Page 78 of The Sins That Bleed
The longer we hold onto each other in the quiet space of the room, the clearer it becomes to me what I have to do.
I’ll have to meet with Alaric and agree to his terms.
CHAPTER 35
We Would Be Happy
RAI
“Rapunzel, are you going to open this door up or do I need to ask you to let down your hair?” Nico shouts through the door to my suite.
I snort, the fucker switched from calling me princess to Rapunzel because we’ve been stuck in this tower ever since everything went to shit. Not being able to get out and go to work has been frustrating, but it’s outweighed by being close to Valeska.
I open the door for him to find a shit-eating grin on his face at his own joke. “Of course, you’d play the part of the charming prince when actually you’re more like the witch who traps her in the first place.”
“Oi!” he complains before smacking me on the arm. “I’m sensitive to witch jokes right now.”
His smile never drops and I roll my eyes at him. I head into the suite and see our files everywhere, along with our laptops, maps, and other items we’ve been using to figure out how we get to Alaric. The intel provided by Valeska and Sunny has been instrumental with intercepting his shipments and finding those responsible up the chain of command.
I rub my chest as the intrusive thought that I’ve not come across anything relating to my sister after all this time hits me, like it always does. We’ve made so much progress, but there’s nothing leading me back to her. The thought of accepting that I never will makes my stomach turn over.
“Sunny sent some details over for us to look at. Since Alaric went underground there’s been some odd movement at his compound. There’s a raid set for tonight and it’s likely they’ll find more people he trafficked there and kept for himself, the sick bastard.” Nico throws the picture of the compound he was looking at back on the table, disgust rippling through us both.
“This is big, Nico, all this time we’ve spent working on the case and we’re so close, but I have a bad feeling. Do you—I mean, have you foreseen anything?”
He sighs. “Nothing, a few snippets here and there with a Christmas tree and someone on their knees, but it’s too hazy to make out who it is or why. It’s weird that I’ve not had more. It’s almost as though something is blocking it.”
He fidgets with the items covering the table, tidying them into neat piles and spreading them back out again. We’re all on edge lately.
I scrub a hand over my face. “Well, let’s go over all this again and see if there’s anything else we can use ahead of tonight. We might not be at the raid, but we can still help, and Valeska is sending extra reinforcements since we don’t know what we’ll be up against.”
Nico nods and we get to work, the hours passing until the moon replaces the sun, setting earlier each day as we head into winter. The first flakes of snow fall as we wrap up, having shared any intel we found during our search.
My heart tugsat the thought of ma reine while I shower. I’ve not seen her for hours, yet it feels like a lifetime. I wish for nothing more than to be by her side for the rest of my life. She hasn’t shut me out completely, but she’s been cautious. I think back to that night in my bed.
One perfect night together.
We’ve not slept together since, her request, not mine, but I respect it. She needs to work through some things, but she can’t push me away. Nothing can come between what we have. I’m still thinking about her soft sighs of pleasure as I step out and dry myself off.
I’ve dreamt of her every single night, playing out all the fantasises I have about her—some filthy and wicked as I pleasure myself to the images I conjure, but the ones that have reoccurred the most are the most intimate. Waking up next to each other in the morning, telling each other about our day in the evening, and sharing all our thoughts with each other.
Fuck, I want that so badly.
I’ve tried talking to her about it. I want to be the one she opens up to, and I so desperately want to understand why she is refusing to give us a chance. There’s always a reason to not talk about it though, and with everything going on, I’ve not wanted to push it.
But when this is all over, I won’t let it go, I’ll demand we talk about it. She can’t make this decision for me. If she doesn’t want me, I could walk away. It would be really fucking hard, but I would do it for her. I can see she does want me, it’s in the wayshe cares for me, the way she can’t help touching me when she’s near.
We deserve to be happy.
CHAPTER 36
Unforgiveable
VALESKA
The soft velvet of my dress slides over my legs as I take the seat offered to me, the expensive material shifting like water as it moves with my body.
The soft and warm lighting create a cosy atmosphere as the Christmas tree twinkles to the right of me—it is the season after all, and I love all the lights humans use to decorate their homes.
