Page 1 of Cherished By the Sinners
Chapter One
Darlene
They were watchingher again.
It should have been creepy, two very large men staring at her, yet there wasn’t any threat in their body language.Darlene Tallman knew all about men who issued threats with just a look.Their angry eyes, cold sneers, and jittery hands—excited by the prospect of hurting someone who couldn’t possibly fight back.
These two didn’t look like that.The expression on their faces was...concerned.Oh, they tried to hide it, but she knew the difference between worry and menace.
She wished she knew why they were concerned about her.
Was it personal or professional?
They didn’t talk much, seemed to communicate mostly with heavy stares, frowns, and a whole lot of hovering.
She wanted to ask if they...liked her or if they thought she might leave, go back to her life on the streets.
Ha!She was never going back to her old life.
She’d been hurt so many times.Betrayed so many times.Nearly died this last time.Now...she was trying something new: caution.She was tired of men telling her what to do, using her however they wanted, and ending up with nothing and no one.
She was done with being a doormat.
Done.
If they didn’t want to talk to her, to tell her their concerns, well...she wasn’t going to ask.
Darlene finished checking her housekeeping cart to ensure she had everything she needed for her shift at one of the most exclusive hotels in New York City.After one last glance at the two men, who stood silently near the exit of the housekeeping supply section of the hotel maintenance floor, she pushed her cart past them.
“Good morning, Mason, Magnus,” she said in a quiet voice in their general direction.
“Good morning, Darlene,” they replied in unison, their deep, dark voices in sync.
A shiver of pleasure ran up her spine.
Don’t be stupid.They’re polite to everyone.
They wouldn’t be interested in her anyway, not with her sexual history.Three years of sex work on the streets of New York left her with a lot of scars, some visible, some not.
The two men knew about it all.
They followed her to the elevators, as usual, and watched as she got into a car to go up to her assigned floor.They didn’t say anything more, they just...watched.Watched with an intensity that was as physical as a touch.
It took a few seconds after the elevator doors closed and she began to go up before she could fully relax her shoulders and fan her face.Mason and Magnus Breznik were the hottest men she’d ever seen in her life.
The identical twins stood well over six feet and had shoulders to match their height.They kept their hair shaved on the sides, but longer on top.Their dark hair had a natural wave to it that made her hands itch to touch and stroke.They had the lightest blue eyes she’d ever seen.The first time she’d seen Mason’s eyes she’d been so surprised and fascinated she’d stopped talking in the middle of a sentence and hadn’t been able to start speaking again until he was out of sight.
If sex appeal was a power source, they’d be a nuclear power plant.
Despite their size, they didn’t frighten her, not much anyway.But she had been scaredforthem.She’d come across them in the lobby a couple of weeks ago covered in blood.Mason had been shot.He said he wore a vest, but still,shot.
They’d been so kind to her, and it wasn’t the two-faced kindness she got from most men.The kindness that went away the second you said,no.During one scary moment, they didn’t ask her for anything, they didn’t take anything either, they just held her between them until she calmed down, then stashed her in their suite.Once the confrontation—the sheer stupidity in the lobby—was over, they’d come back and escorted her to her own room.
She’d been grateful, relieved, and mystified by their behavior.One moment, they acted like two men who wanted her, touching her with desire on their faces, and carrying her off to safety.Then they backed off so hard, she wondered if they finally remembered she’d been a prostitute for three years.Or maybe they liked a different type of woman?Someone taller with self-confidence and an education?She loved to read, but hadn’t finished high school.
Whatever the reason, they just watched her.They didn’t talk to her or come too close to her.They watched.
It was pissing her off.
