Page 27 of The Sinners Gambit

I can’t have sex with him.

Or can I?

“No!” I whisper-shout to myself.

I mean as long as you kill him after, who says you can’t use him before he has to die?

“Fucking fuck,” I whisper as I get inside the study. Deciding to leave the lights off to not draw attention, I continue to allow the moonlight to illuminate the place and be my only source of light. Thankfully, it’s a full moon tonight. I notice the computer this time and head over. There seems to be two-step authentication, a fingerprint and password.

“I wonder . . .” Moving my thumb to the pad I see that I passed the first level. “Holy shit.” I don’t know if I’m creeped out or highly impressed. Now what the hell is the password?

I type my full name. Wrong. Then my birthday. Wrong. The day I know was his version of our “meet-cute.” All of it’s wrong. It says I have two tries left before an alert will go off.

“Ugh!” I groan. Cracking my neck again, I decide to roam the room and focus on thinking about what it could be before trying again.

I walk to the bookshelves that line all the walls. The urge to have a “Belle moment” is so strong, but I don’t want to make too much noise. Looking through the books, I notice there are random trinkets decorating the shelves. It's a very aesthetically pleasing space to look at. I wonder if this was all him or if he hired someone to organize it.

My eyes land on a chest in the middle of one of the bookshelves. Intrigued, I walk toward it hoping to find something of substance.

When I open it, my breath catches in my throat. “Oh my God.”

There’s a tiny red bead laid on top of a scarf. I pick it up to examine it. It’s a simple crystal bead from my favorite bracelet. The one that shattered that day Killian laid eyes on me for the first time at the coffee shop. God, it took so long for us to finally cross paths—we tried so many different days, times, and places hoping he’d show up and notice me. The guy hitting on me was a nice touch in my favor; though, that’s just a typical day in NYC for a woman. I was pretty pissed my bracelet broke in the process though, I really loved that one.

I can’t believe he picked it up and kept it all this time. My heart somersaults. Looking up, I realize there’s an inscription under the wooden chest lid. I walk closer to the window to get a better look. It says: “The moment I knew I was going to fall in love with you.”

Tears fill my eyes. This is all so confusing. The Killian that I’m getting to know here is not who I expected a cold-blooded killer to be. How can this kind and compassionate person be the same evil man who hunted down and killed my mother?

Not being able to see any more, I put everything back where it was and go back to my room. I lie in bed willing sleep to take me.

I just need my mind to shut off.

No reality.

No nightmares.

Just peace—even for a few hours.

Unfortunately, sleep never comes.

Chapter 15

Killian

ThedoortoNaomi’sroom swings open just as I’m about to knock. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here, remember?” I make the world's dumbest joke.

She raises an eyebrow at me.

“I wanted to check on you after last night,” I admit.

“I-I’m fine. Thanks.”

“I was thinking we could finish the garden tour this morning? I’m usually not hungry the morning after a nightmare, but still feel wound up.”

Her eyes narrow at me, but she nods. “Yeah, I’m usually never hungry either. Okay. I get to ask the first question. Was it three left?”

“You can ask as many as you want. Come on.” I gesture my hand toward the hallway.

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