Page 153 of Sinful King

“No one said he was so beautiful,” Gianna murmured, tone more fact than anything else.

They were suited and booted, all looked good. Demetrius had his full face on display unlike other times, deep deep dark skin shimmering under the church lights.

He was indeed a beautiful man, just not as fine as mine. But I’m sure I was bias.

After the conversation exchange seemed to end, he pushed his hand out and Finnegan took it. Then, Cian and Rían did the same.

Mmm.

Looked like someone was wiggling his way into our circle completely.

I didn’t answer Violet’s question because the second he had Finnegan’s blessing to even speak to her, his eyes drifted in our direction.

“Here we go,” she mumbled, bringing a smile to my face.

There was no doubt in my mind she understood what his attention meant, and he made it known when they came to take their seats, Demetrius sitting in the row behind us instead of in front.

He leaned forward, head between me and Violet. She ignored his presence, which I’m learning was a specialty of hers.

“Good morning, ladies.”

Finnegan turned, eyes on Violet.

They were having a silent conversation.

“The answer is no,” she said when her husband turned away, leaving the decision to her. “Unless you tell us the real reason you did all this.”

He sat back at that and I smirked.

Gianna snickered and Cian looked over his shoulder, meeting all our gazes before a smile spread across his face as he turned away.

It wasn’t long before Esmeralda showed face, sliding into the third row beside Demetrius with Lorcan and Liam. Then, the twins, Tadhg, Niamh, Delilah, Yasmine and even Anessa who’d come back with Cian and Gianna.

Viviana was dealing with the aftermath of her decisions; in other words, Caroline was giving her the cold shoulder instead of killing her, which had to be worse.

As for Landell, he was awaiting his fate in a cold dark basement. Sean had passed the task onto his daughters.

“See you kept her around,” Demetrius mused.

I shrugged but kept my attention forward. Service was about to begin and I wanted to be dialed in until the very end.

“Of course she did,” Esmeralda quipped, not caring one way or another his thoughts on her. “We’re locked in. How about you give me a job?”

This time I did cut my eyes behind me to see his expression, but there wasn’t one even as he said, “If I wanted to coat the town blood red, I’d indulge you. What I need is someone with a little humanity and you have none, little mama. Maybe next time.”

Interesting.

He’d said The Collective had something that belonged to him, but why was it sounding like a person and not an object?

The question lingered as the service finally began, starting with a prayer, song selection, and announcements.

Another prayer and song followed before Darragh was introduced by Blake, who I hadn’t seen come in at all.

“Good morning, church family,” he spoke, eyes taking in the room. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen a packed sanctuary like this. I’m glad to see your faces on this beautiful spring Sunday morning. Before, I introduce the man of the hour, there’s something I need to get off my chest and I promise to make it quick…”

He looked back at an impeccably dressed Darragh, who nodded.

“I owe each and every one of you an apology. When I took the youth director position three years ago, I knew it meant not only teaching and guiding our young people but being an example to them as well…” his eyes landed on me and I didn’t like the attention. “I’m learning that silence is not the example I want to set. My promise to you all is to never be silent again. To the person who was hurt the most by it, I want you to know you’re worthy regardless of the actions of others. Not because I said so, but because God said so. He ordained it the second you were pushed into this world and look at what you were blessed with because of that.”

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