Unleashing Sin - A. M. Wilson Page 0,37
have a reaction. I do, though. I want her to ask me to stay.
He nods in understanding.
“Let me know if you two need anything, yeah?”
“Will do, brother.”
I walk to the door, and Elias steps aside to let me pass. I don’t know why, but I feel like Shelby should be coming with me. Like she belongs with me. We share something much bigger than anything Elias could share with her, and that bond is pulling me to her. But I have to leave her behind for her own safety and mine. So without even a backward glance, I walk into the hall and do just that.
I leave her behind.
Chapter Ten
Sin
“I need to know if you’re still in.”
“This isn’t about me. What I need to know is if you should even be doing this,” Richard replies.
I pace back across my living room. “If you really question that, I think it’s safe to say you’re out.”
“Sin.”
“Don’t. Don’t try to step into his shoes. He wasn’t much of a father while he was alive. I don’t need you trying either. You wouldn’t do much better.”
“You’re probably right about that, but I’m old as dirt, and I know what I’m talking about. I think it’s time for you to seriously consider putting Molly to rest. It’s time to move on with your life.” He’s right about one thing. I can hear the tiredness in his voice, and it isn’t from a long, hard day.
“You know that’s not possible,” I growl.
Richard sighs. “I know you think that, son. I also know you’re going to run yourself into the ground if you don’t stop with this path you’ve been going down for the past couple of years. Any cover we had was blown the day your dad was killed. We’re out of options, and you’re losing your purpose.”
“My purpose? My purpose is to find my sister. I haven’t lost anything besides the man who raised me, and the woman who meant everything to me.”
“You’ve lost yourself.”
I stop pacing behind the couch and grip the back so hard that my knuckles turn white. My head falls back between my shoulder blades. “I’m fine,” I snarl.
“That’s fine, son. Glad to hear you think so. I’m sorry, but unless we get a new lead or something changes, we can’t keep going in blind.”
“Fine. Then you’re out. Elias and I—ˮ
The old bastard cuts me off. “You and Elias have too much life left to live to spend it chasing after ghosts. Trust me when I say if you let him put his ass on the line for you and he dies, you’re going to spend the rest of your life regretting it.”
I swallow hard. He’s right, dammit. I can’t keep letting them do this for me.
“Right. Guess I’ll be in touch if something new surfaces.”
“Think about what I said, Sin. Think long and hard about where your life is going to go. You know I’m here for whatever you need, but we need to be rational. We need a plan.”
“Will do, Richard. Later.”
“Have a good night.”
I power off the call and toss my phone onto the couch, my mind a million miles away. I walk around to the front and take a seat, sinking into the old, worn-out cushions. My elbows hit my knees, and my head drops into my hands.
What am I doing here?
A knock sounds at the door. Shit. I look that way, wishing I had X-ray vision so I didn’t have to get up again.
Whoever’s there knocks again a little louder. It doesn’t sound like they’re going away.
I hoist myself up and prowl to the door. I grip the still crooked handle and yank it open.
“Yeah?”
Shelby stands in the hallway to my apartment, looking pale and terrified out of her mind. Before the door stops moving inward, she pushes past and lets herself inside.
“What the fuck?” I growl. I rake over her for five seconds to make sure she isn’t hurt, then step out into the hall. The place is silent. I jog over to the stairs and look down over the banister. I can see down several flights of stairs, all the way to the ground floor. Still, nobody is around.
Stalking back inside, I slam the door shut, walk up to Shelby, and cup the sides of her head so she can’t run away or go into some catatonic state again. Our faces are so close I can smell the spearmint on her breath from the gum she’s chewing, and I lower mine to her level.