The Rebirth of Sin (Wicked Trinity Book 2)

by Courtney Lane

  The fire was extinguished from her eyes and she relaxed. Her expression could be categorized as pleasantly shocked.

  “If this thing tonight is important to you, you shouldn’t go alone. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll go.”

  She put her arms around my waist and rested her cheek against my bare chest. Unseen from her view, I grinned broadly as I held her.

  “What’s happening to you, Noah?”

  Ignoring her question, I wiped the grin from my face and kissed the top of her head. “I won’t take long to get ready.”

  IT WAS WHAT I expected—actually, it was worse than I expected. The mucky-mucks rubbing elbows with one another, lying through their teeth about what they had and what they were about. I was never much of a drinker, but tonight changed that. On my second glass of whiskey, thanks to an open bar, I played the part of the loner who had no desire to speak with anyone.

  Keaton mingled with a woman in a red power-suit while standing beside her mother. Keaton wore her beauty contest fake grin and shook hands with several people as her mother dragged her from one huddled crowd to the next.

  It was sickening to watch the way her mother whored her out to gain sponsors and donations for a senate race she had no chance of winning. Not because she was incapable. I could see the ambition in Sherilynn’s eyes. If untested, she could go as far as she dreamed she would. She wouldn’t stop at the senate race; a woman like her would never be satisfied. If she desired it strongly enough, she could make it to the top. It would be a problem for me, because I was tied to Keaton. It would bring unwanted attention. I had no reason to allow Sherilynn to win.

  “Hey, don’t I know you?” A man, short and chunky, waddled up to me while pointing his finger at me.

  I took a gander through the crowd, making sure no one had eyes on me. I wrapped my hand around his neck and shoved him into a quieter space down the hall. Balling my fist, I punched him in the gut. He coughed and wheezed.

  “You don’t know me,” I warned him. “You never met me, and you never saw me. Are we clear?”

  He bobbed his head repeatedly as he strained to breathe.

  I let him go and straightened out my tie. “Go back and mingle, Mr. Seres. I’m sure you don’t want your lovely wife to know how you like to murder naughty prostitutes who set up their johns to be robbed and killed by their pimps, do you?”

  He gawked at me in shock.

  My memory is solid. He was one of the Elites at Rebirth who wanted to avenge his son’s death. His son had an addiction to prostitutes. After his father—the man in front of me—cut him off, his son was forced to turn to seedier ways of satiating his need. He turned to a prostitute known for having her pimp set up marks; he would steal from the johns and eventually kill them.

  Mr. Seres killed the pimp and the prostitute first. He came back for more wayward and evil prostitutes to kill until his wife became suspicious of his constant “vacations.” He was too important and wealthy to kill—besides, I never pegged him as purely evil. He was simply a man grieving over the loss of his son and had no makings of becoming a deranged killer.

  Mr. Seres and I parted ways after it was clear he understood my warning. I scanned the crowd through the doorway, and my attention was drawn to the woman standing directly in front of me—most likely, able to see my entire interaction with Mr. Seres.

  I plastered on my charming smile for Sherilynn, the one that had won her over the first time we’d met. “I can explain that situation.”

  “Can you?” she asked, her mouth still slacked.

  “He had some disparaging things to say about you and your daughter. He needed to be…quieted.”

  “Did he?” she asked, finally swallowing.

  “He did, and you’re welcome.”

  She looked over her shoulder for a second then back at me. “This is a highly important function for me, Noah. We do not handle our problems this way. We’re not street thugs or criminals. If there’s someone who says anything against my daughter or me, come to me. Physical violence will only bring about lawsuits and negative publicity at a time when I need all the good press I can muster.”

  “You’re Keaton’s mom, not mine,” I reminded her, my smile fading. “Your campaign has nothing to do with me. If it did, I would call you on the carpet for the way you’re treating your daughter; like a political whore. You’re selling her story for sympathy and sponsors. I could call you on the carpet about a lot of your misdeeds, Sherilynn. My suggestion? Let’s not make a big deal out of the minor things, and we’ll both walk away happy.”

  She gasped loudly and clutched her throat.

  I brushed past her and walked out.

  Needing air, I went outside.

  “I’ve consistently deceived you to get what I wanted from you. This is the point I warned you about.”

  -THE SECT

  “He’s here!” Brandy proclaimed, grabbing my arm and ushering me to the less populated area of the mansion. My mother had received the expressed endorsement of a well-known philanthropist and was able to procure the home he used for entertaining in the suburban Maryland area as the venue for her event. The guests were a venerable list of important people in the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area.

  Between being at her side and meeting so many people I couldn’t remember their names, I kept a stray eye on my father. He went to the open bar thirty-minutes into the party and remained there for the duration.

  “I’m sorry, who?” I asked, half-listening to Brandy.

  “Braedan! Veronica introduced me to him, and oh my god, Keaton. You have to meet him.” She linked her arm with mine and tried to guide me along.

  My pain medication had begun to wear off and made my steps a bit more cautious.

  “You’re lucky I’m such a good friend, because I would be all over him tonight. But Veronica is right. He’s perfect for you.”

  I should’ve protested about how inappropriate it was, but I was distracted. During our stride to another section of the home, I noticed my mother interacting with Noah in the doorway of the study. She’d never appeared more upset than she did during her brief interaction with him. Noah made a hasty exit, leaving my mother visibly fuming.

  “There he is,” Brandy proclaimed pointing ahead of us.

  The back of his head, as he stood on the balcony through the open French doors, was all I could see of Braedan. He was tall, lean, and broad in the shoulders. His dark blue suit was taken in and let out in the perfect places to give a defined silhouette of his very fit shape. His dark hair, almost midnight blue in hue, was cut into a style reminiscent of a ‘30s movie star; it shimmered against the full moon and onslaught of outdoor lighting outside. Curiosity and some unknown force magnetized my tread forward. As if he sensed my presence, he turned slightly to the right. The dim moonlight ensured I could barely see definition in his profile. A tingling heat shrouded my body, enticing my steps.

  Reality wormed its way back into my thoughts. Shaking my head, I stopped our stride. “Maybe later?’ I asked Brandy. “I’ll meet him at the end of the party.” I unlinked my arm from hers and steered my steps in the opposite direction to catch up to Noah. The further away I moved from Braedan, the more frigid the air became. I hadn’t the slightest idea what to make of the feeling, only that I knew it was something I hadn’t felt in a very long time.

  Noah paced around the circular drive in front of the estate. He took breaks every now and again to glare at the woman manning the pop-up valet station.

  “Noah?” I called, making him turn around swiftly and throw the entirety of his aggravation at me.

  “We’re leaving right fucking now.” His voice was deep and cut through my small sliver of hope that the worst that occurred between us would never happen again.

  “We’ve only been here an hour,” I stated, keeping my tone contradictory to his. “Can you give me thirty minutes?”

  His eyes flickered as they leveled down at me. “Why are you so eager to continue to play charades with your fake person
ality and your pretentious and self-righteous parents?” His tan skin turned ruddy with fury. He shot a fire-laced glance back at the home. “The amount of hypocrisy standing around in that room makes me sick to my stomach.”

  Thoroughly confused, my hands gestured as if they were meant to catch something. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

  “You’re blindingly callow at times, princess. Allow me to educate you. If you want to find the worst individuals to ever have graced mankind, you only have to look in two places: The church and politics.”

  Smoothing down the sleek side of my long—recently dyed black—hair, I brought my hair back over to one shoulder. I glanced from the inquisitive valet back to Noah. “I guess, to you, the least of the worst people are in prison?” I pointed behind me back to the house. “Compared to the criminals in prison, those people, who are just living their lives and trying to inflict change the only way they can, are the true evildoers?” I crossed my hands in front of my lap and shook my head. “No one is perfect, Noah. We are all hypocrites in some form or another. I know there can be corruption in politics, but there is corruption everywhere. Certain things have to be done to work the system; it’s just how it is. Don’t lump my mother with a handful of people who are everything that’s wrong with politics.”

  “Do you know the rough estimate of people who are wrongly imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit? ” he countered. “The justice system is broken, and it’s because of the people you’ve been rubbing elbows with. I can’t fathom how you of all people need to be reminded of that.”

  “This is my life, Noah,” I declared with conviction, teetering between exhaustion and anger. My hand shook as it hovered over my racing heart. “I’m finally in a decent mental place where I can return to it, and you’re making me feel guilty about trying to live in it? After what we went through last night, why aren’t you supporting me? You told me to be patient and wait for you to change, but all I keep seeing is how you are never going to.”

  “How are you living, Keaton? You’re faking so many things you might as well be made of silicone. That life in there is not for you. Your mother is back to her old tricks, making you become what you’re not. I suppose I was wrong in thinking if you came back here, you’d realize the truth about her.”

  “If she’s turning me into something you think I’m not, how is it any different from what you’ve done to me?”

  He hesitated, and the anger draping his face began to dissipate. “I made you a better woman,” he declared, using a tone more tempered than he had previously.

  “I’m not a better woman, Noah. I’m able to cope with things I couldn’t before, but I’m far from better.”

  “That’s them”—he began to raise his voice again and gestured dramatically back to the house—“putting false ideas inside your head. They are making you feel like you’re a failure because you don’t fit in with them anymore.”

  “Are we still speaking about me, or are you projecting how they make you feel onto me?”

  He dropped his arms, his posture becoming rigid. Any lively or discernible expression on his face was swept away with a cold, dark front.

  “Tell me what you want, Noah? What am I supposed to do? Live in isolation with you and pretend my family and my friends don’t exist?”

  “Have you ever wondered why your mother chose now for a senate run?” He stepped forward and slid his hands into his pockets while slanting his hazel-blue eyes at me. “She’s parading you around like some kind of trophy. She’s using you and what you’ve been through to win sympathy. To help her win the race. You’re so gullible you don’t realize what she’s doing to you.” Calming himself slightly, he stepped closer and clutched my waist. “We’re leaving. We’ll keep traveling until we find a place of our own away from this shit. Let them live in their world made of wax until it fucking melts and takes them with it. You can’t be a part of this, it’s not who you are anymore.”

  “Noah, if I’m honest”—unable to touch him, I fidgeted with my hands between the small space between him and me—“I don’t know who I am anymore beyond yours. I don’t know who I am beyond the woman who lets you do everything you want to her because she thinks—thought—she needed it.” I shook my head and backed away from his hold. “I need a happy medium. This is my world, and your world is isolating and only includes a volatile party of one. Can’t you meet me halfway?”

  He dropped his hands from me and backed away. “I’ll never compromise for anyone. Either you’re with me, or you’re not. And if it’s the latter, don’t be shocked if I begin to remind you of everything you’ve forgotten.”

  “I can’t leave. My friends and family are here—and I’m just beginning to reconnect with them. My mother and I have discussed me taking over F.A.C.E. permanently, and—”

  “What?!” he shouted so loudly my eardrums protested with a mind-numbing ring. “Don’t force me to make you remember.”

  “Remember what?” I asked at his back as he searched the station, found his keys, and began to trod down the driveway.

  “Who you really are,” he said without turning around.

  THE NIGHT WAS UNCOMFORTABLE. Sleeping in the bed alone, I felt restless. I could hear Noah contend with his demons upstairs while he worked out. The sound of his presence wasn’t enough to leave me feeling settled. I felt utterly alone.

  I continuously stared at my rolling bag; the one he dutifully unpacked and shoved into a corner.

  The racket upstairs ceased, indicating he might’ve possibly decided to return to bed.

  The grinding of the elevator’s gears resounded, announcing his pending arrival. I slipped out of bed carefully, feeling the pricks of discomfort from last night. He passed me by and headed for the shower.

  I sat back down on the edge of the bed and waited.

  His shower gave me time to sort through my thoughts and think of the best possible conversation starters that would circumvent angering him further. The night he took things too far, and the night he broke his promise to me could not be repeated. I had no idea why I held on when he seemed posed to continue to shatter me. There was an unseen and not yet reached limit to how much more I could take from him.

  When he returned to bed and crashed on the other side of me, I made the first move.

  I sat astride his lap as he rested beneath me with his arm behind his head. “You know you can talk to me, Noah.” My hand skipped down his body, delicately touching the old stab wounds marring his otherwise pristine and bronzed flesh. “I know your anger isn’t about what happened today. It couldn’t have been because you knew what you were getting into when you agreed to come back to D.C. with me. Lately, the man you’re showing me? You don’t need to be him anymore.”

  Clutching my wrist, he shoved my hand away from him. “Unless you’re going to ride my cock, get off.” He grabbed my hips and moved me to the side. “You’re not exactly light as air, especially now that you’ve gained too much weight.”

  Affected by the hurtful thing he had said, I slid out of bed. “What happened to the tiny bits of the sensitive Noah you showed me at Rebirth? You keep putting up this exterior like I’m supposed to still fear—like you want me to hate you.”

  “Unless you have something important to discuss, I’d prefer it if you were mute…like you used to be.”

  “I’m trying to understand what happened. Since we—why haven’t you been able to show me the man you were when I was blindfolded? I felt so much of you beyond the things you’ve ever said to me. I haven’t been able to feel it since. I don’t want to complain, but I’m confused. What did I do that was so wrong, you think you need to punish me all the time?”

  Sighing, he ran his hand down his face. “What I did at Rebirth was about showing you that I was on your side. I don’t do it any longer because I have nothing left to prove to you. Besides, are we really going to bullshit and pretend you don’t clamor for the way I show you how much I love you?”

  Faltering, I took a deep a breath
. “If I told you I needed you to be gentle tonight, because I needed you that way, could you do it for me? Can you for one night show me a different kind of love—one that isn’t tied to pain?”

  He stormed out of bed and without warning he grabbed me by the hair. Unsteady on my feet and unprepared for the sudden motion, I stumbled and fell to the ground.

  When I realized he was taking me upstairs, I panicked. There was nothing upstairs but preparations for a painful offense. I had an inkling as to what he planned to do with me, and I couldn’t bear it tonight. Flashes of the punishments I endured in the deprivation and torture rooms whirled around my head.

  He grasped me by the hips and effortlessly threw me over his shoulder. I continued my fight, clawing at his back, writhing my body around to make him loosen his hold, and screamed.

  It didn’t faze him in the least.

  He took me up the stairs, marching hard with me dangling over his shoulder.

  The elevator stopped at the third level. Juggling me over his shoulder, he lifted the gate and stepped out of the car. He stopped restraining my fight and thrust me away from him. I landed down on the floor with a painful thud.

  He glared down at me, his eyes cold and forbidding, holding an expression I hadn’t seen since I left Rebirth. “Take off your clothes and get on the sawhorse.”

  “No,” I said, scooting back against the ground and hugging myself. “I’m not doing this tonight.”

  Crouching down, he gripped my jaw, digging his fingernails into my cheeks and directed my head to regard a particular spot in the room. “Do you see that metal case, princess? Inside it contains everything I need to make you compliant. Push me and I will use everything that’s in the case along with a drug that will make your ability to scream and fight me completely impossible. I think you want to retain your ability to scream, don’t you? You know how I like it when you scream. It’s what I need to hear to make me stop when necessary. I might…push things a little too far if you’re not able to scream for me like I want you to. I might push and push until you’ll lose the ability to ever fight against me again.”