Page 60 of Sin

As I pass Gideon’s study, I notice the door is ajar. That’s odd. He’s the only one with the key to his study, and is always super vigilant to keep it locked. A quick peek in tells me he’s nowhere in the room.

The open door is a huge temptation. Could there be evidence hidden in there that would be crucial to the case against Gideon? Detective Hirsh has repeatedly told Sin that it will be a challenge to get a conviction on the case, and my own research backs that up. What if there’s something in Gideon’s office that would ensure a conviction?

Didn’t I read that sociopaths have a compulsion to document their crimes in some way? Would Gideon fit that profile? A journal or some memento of the crime he is so sure he’s gotten away with could be in his office, and all I have to do is be brave enough to go in there and find it.

Sin has said that Gideon refuses to have security cameras on the property because he doesn’t want anything documented. There’s no way he would know if I sneaked in there and made a quick inspection.

Taking a deep breath for courage, I walk up to the door and push it open, and begin to take a step inside.

“What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Strong arms yank me out of Gideon’s study and spin me around. Sin stares down at me, his face fierce with anger. “Don’t move,” he orders and then turns and moves the door back to slightly ajar,precisely the way I found it. He then grabs me by the arm and drags me up the stairs and to the library and pushes me inside. “Again, what in the fuck do you think you were doing down there?”

The force of his anger causes me to instinctively take a few steps back, even though I know Sin would never physically hurt me. He closes the distance. “You’re too damned smart to do something that goddamned clueless.”

“I s-s-saw the door to his study was opened,” I try to explain, unnerved he’s so furious at me. “The guard at the gate mentioned both Gideon and my mother had left, so when I saw he’d forgotten to close and lock his study door, I thought it would be safe to look around to see if there was anything that might help with the case.”

He gives me a blistering look. “Like he might have left a signed confession under his acrylic Noah’s Ark paperweight?”

Now, as he says it, my reasoning sounds absurd, but I still don’t understand why he’s so angry. “There’s no way he would have known if I’d been in there. You told me he refuses to use security cameras.”

“That’s Gen Z thinking, that doesn’t apply to a Gen Xer, especially one as rabidly paranoid as my father.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, super coincidence, the security guard who normally has the conversational skills of a slug, made a point to mention that my father, Sheila, and the staff were all out for the afternoon, and then the door to his study, which he treats like it holds nuclear codes, just happens to be left open?”

“You think it was a trap?”

“I know it was. I’m sure he set up all sorts of detection snares to see if the room had been occupied. No cameras needed.”

“But why?”

“It’s nothing new. He continuously sets up loyalty tests and schemes to see if he can trust the people around him. Especially now that he’s at the epicenter of a scandal he hasn’t been able to squash.” He shakes his head, the anger still burning in his eyes. “He set up a test that for the first damned time in your life, you were going to fail miserably.”

Guilt overcomes me at what my rash decision almost cost Sin. “I’m so sorry,” I say, my voice shaky from regret. “I could have endangered the case.”

My apology doesn’t temper Sin’s anger. If anything, my words rev him up even more. “Fuck the case,” he grabs me by the shoulders, his fingers gripping into my skin. “What if Gideon would have been here watching, waiting for you to fail? He already held a knife to your throat. What do you think he would have done if he thought you were actively working against him? He’s a killer, Cassidy.”

Sin’s words sink in. “I didn’t think,” I admit. “I wanted to help you.”

Finally, the anger seems to seep out of him. “I’m not worth that kind of risk.”

How can he think that? He’s everything to me. My response flows out of me before I can edit it. “Of course, you are. I’d do anything for you. I love you.”

Chapter 37

Sin

“You love me?”

Cassidy looks shocked at the words that just flew out of his mouth.Maybe he regrets them? But then his shoulders square and his eyes shine with an emotion that I’ve seen looking back at me for years, but this time it’s intensified and unbelievably vibrant. He nods. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

Even though I see the proof right in front of me, I can’t help asking, “Are you sure?”

He laughs. “I’ve been in love with you for years. Since I was fifteen.”

“That was hormones,” I say. You were experiencing your first crush.”

“That’s what I told myself back then. I was too young. I didn’t understand it. My emotions were so strong and overpowering, and our situation was— complicated.”

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