Page 14 of Sinner's Sacrifice

“I was thinking about offering the women you mentioned jobs in one of my hotels or restaurants. They’d be in a safe working environment, earning a decent wage, and I could provide their accommodations as part of the job. Many of my employees live on-site, as you well know.”

“I see.”

Did she? Or was she continuing to filter his words through her own assumptions and misperceptions?

“You’re right, that man needs to be dealt with, but contrary to what some people believe, I don’t go around killing everyone who irritates me.”

“Uh huh,” she said. Complete disbelief.

“You remember my cousin, Baz? His girlfriend is the female cop you treated a couple of weeks ago.”

“Both of them were pretty memorable,” Sam said with a small nod.

“Well, the police are watching me closely, so I can’t just kill whoever I want.”

Maybe he could use the police to his advantage. “Would those women talk to her?”

Sam tilted her head to one side, her gaze unfocused for a moment. “Maybe. If you were serious about offering them a job and a safe place to stay.”

“I am.”

She studied him with narrowed eyes, as if she were looking for the loophole she was sure he was jumping through. “What are you going to do with the pimp?”

“Mason is taking him...elsewhere.”

“To give him a dirt nap?” she asked, her tone hopeful.

Mason was right, she had murder on her mind.

Yvgeny raised his head to heaven, and said, “I’m being punished for all the stupid shit I did as a youth, right?”

Sam snorted. “You talk to the lady cop, I’ll talk to the women.”

Yvgeny cleared his throat. “Not in that outfit you’re not.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he’d screwed up. Her face, which had been open and her expressions easy to read, closed down. Her cold mask firmly in place.

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

He waggled a finger at her. “That is a trick question. Pun intended.”

She rolled her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest, and waited.

Fine, she wanted the truth, she’d get the truth.

“You had the attention of every male in the lobby and bar, and all of them were thinking of the same thing: You naked and underneath them, fucking you until you couldn’t walk.”

Her mouth dropped open, then her eyes flashed with something hot and brittle, and she looked away. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You look like a fantasy come to life,” he said, his voice low and harsh. “It was all I could do to keep my hands off you in the elevator.”

“I kept your hands off me,” she said, meeting his gaze again with cheeks gone red.

He nodded once to admit the point. “The pain helped, but Samantha, if I had been the same kind of man like that pimp—” He couldn’t put the horror into words, he could barely contemplate it without needing to kill something.

“I broke a bone in your foot.”

“No, you didn’t.” At least it wasn’t broken anymore. His body’s ability to heal quickly was in high gear. “It hurt, but it wouldn’t have stopped me if I didn’t—” Good God, he’d almost said care about you out loud. “Value you.”