Page 3 of When Sinners Rise
“Good. You know what you’re doing?”
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“Get the girl. Don’t hurt the family. Call you when I’ve got her, and you’ll get us home. And don't fuck her.”
Not like I’ve got any choices by the look of it. I grab the money and pocket it. I’ll just do as I’m told, as usual.
CHAPTER TWO
MIRI
“Bloody hell, Miri. Give me a break.” I don’t.
My arms jut out and I pummel him over and over. Hit one, two, move my feet, and jab again until he’s backing out of the ring with his hands up in the air.
“Okay, okay. You’ve done enough.”
Bouncing, I move around the ring. “Neil, I’m nowhere near done.”
He laughs. “Well, I am. Come on.”
My eyes roll to the ceiling and back to stare at him.
This started off as a way to ensure no one would ever be able to touch me again – that I’d be ready to defend myself. But it’s unleashed something inside me, some kind of energy that still resides deep within me, even after I’ve kicked Neil’s arse.
I start stripping my tapes and head towards the showers to get ready for the day, still full of that leftover energy. Every time I hit Neil, I imagine another man’s face. And every time we stop, I picture Naja. Leaving.
Willow asks me about her and how I feel. I refused to talk to her about it for a while, but she’s been so kind that there’s anelement of me that always feels like I owe her. At least, it did at the beginning. Not so much now.
Putting on my rucksack, I head out of the locker room towards home.
“Miri!” Neil calls as I reach the road. I turn and look back at him. “Listen. Some competitions are coming up, and I think you should enter.”
“I don’t do this for that.” He doesn’t know the real reasons behind my motivation, and I hope he never will. “Thanks, but no.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. I just do this for fitness and fun.” And to make sure I’m never vulnerable again.
“That amount of attack doesn’t feel like it comes from a place of fun.”
I smile a little and look down at my feet as they shuffle on the pavement. “Maybe not, but I still don’t want to compete. See you next week, Neil.”
I don’t wait for a reply and turn back in the direction I was going. Towards Broderick Media.
The huge glass doors revolve, and I swipe my card to get through the turnstiles. The lift gives me a chance to kick the sneakers off and slip my feet into my low, formal heels, and before I know it, I’m inside the corridor that heads to my cubby hole in the law clerk’s office.
Various good mornings and greetings come my way, but I barely say a word in reply. Instead, I give a slight nod or half smile. I’ve been here a while now, but the time hasn’t helped my underlying confusion surrounding my being here.
I should be at university studying law.
But that was snatched away, just like we were.
And now I’m here, muddling along with my sister missing, and I’m meant to feel grateful for it – grateful to him.The man at the top, Landon Broderick. The man who’s given me everything I need with one hand yet refuses to give me what I want with the other. There’s no straight answer with him. He’s just a sharp, nasty man. Rude.
“Hi, Miri,” Ash says. I keep flicking through the files in front of me, ignoring him. He might be Willow’s brother, but that doesn’t mean I have to like him. “Have you seen a file for that case they’re dealing with on the top floor?”
