Page 10 of Sinful Promise

Six months ago, I was finally able to save up enough money to move out into the city, which not only saved me from commuting from Queens to college every day; but also from my father’s overbearing rules.

Living alone has been freeing. Though I can’t help but wish that I sometimes had someone to warm my bed at night.

“You’ve just earned yourself a cold shower,” I mutter to myself as I push open the door to my bedroom, only to find that someone has left me a gift in the middle of my bed.

“Oh, my god!”

All the blood drains from my body.

Some girls might find a new set of pale pink lingerie laid on their bed, with a note on top telling them to wear it tonight, a thoughtful and somewhat erotic gift.

But not me.

Especiallyconsidering the fact I don’t have a boyfriend, or even a situationship, that could have sent it. And I also don’t have a roommate.

Which means, in order for the gift to have appeared on my bed, someone must have broken into my apartment.

I fumble in my clutch for my phone and immediately go to call Danil.

But I stop.

He can’t know about this.

Because it’s not just the lingerie that I’ve been sent, and I really don’t want to have to tell him the whole truth behind the unwanted gift.

So, I scroll past his name and decide to call my sister instead.

My hand shakes as I hold the phone up to my ear, my pulse quickening with each ring.

“Emily? What time is it?”

“I’m so sorry to call this late, but…can you come over?” My voice cracks as I think of someone being in my room.

What if I had been asleep?

The thought almost has me running to the toilet to throw up all the tequila that is sloshing around in my stomach.

“Is everything all right?”

“N-not really.”

“Give me fifteen minutes.”

Zara arrivesat my apartment in ten, wearing her pink striped pajamas underneath a trench coat with her hair pulled back in a braid.

Everyone always says how much we look alike, with our matching hair and eyes. Though I inherited our father’s height, making me a few inches taller than Zara, which makes everyone assume that I’m the older out of the two of us.

In this moment, I’m so glad that I’m not because I really need my big sister.

“What’s the matter? What happened?” Her voice sounds panicked as I step aside to let her in.

“I… There’s…”

I can’t seem to get the words out.

There’s no way I can tell Zara about the gift without also coming clean about the rest of the story behind it.

Zara glances nervously around my apartment. “What is going on?”

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