Page 5 of The Sinners Touch

“I’m Agent Kincaid of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. I need to talk to Angel about what she saw tonight. She’s only being difficult because it’s me.”

“Difficult?” Did he really just say that?How dare he?“I’ll show you difficult…”

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“Ten minutes, son, and then I’m coming in to check on her.”

Angel let out a growl of frustration when Pops left and closed the door behind him, leaving her alone with the one man she hated more than anyone.

“Let me go.” The depth of her rage vibrated in those three words. Kade would be stupid not to understand it.

“If I let you go, are you going to behave?”

Angel wanted to say no, but she’d give anything to get away from him and how he made her feel. Being this close to him brought back memories best left buried, memories of how it felt to have him wrapped around her, his lips on her neck, his breath tickling her ear. Being near him was not a good idea. She’d rather keep her distance and let her anger shield all the pain and despair he’d left her with. Anything was better than reliving that. Especially in front of him.

“Yes.”

His arms dropped away, and he took a few steps back, keeping his back to the door and effectively trapping her in here with him. They regarded each other silently for several long moments. It was Kade who finally broke the silence.

“Are you all right?”

All right? She let out a hoarse laugh. She’d come face to face with a serial killer tonight, and she’d rather be there with him than here with Kade. She crossed her arms and sat on the edge of Pops’ desk, trying to put even more distance between them. “What do you think, Sherlock?”

“I know I’m probably the last person you want to see…”

“You think?”

His eyes narrowed, but she could see him rein in his temper. It was a knack of his and one that had managed to submerge him into the crime family her brother had gotten mixed up in.

“Now is not the time for theatrics, Angel. Do you even understand the kind of danger you’re in?”

“Theatrics?” Her entire body ached with the need to hit him. “After everything you put me through, you think I’m being theatrical? You don’t think I have the right to be angry? To hate the very sight of you?”

His sigh only served to fuel the fires stoking her rage.

“I wish you had died instead of Peter.”

He flinched, and she had a moment of self-righteous glee. The man could be hurt. His next words slapped all her anger in the face.

“I’m sorry about your brother.”

Angel closed her eyes against the wash of pain that surged up to drown her. She didn’t want his apologies or his sympathies. She just wanted him gone.

“I didn’t know until later what happened.”

Of course he didn’t, she thought bitterly. He’d been too busy moving on to his next assignment, not caring about the broken pieces he’d left behind. There hadn’t even been a trial for him to show up to so she could confront him. The cartel killed Peter before he had a chance to so much as open his mouth.

When she opened her eyes, ready to lay into him, her breath caught. He looked so sad, his onyx gaze full of compassion andregret. Kade hadn’t changed all that much in six years. He’d filled out, becoming the man his youth had hinted at. His face looked more rugged, but it only served to enhance his appeal. He’d always been beautiful to her, and that hadn’t changed. He was still the sexiest man she knew.

And when he looked at her like he was now, she always melted, but she made herself ignore it, made herself harden her resolve. She wouldn’t be fooled by him again. He was a bastard who’d left her high and dry, sobbing in the hospital with nothing left but a broken and empty heart.

“Can we get this over with so I can go home?”

“Of course,moye serdtse.”

“Don’t do that.” She knew exactly what that phrase meant—my heart. He used to call her that all the time. She’d looked it up after the first night they’d made love and he’d whispered those words to her when he thought she’d dozed off.

“What?” He cocked his head curiously.

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