Does Mom have her own plan? Is marrying the enemy, and keeping him close, the best way to protect me? Or is Sinner just fucking with my head?
I don’t know who to trust anymore. I can’t figure out who is a friend and who is a foe.
Sinner uses my own knife to rip my tank top up the middle, leaving me in my bra.
I know what’s coming, and I squeeze my eyes shut, hating that everything Dad fought to stop happening is going to happen anyway.
Sinner pulls my yoga pants down a little, exposing the top of my black thong and the full extent of my back tattoo.
“Your father really thought of everything, didn’t he?” Sinner says, running his fingers up and down my spine. I shudder as strong repulsion washes over me. “If I didn’t hate everything about him, I might feel some grudging respect.”
“Dad, what’s going on?” Saint asks.
“Come here, son.”
I close my eyes as Sinner runs his hand along my lower back, his fingers brushing the curve of my ass. “If you’d stopped to examine her ink when you were fucking her, you might’ve noticed,” he says.
“What the…” Saint’s voice trails off as I feel his fingers probe the place where the fiery logo is inked on my skin.
“What is it?” Caz inquires.
“The initiation tattoo,” Saint says in a clipped tone. “Harlow has the same tattoo we have.”
Every time I’ve seen it on their lower backs, it served as a reminder, and I’ve wanted to throw up. I successfully blocked it out, but now, there’s no avoiding it.
“What the fuck?” Theo says, and I know he’s cursing himself for not seeing this when we were together. To be fair, the tattoo artist Dad hired to cover my entire back did a fantastic job and you would only notice it if you were looking for it, because the flames surrounding my avenging angel disguise it well. Still, anytime the Saints came close to my back, I freaked out at the thought they might see it.
I’ve always known it means I belong to them.
But I never understood why Sinner did it. Despite his explanation, I still don’t. He was the one who insisted on it. He was the one who held me down while the man etched it on my skin.
I knew this day would come, and I’d hoped to be long gone by then, but I’ve run out of time. And I’m all out of options.
Sinner lifts me up, planting my feet on the ground. The other board members ogle my chest in my sports bra, but that’s the least of my concerns. Saint stares at me as if he hardly knows me. And I suppose, in a lot of ways, he doesn’t.
Sinner shoves my hoodie and belt at me, groping my breasts in the process, before thrusting me at Saint. “Harlow is to be one of you. She will receive full training and undergo initiation. You will bring her to the training facility immediately.”
“What will you tell her mom?” Saint asks in a voice devoid of emotion.
“I’ll handle Giana. Just do it.”
Saint nods as Caz helps me into the hoodie, avoiding eye contact. I strap the gun belt around my waist, showing no emotion on my face.
Sinner would love me to break down.
To scream and protest.
To grant him an excuse to hurt me.
But I won’t give him the satisfaction.
Saint grabs my wrist, preparing to walk off, when Sinner clamps a hand down on his arm. “Don’t even think about crossing me.”
Saint snarls. “You honestly think I want anything to do with the lying bitch now?” He glares at me in the way he used to at the start. “She’s dead to me.”
Sinner scrutinizes his son’s face. “Go. I’ll meet you back at the house later.”
No one speaks as we exit the basement, walk across the warehouse floor, and climb into Saint’s Land Rover. Caz’s Mitsubishi is missing, and I figure Galen must have taken off in it. Saint taps out a message on his cell before fitting it into the holder on the dash. Music blares from the car speakers, making talking impossible, but I’m not even sure what I’d say.
