Unleashing Sin - A. M. Wilson Page 0,28

my door.

I swear to God, it better not be Casey.

I wrench the door open so hard that the handle gives way a little, so now it’s loose and crooked. Just another addition to my crappy apartment.

“What more could you possibly want? Fucking all night wasn’t enough?” I snarl.

The loud intake of breath has me snapping my head up in shock. “Fucking hell.”

“Nice to see you’re still alive. Thought we’d drop in and say hello since it’s been, what, two weeks now?” Elias shoves past me, dragging a stunned Shelby behind him.

“You live here?” she whispers from behind her hand.

“No, princess, this is a five-star resort. I’m on vacation!” I throw my hands out to my sides and do a girly twirl.

“Don’t be an ass!” she snaps, shocking all the sarcastic asshole out of me. Her chest heaves, and she angrily swipes a rogue strand of hair from her face. “People care about you. You don’t have to throw that in our faces.”

My anger comes back full force. “Just because you’ve latched onto Elias and me like some little bloodsucking leech, doesn’t mean you know anything about me. I don’t need someone like you caring.” I turn my back on them and head for the hall. I need to piss and take a nap.

“You need Elias,” she calls after me in her soft voice, erasing all evidence of her previous ire. “And as much as you love to push me, I have grown to care about you. I know you lost someone.” The last sentence falls from her lips like an afterthought.

My hands curl into fists, my chin drops to my chest, and my breaths become harder to take. What is this magic she casts over me whenever I’m in her presence?

“She was taken from me.”

“And I was taken from someone.”

She has my back, and I can’t see her face, but I can feel her stare as if we’re face to face.

“That doesn’t mean—ˮ

“It does. It means we only have each other. It means I understand better than anybody what you’re feeling.”

“You don’t know shit,” I throw back, but the power behind my words is diminishing.

“I know exactly what she went through. And that’s haunted you, hasn’t it? She’s gone, and the only thing you have is your own imagination as to what she endured. I’m the link to the truth. Is that why you try so hard to push me away?”

“No,” I reply, but it’s agonized. Tortured. She’s pushing my buttons, and she knows exactly how to do it.

I can hear the soft falls of her feet against my carpet. She’s moving closer, but I can’t seem to unstick myself and retreat.

“I think it is. I think you don’t—ˮ She gasps sharply, cutting off the rest of her sentence.

“What’s wrong?” Elias asks, taking a step farther into the room, while my initial reaction is to turn around and study her face.

The little color she’s had over the past few weeks has drained completely, leaving her complexion a ghostly white. Her eyes are fixated on the coffee table, so I follow her gaze. There, between the bottle of Captain and the empty pack of smokes, is an uncapped, used needle. Fucking hell.

Elias sees it too. I don’t have to look at his face to know. I can feel his eyes on me while he shakes his head in disappointment. I don’t know why, though. What else did he think I was doing these past two weeks?

“Why do you do all the things that they did?”

I almost miss her question because the words are so quiet.

“Not this again,” I reply angrily.

“Yes, this again. What is it? Is it the same drugs they used? Is it heroin?”

“I didn’t ask for a fucking intervention.” I direct my words at Elias, but he continues to stay silent.

“Answer me!” Shelby explodes.

“Yes! It’s fucking heroin. It’s also none of your goddamn business.”

Everything about her falls with my admission—her face, her body, and then her words. “I can’t be here, Elias. Please don’t make me be.”

He clears his throat and gestures toward the door with his hand. “We can go,” he answers quietly.

It’s my turn to fall—my face, my arms. I watch them go.

As Shelby steps out the door, she turns back to me. The haunted look on her face is one I’ll never forget for as long as I live. Her pale cheeks nearly match the whites of her wide eyes. She wraps her slender fingers around the doorframe, leaning toward me as she speaks.

“I’ll never understand