Sin spreads his hands out in front of him like his palms are a scale. “You sign up for suicide matches at the warehouse. Emerson forces himself to walk fifteen blocks every time he comes into the city, and he insists on surfing every day.”
“Yes, and you jump off cliffs. You visit active war zones. Wow, you’re right, Sin. You’resodifferent. No one could ever love you.”
He waves me off. “Don’t let it keep you up at night. In fact, if you go through with your merger, you’ll be too busy for both of us.”
The accusation stings, though I have no idea why. It’s not like we stuck together after I graduated college. It’s not like Sin didn’t go to LA. It’s not like Emerson didn’t shut himself into his house to an extent that I didn’t realize until Daphne came into the picture.
He unfolds his hands from behind his head and taps at one knee. “Don’t do it.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t go through with the merger.”
I shake my head. Mistake. “Excuse me?”
Sin leans forward and clasps his hands like he’s listening hard at one of his investigative journalist interviews. “You’re fucked in the head from having so much money. It’s getting to you.”
“Moneyis getting to me?” I shove my hand into one of my pockets. The denim feels like sandpaper on my ruined knuckles. There’s a stray hundred at the bottom of my pocket, and I dig it out and hold it up. “This is the only thing that separates me from being a complete fucking monster, Sin.Money.See? It’s a thin goddamn line.”
He reaches over the ottoman, plucks it out of my hand, and tears it in half.
“What thefuck.”
Sin drops the halves of the hundred-dollar bill, letting them flutter to the rug. “You have more money than you need. A hundred dollars doesn’t make a difference to you. Athousanddoesn’t make a difference. Don’t do the merger.”
“You don’t understand. I need more money, not less. I don’t want to be a monster.”
I alreadyama monster. That’s what he doesn’t get. But the more money that stands between me and everybody else, the safer they are.
He smiles, eyes soft, like I’m being ridiculous and sad. “You’re not, Will.”
“You’re only saying that because you don’t know that I’m blackmailing my temp for sex.”
Sin’s eyebrows go up. “Bristol?”
“Yeah. I fucked her in the conference room yesterday.”
Even the way Emerson went after Daphne was less monstrous than this.
“Okay.” Sin nods. He doesn’t look nearly as horrified as I want him to. He doesn’t look nearly as awed at how depraved I am. “Maybe you are a bit unconventional. But if you really like her, why not take her on a date?”
“She’d get the wrong idea.”
“What wrong idea?”
“That I’m like that. Capable of a normal life. Kisses and hugs and wedding bells and all that shit.”
Sin looks at me for a long time. “You want a hug, Will?”
“No. I want to go back to the warehouse. That’s where I belong. In a fistfight, not going on dinner dates with innocent women.”
“Pretty sure you’re banned.”
“My car’s over there somewhere. I have to go home and change. I have meetings all day.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I fucking do.”