“Motherfucker!” He grabs a glass off of the coffee table and throws it across the room. It hits the far wall and shatters to a million pieces.
I can only imagine how he feels. I’m sure you don’t get to let out your frustration at Carnage. He’ll be a walking time bomb now. Nine years of pent-up aggression. That’s what I need. Someone who won’t think twice about making others bleed. I need help if I’m going to take down who I think is involved. And of course, she needs her father. She may not feel that way right this second, but she will.
I head toward the hallway, knowing that Elli is waiting on me, but he stops me.
“What did you offer the Spade brothers in exchange for me?” he asks.
I look at him over my shoulder. “Whatever they wanted.”
“Easton…” he growls.
“Get some rest, Nick. We’ll try again later. We’ve only got a week for her to come around.”
ELLINGTON
I SIT INthe tub, hot water up to my chest, my eyes staring straight ahead, but I don’t see anything.
My father is alive. Has been for all these years. No. I don’t believe it. How did no one not know? He was dead. In my arms.
“Daddy?” I cry, my arms wrapped around his neck as we lie side by side on the cold floor. The rope still wrapped around it.
“Elli, he’s dead.” Hands tug at my arm.
“Noooo.” I sob, hanging on to him tighter.
“Elli, sweetheart, you’ve got to let go of him.” I hear Mrs. Sinnett say softly.
Hands grab at me again and this time I’m yanked from him. I scream, my hands reaching out, trying to grab a hold of him, but I’m too far away. “DADDY!” I sob as warm arms wrap around me, pulling me into a soft body. I turn and bury my face into her. She picks me up and I let her carry me out of the house as if I’m an infant who can’t walk on her own.
I blink and see Sin sitting in front of me in the tub, the water now turned off. His legs on either side of mine. His hands on my bent knees. His eyes follow the tear that runs down my face and I realize I’m crying. “How did you know?”
“Another Lord overheard something. He came to me, and I had Tyson make a call.”
He doesn’t want me to know who told him. Maybe it’s for the best. I sniff. “What did you do?” If my father has been gone for almost nine years, it cost Sin something in order to get him back. I know how the Lords work.
“Don’t worry about that,” he says, his hands running up and down my thighs. “He’s here now.”
My eyes drop to the water, and I feel fresh tears stinging my eyes. Lifting them back to meet his, I ask, “Why are you here, Sin?”
He sighs, his chest rising and falling, and my eyes drop to the Lords’ crest branded onto it. It makes me think of the one he gave me on my thigh. Has he given one to Amelia yet? If not, will he once she becomes his wife? “Because there’s nowhere else I want to be.”
My eyes meet his again and he reaches out, rubbing his thumb through the tears on my cheeks. “Amelia—”
“Don’t worry about her,” he interrupts me, once again avoiding my question.
I pull back and move my legs to the side, knocking his hands off of them.
“Elli,” he sighs.
I stand, making the water splash around, and get out of the tub, hearing him get out as well. I dry off and make my way to the bedroom, yanking the covers back and crawling into bed. “Go home, Sin,” I say, watching him exit the bathroom. Rolling over, I turn away from him.
He yanks the covers back and lies down next to me. “I am home, Elli.” He wraps his arm around me from behind.
I turn in his arms and shove my hand into his bare chest. “This isn’tourhome, Sin. Leave.”
He shoves me onto my back and straddles my hips. I reach up and slap his face, but it’s weak. I’m not one hundred percent myself yet after the party. The room has stopped spinning and I no longer have a bad taste in my mouth since I brushed my teeth, but my head isn’t one hundred percent. Like a throbbing sensation right behind my eyes. Not bad enough to hurt, but enough to irritate me.
Grabbing both of my wrists, he pins them down on either side of my head. I try to lift my hips but he’s sitting on them. I growl.