Page 23 of Sinner's Sacrifice
“No, you seem very picky about who you go after, which is fair. I do the same.”
He leaned toward her suddenly and said in a low, harsh tone, “Vigilante justice is no justice at all, and frequently leaves those who partake in it, dead or worse.”
He was trying to scare her, and it was working, but there was something under the threat. Something that told her he’d lost someone important to him in an unjust way.
“Who got hurt?” she asked, her volume barely above a whisper.
His face didn’t change, stayed cold and hard and barren.
Something horrible happened, she was certain of it. Completely, entirely, and wholly certain. It had changed him and taken from him any sense of safety, fairness, and home.
This was why he lived in a hotel. Any place he tried to imagine as home would only disappoint him. So, he didn’t have one.
“My cousin’s wife and son.”
She was so shocked he answered her, she jumped. “You don’t have to—”
“They were murdered,” he continued, as if she hadn’t spoken. “And my cousin, you met him, Baz walked away from the world for a long time.” Yvgeny stopped talking.
He didn’t have to say anything more.
“I remember.” He was so in love with the lady cop he’d been with, he’d been practically glowing in the dark with it. “Is the lady cop doing okay?”
“Don’t change the subject,” Yvgeny said with a frown, which was so much better than the cold blank expression he’d smoothed over his face. “Before we get out of this car, I need your promise you’ll keep your hands and opinions to yourself. Focus on the woman and ignore everything and everyone else.”
“You’re coming with me?”
“Yes.” The frown had solidified into a dangerous rage with a sharp, cold edge.
She sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. “Could you try not to scare the living shit out of everyone you see?”
Chapter Four
Yvgeny wanted to grab Samantha by the shoulders and shake her. The urge was almost as strong as the desire to kiss her. Maybe he should do both?
She’d probably punch him in the face if he tried.
Perhaps that would drive this need to protect her out of him for a moment? Unlikely. This need hadn’t lessened a bit since he witnessed another vampire, one who’d snuck into his city and had been preying on the homeless and others, strangling Sam in an alley.
At first, he’d only been doing his duty to cover up the actions of a man who’d lost his bid to retain his sanity. Some couldn’t handle living so long after everyone they loved died. One of the many people the bottom-feeder had killed had been Sam’s sister, and she was bound and determined to get her revenge. She slit his throat, which wouldn’t have killed the senseless idiot, but she didn’t know that.
He’d had to step in and kill the man himself. Twice. The first time, in front of Sam, by breaking his neck. The second, clandestine and permanent time, by cutting off his head.
He gave the same answer now as he had then. “No.”
No, he wasn’t going to let her kill someone.
No, he wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her.
No, he wasn’t going to let her do something this dangerous alone.
“Why?” she asked in a huff.
“Because,” he said as he opened the limo’s door. “It’s not fair of you to hog all the fun.”
She gave him a dirty look, and it was so domestic, he almost started laughing. That would have destroyed his evil crime boss image, so he kept it mostly in his head.
Except for the smile on his face. That he couldn’t stop.