed with Sin. If he’s home. He spent all weekend here with me. Now that my mother has returned, I don’t want to be here.

Gripping the hem of my dress, I lift it to look at the brand on my inner thigh. It’s had a bandage over it the last couple of days. Sin cleans it and changes it out for me. I hate that I love it. That he’s claimed me in a way no one ever has before. In a way, it makes me feel accepted. Even I know that’s fucked up. That my childhood has me accept something that most of society would find wrong.

Putting my dress back in place, I respond to Kira as I make my way downstairs and into the formal dining room. I sit down at the table.

“Ellington?”

I look up to see my mom enter with a few members of her staff. “Are you okay, honey? You look a little sick.” Before waiting for me to answer, she turns to them, barking out orders, then faces me once again, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m fine, Mom. Just tired.”

“Well, if you wouldn’t stay out all night with random men like a raccoon digging through trash, you wouldn’t be so exhausted.”

I nod, picking up the bottle of champagne from the middle of the table. “You’re right, Mom.” I toss it back, sucking it from the bottle.

She frowns but then orders her little bitches to bring a new bottle since I’ve claimed this one. She walks out and I pull it away from my lips, sucking in a deep breath.

“A glass, Miss Ellington.” A member of her hired staff sets a champagne flute in front of me. His way of telling me my mother won’t appreciate my unruly manners in front of our guests.

I reach out, pick up the crystal flute and then slam it down on the marble floor next to my chair. It was from my mom’s second wedding. A gift from my daddy .

His eyes narrow on mine as I stare up at him. “I’m sorry, it slipped.”

“Quite all right, miss. I’ll get you another one,” he says tightly, turning toward the hallway. I hear him snap his fingers, ordering someone to the formal dining room because picking up my messes are beneath him.

Reaching down, I pick up a piece and hold it in my hand. My pointer finger runs over the sharp corner. I hiss in a breath when I see it’s cut me. The slightest drop of blood pops out before running down my finger. I pull it into my mouth and suck. The taste reminds me of what Sin and I did on the back of the boat. Fuck, I want him even more now than I ever have.

Why? Because I know he’s as fucked up as I am? Because he has known it was me this entire time? He showed up for me when I needed him. He held me in my bed. That has to mean something, right? That it’s more than just sex?

And the mystery man. He’s done so many dirty … no, filthy things to me. Some I begged for. Other times, he didn’t allow me that option.

I hear laughter coming from down the hall and I curl my hand around the glass to hide it. She enters, and my eyes meet a set of brown ones. My breathing picks up. I’ve only ever seen him twice in my life.

I sit in the grand hall on the couch, eyes on the floor.

“Who would do this?” my mother cries. “Who would kill James?”

“I don’t know, Laura. But I’ll find him. I’ll take care of it. There will be retribution.”

I lift my eyes to look at the bastard who sits across from me. He’s got his arms around my mom while she sobs into his side, but his eyes are on me. They drop to my dress, and his brows crease when he looks at my wrists. The marks still visible from the zip tie the mystery man used to tie me up after he killed my stepdad.

The front door opens, and my mom jumps to her feet. “Anything?” she begs.

“No, ma’am.” The officer shakes his head. “No proof of forced entry.”

“He must have been at the party,” Lincoln growls. “Check the list.”

“We have …”

“Then double, triple-check it, for fuck’s sake,” he snaps, and my mom’s body shakes. “I want to know how he had access to this fucking house.”

My bedroom. I watched him leave out of my French doors to my balcony. He must have entered the same way. I never lock them. I prefer to leave them open at night and listen to the wind howl in the trees. It’s soothing.

“Are you okay, miss?” A man comes up to stand in front of me.

I look up at him through my lashes. They’re clumped together. His eyes drop to my dress and heels. I know I look like shit. They think it’s because my stepdad is dead, but it’s because I allowed his killer to fuck me with his gun. My pussy burns. I’m pretty sure I’m getting an infection. But I don’t give a fuck. It was worth it. To be fucked by the very thing that killed the man I hate? I’ll take an infection any day for the price of freedom.

“She’s fine.” Lincoln scoffs.

“She’s in shock.” My mother cries, “She hasn’t spoken since … since Linc found the body.”

I didn’t even know Lincoln was attending tonight. I wouldn’t have stayed home if I had. But that doesn’t mean anything. It was packed full of guests. And I stayed to myself. Always do.

“Let us call EMS to check her out.” The officer doesn’t wait for anyone to answer. He speaks into the radio on his shoulder and orders an ambulance.

“Why?” my mother screams, making me flinch. “Why did this happen? Again?” She’s now sobbing on her knees by the couch.

Lincoln walks up behind her and places his hands on her shoulders. “Laura …”

“He was so good to us. He loved us.” I whimper at her words, and the officer notices.

“Are you going to get sick, miss?” he asks me.

“She’s fine,” Lincoln snaps at him, but the officer doesn’t look away from me.

Am I? No. I wish I could expel every touch, every kiss, every motherfucking memory of him, but I can’t. Only death will offer me such mercy.

A new officer comes walking down the stairs and hands a pill bottle to the one who hovers over me. “Found this in the bathroom by his body.”

“What are they?”

The man lowers his voice. “Viagra.”

My body shudders. I’ve been lucky enough the past year that he’s needed help getting it up. It wasn’t as fun for him to fuck me when it had to be scheduled. A part of me—the sick part—was ashamed of myself that I no longer did it for him. The other part told her to shut the fuck up.

“Someone removed his finger,” another man states, coming down the stairs.

My mother’s shrill scream that follows the officer’s statement makes my ears ring. I had watched the mystery man cut it off. He didn’t know I was there, but I was. Stunned to silence at first. He thought I was going to talk. He has no idea how well I can keep a secret. One of those secrets is sitting across from me, holding my sobbing mother.

The front double doors fly open, and three men enter the family room in solid black three-piece suits. “That’s enough, gentlemen. We’ll take it from here.”

They’re Lords. Powerful men at the top of their food chain.

“With all due respect …”

“Get the fuck out of Mr. Roland’s house,” one commands. His voice booming over my mother’s cries

I want to correct him. This isn’t James’s house. It was my father’s, who left it to my mother in his death. But I can’t make my lips move.

“We’ve got medics on the way,” the officer who called me an ambulance argues.

Another man enters the house and the Lords gesture to him.

“We brought our own.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “Last time I’m going to say it.”

Understanding the officers are outnumbered and outpowered, they exit the house as the Lords follow Lincoln upstairs to where the body remains.

The doctor walks over to me while my mother falls onto the couch, the sobs that come out of her mouth irritating me. Did she really not know what kind of man he was? I thought she put on a show. Pretended to love him because she had to. I guess I was wrong.

That was two years ago, the last time I had to see Lincoln. But that’s not why my hand tightens on the piece of glass I’m holding. My breath quickens at the pain as the jagged edges cut into my skin.

“Why is he here?” I demand.

“Elli,” my mother scolds me. “Don’t speak that way. I’m sorry, Linc.”

“It’s quite all right. This will be an adjustment for all of us.”

“Adjustment?” I repeat the word, and my eyes drop to the diamond on her left hand. A sharpness in my chest takes away my breath. “Mom—”

“Laura, we’ve got a problem in the kitchen,” her head chef says, interrupting me.

“I’ll be right back.” She pats Lincoln’s chest and follows the man out.

He places his hands on the table across from me, wasting no time. “Hello, Elli. It’s been too long.”

“Not long enough.” I swallow, my tongue all of a sudden heavy. “Get out of this house,” I add, ignoring the way my body trembles in the chair. James may have fucked me, but he took his time getting under my skin. Making me believe that I needed him. Lincoln is not that kind of man.

He smirks. “Didn’t you see the ring, baby?” I jerk at the nickname. “Daddy’s home. And by the way you’ve been acting, I see you’ve forgotten your lessons.”

A cry escapes my lips, my body sinking further into the chair, trying to escape him.

His eyes drop to my hand, and his smirk grows. “Already bleeding for me, I see.”

Tears blur my vision, and my throat is closing, making it hard to breathe.

“When I get my hands on you, those six years with James will feel like heaven.”

I don’t walk out of the formal dining room, I run, down the hallway and through the foyer, needing to get out of this hell. I yank both front doors open and rush outside, only to run into a hard body. A yelp escapes my lips in surprise.

“Whoa.” Hands grip my upper arms, and my legs buckle, but he wraps his arms around me, making me whimper. “What the fuck happened, Elli?” I hear Sin’s voice, and I bury my face into his shirt. The familiar scent envelops me, and I begin to cry.