This time of day, the place was usually filled with laughter and more noise than many would find pleasant.
“Ah, they are in the dinin’ room settin’ up the decorations. They made the unfortunate decision tae take them all down earlier…only tae have Cecil show himself an hour later.” Roth laughed. “They’ve been at it for a few hours now. It’s a shame ye have tae go out. Ye’ll be missin’ out on all the fun.”
“Yes, well, speaking of my date…” He pulled his sleeve back to peer at his watch. “It is getting late and I need to change. She will be here soon and I’d rather not keep her waiting.”
“What’s wrong with what ye have on now?” Roth asked, waving a hand at him.
“This suit is not fitting for where we are going. It is nice, but it would be rude to show up in anything except the best.”
“Pft, the gal does nae deserve even what ye’re wearing now,” Roth spat in disgust.
“Roth,” Sin sighed.
Snorting, Roth shooed him away. Sin gave Benji and Cecil a nod when he passed them and headed to his room.
An hour later, Sin was ready for his date. Considering most of his suits would fall along the grayscale in color, and the majority were only a slightly different shade of black, it took far longer than it should have for him to choose.
Looking at his reflection in the floor-length mirror, Sin let out a sigh. His brows were trimmed, his hair swept back, and nothing was out of place, but he felt off.
No, not off, irritated. As if the effort he was putting forth was not worth it.
Grudgingly, he would admit that Roth was correct. Clarissa was not right for him. There was a coolness underneath her smile. Any hint of kindness from her seemed forced.
For a while now, Sin had felt a pervading sense of discomfort around the woman. He did not feel home. And that is what he wanted in a partner.
Sin wanted to feel like there was no place he’d rather be than in their embrace—the warmth of their arms.
Cecil’s face flashed in his mind. It was how the man looked when his plush lips were pursed, and his startling glowing teal eyes were narrowed in suspicion. An expression Cecil had aimed Sin’s way many times during his stay in the hospital. A look that would possibly appear threatening on others, was undeniably adorable on the beautiful man.
Tensing, his back straightened. Sin was not sure what he found more startling… those thoughts, or the fact that the young man’s face had come forward when thinking about what he wanted in a lover.
Cecil was a child. At almost six thousand years old, it was downright criminal for Sin to harbor such thoughts. It wouldn’t be right.
Just as continuing his relationship with Clarissa wouldn’t be. He should have ended it months ago, but Sin had either been traveling around his territory or just too busy. Well, that and Clarissa lived here, while he was currently residing at the main branch in Dusburn. Sin had seen very little of her in the past year.
His phone beeped multiple times, drawing him away from his thoughts. There were quite a few messages. All of them were from Clarissa, and all of them were informing him she was waiting. He was late—very late—forty-five minutes late according to his phone.
Leaving his room, he rushed through the maze that was the house, heading toward the front door. Sin was at the bottom of the stairs when the doorbell first rang. He pushed into the now empty entertainment room on the second ring. The third never came, which meant the door had been answered.
As Roth, Benji, and Cecil had been the only ones in theroom before, it meant bad things were going to happen if he did not get there quickly.
Throwing open the door to the entrance, the four standing past it turned to stare at him. Sin cleared his throat and smoothed back his hair out of habit.
Clarissa was elegant in her emerald-green floor-length dress, the neckline was V-shaped and coming off her shoulders. But she was angry—her arms crossed and her eyes cold. The tightness of her features seemed to soften the longer she eyed him.
Benji, like always, was overtly glaring at Roth. Sin could not wait until the two finally settled their relationship. While he would loathe to interfere, after all these years, it was past ridiculous.
Roth, as he most often did, appeared smug. A smugness that was not going to fade any time soon. Oddly enough, Cecil looked thoughtful, curious even.
Clearing his throat again, Sin strolled over, took Clarissa’s hand in his, and graced the top of it with a kiss. “I apologize, my dear, for making you wait. My earlier engagements ran longer than I predicted.”
“Oh, no. I understand, your work is quite important,” she tittered and smiled, but then her gaze flicked over to Cecil and her expression changed a bit. Sin wasn’t sure he liked the look in her eyes.
“And who is this?” she asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen him around.”
Before he could say a word, Cecil stuck out his hand. “Name’s Cecil,” the young man said with a grin that was more of a sneer.
That’s right, bitch, shake my hand. You wouldn’t want to come off as rude, Cecil thought. And she did—barely. Just the tips of her fingers touched his, at first, like she expected him to kiss it. No way in hell would he put his lips on any part of her—gross!
