Page 27 of Sinner's Malice

“I have some,” Linsey offered. “I can go get it.”

“All-natural, Linsey. None of that store-bought crap,” Torment advised, and Linsey sighed.

“Please. I make it myself. Can’t get more homoeopathic than that.”

Torment smiled.

“And here I thought I knew you, Linsey.”

Linsey blushed, shaking her head. “It’s not what you think, you dirty perv. It’s good for muscle aches and joint pain.”

“Hold up.” Torment grinned mischievously. “Are you saying that your old man is getting old?”

“It’s not going to work, Torment.” Linsey scowled. She headed for the elevator; her head held high. “Needle me all you want, but I will give you nothing.”

The second the elevator doors closed, Torment laughed. “Oh, I’m going to have so much fun with that. Wait until I see Vicious again.”

Torment pulled up a chair next to me.

“Real talk, Silver. Did you give consent?”

Grimacing as I swallowed, I looked down at my fingers and nodded.

“Well, that changes everything.” He sighed, running his hands through his hair. “I’m gonna just tell you this straight, okay? Shit is going to hit the fan when Montana sees you. I can’t hide this, sweetheart. No one can. You’ve got weeks’ worth of bruising and I’m not even going to mention the brand on your back. That alone is going to raise several red flags. When Montana sees that brand, he’s going to know who fucking touched you.”

I shook my head, scared for Malice.

No one understood the connection we had. It was tentative, volatile, even dangerous at times, but there was something more between us, something so strong, something unbreakable.

I knew deep down Malice never intended to hurt me.

He was just as shocked and upset as I was.

Something happened last night.

Something neither of us expected.

Looking up at Torment, I painfully whispered, “He didn’t mean to.”

“How can you say that?” Torment shouted. “Have you seen yourself? You are black and blue from head to toe. Do not justify his actions to me, Silver. What he did to you is criminal. Any other man and he would be in jail.”

Shaking my head, I sighed.

I knew he wouldn’t understand.

If Torment didn’t, then no one would.

Did he not know that I was aware of the situation? I knew what I looked like. I’d seen myself clearly. And yet, through all the bruising, all the pain, he was standing there, waiting, watching for me to come to him. He always had been. Even when he found me in the desert all those years ago. I knew what would happen when the time came. I knew there was no other for me.

That night I met the Devil, and the Devil claimed me as his queen.

Maybe on some internal level, I was tired of waiting.

Maybe I wanted to be caught.

We had done a long dance. We’d played by the rules. Funny thing about that. Rules were meant to be broken and, let’s face it, Malice never followed the rules. He made them up as he went along and, in a way, so did I. I never conformed to societal norms. The one night I had gone out and tried to see if I could find something more, I found myself thrust back into the darkness that had been my home for so long, and I’d welcomed it.

I knew I would never have normal.