The Sinner's Bargain (Contracts & Deceptions #2)

by Claire Contreras

  “Where is she?” Colin asked in a low whisper.

  Samuel pointed to the right. As they were approaching, a group of men ran past, ignoring them as they shouted to one another. Samuel stopped walking and gave Colin a wide-eyed look. “You’re going to have to go look for her without me. I have to go that way anyway, and if I see her, I’ll bring her to you. If you don’t find her and I’m not back here by eight thirty, go back to the car and stay there.” When Colin didn’t make a move, he gave him an exasperated look. “Second door to the left.”

  He nodded and walked in that direction. At the sound of a gunshot, he stopped dead in his tracks. A woman’s screams shook him to the core. It was all the fuel he needed for his body to kick into overdrive. Colin barged into the room and stopped his forward motion only long enough to quickly assess the situation. Philip’s arm was still in motion, bringing his arm down with a gun in his hand. Amara was screaming, both hands covering her face. Courtney sat in a chair, missing both of her hands, her neck wrenched to the side, blood sputtering from a wound on her head. Colin’s stomach churned. Pushing down the bile in his throat, Colin leaped toward Amara, wrapping his arms around her as he pulled her quivering frame into his chest. She screamed louder, her tiny body thrashing inside of his hold as she tried to fight him. Colin squeezed harder, his eyes on Philip, who stood over Courtney’s body.

  “She’s not hurt. You need to get out of here,” Philip said, his voice as distant as the look in his eyes.

  Colin curled his arm under Amara’s knees and picked her up, cradling her to him. “Shh it’s okay, I’m here now,” he said low into her ear. Her screams had died down, but tears continued to spill down her face, dripping down her chin and onto his shirt. He saw the moment his voice registered in her mind—the second she realized whose arms she was in. Her amber eyes widened slightly, and her limbs loosened in his strong hold, as she gave herself to him completely. He strode toward the open door and walked out, not bothering to look back. He made his way through the halls, carrying Amara through the passage he’d used to find her. Colin passing an American soldier along the way. His eyes registered the man’s name: Jennings. He nodded sharply at him, and the man returned the gesture.

  “She okay?” he asked, looking at Amara.

  “She will be.”

  “As soon as you get to the car, drive away as fast as you can.”

  That had been Colin’s plan anyway. Once they were outside, he picked up his pace into a sprint until he reached the car. He opened the door and got in, not letting go of Amara, even when he bumped his head on the ceiling. There was no way he was letting her out of his arms.

  “Go!” he said as soon as the driver gave him a questioning look.

  “It was Courtney the whole time. Following me. And she was working with my dad,” Amara said in a whimper. “They…they cut off her hands right there, and made me watch it… they…. Philip shot her. Just shot her… right there… I was trying to help her and he shot her,” she wailed. She began to cry again, and the only thing Colin could do was hold her as sobs rocked her body. He felt helpless in that moment, unsure of what he could do for her. No amount of money could take the pain away or erase the mental picture she would have for the rest of her life.

  “I’m here. It’s going to be okay now,” he murmured into her hair. His promise was the only thing he had; the only thing he could stand behind. At least his vow was something he could control.

  As they drove, Colin craned his head to look back and saw smoke. The castle was burning. For a second he wondered about Philip—about Samuel and the American soldiers he had seen run in there. He squeezed Amara in his arms as he thought of them and, for the first time in a long time, Colin said a short prayer. Those men ran into danger because it was their job. Somewhere, loved ones waited for them.

  “I was so scared,” Amara said in a hoarse whisper as she wiped her tears and shifted on his lap so she could see his face. “They said my dad knew where you were and that he was going to use you—” Amara choked on the words and began to sob again, as Colin pulled her face to his chest and stroked her hair.

  “He would have tried and failed, Mara. We’re okay. Everything is okay. Did they hurt you?”

  Her head shook against him and Colin let out a long, relieved breath.

  “What is this?” he asked, placing his hand over her stomach.

  “Oh. The papers!” she said, wiping her face and scrambling out of his legs to sit beside him. She reached under her shirt and pulled them out. “I just snatched them when all the commotion was going on.”

  “What do they say?”

  “I haven’t been able to look at them. I just grabbed them and put them under my shirt.”

  When they reached the hotel, Colin paid the driver and led Amara by the hand, ignoring the curious looks they earned from other guests. He ignored the security detail Samuel had hired for him as he opened the door and walked her straight to the bathroom, turning on the water in the tub.

  “I need a shower,” she said.

  “I’ll help you.”

  Amara shook her head and looked away from him, giving herself a once

  -over in the mirror before meeting his. “I want to do it.”

  “Okay.”

  Colin placed a towel beside the shower and went to the bedroom to get her one of his t-shirts. She was crying softly now, holding herself up with her arms stretched out in front of her as the water hit the top of her head. He debated stepping into the shower with her, but decided not to. Sometimes you need space to grieve alone. As he turned away from the bathroom, the papers on the counter caught his eye and he picked them up, taking them with him to the bed. There was a United States emblem at the top of the page, and it was addressed to Vladimir Salehi. Colin’s heart pounded as he read the contents of the letter. A dreadful feeling coursed through him as he realized what Amara had been unwillingly involved in. His head snapped up to look at her as she stood in the threshold of the bathroom. Her shoulder peeked out of the Giants shirt he’d given her. It went down to her knees and, even given the situation, she was adorable. Colin would have smiled at the sight, had he not been so somber over what he’d read.

  “We need to get rid of these papers,” he said, waving them in the air.

  “What do they say?”

  He opened his legs and she settled herself between them, turning in his hold to look at the papers in his hands.

  “It’s a contract between the U.S. and Vladimir. They were providing him with weapons and… bombs. Providing them with weapons and bombs,” Colin emphasized.

  “Those are the papers Philip wants.” She reached out to look at the next page. “This one says they’re retracting the previous document though.”

  “Look at how much money he was paying for this stuff.”

  “Can that be right?” she asked in a whisper. “That’s like… almost in the billions.”

  “Over the course of twelve years, yeah.”

  “We have to call Philip.”

  Colin thought about how the castle had been burning and wondered if there was a Philip to call. Amara didn’t wait for his answer. She stood and picked up his cell phone and began to dial. He held his breath as she looked at him, waiting for an answer, and when she said Philip’s name, he let it out. It wasn’t that he was glad the man was alive, but he was happy to get rid of these papers. At Colin’s insistence, they ordered food when Amara was off the phone. He watched her tentatively take a bite out of her hamburger, when a loud knock on the door took his attention.

  “Here,” he said, throwing a white robe at her as he opened the door.

  Philip had a hand propped on the door, his pants dirty and shirt torn. He had a cut on his face, and looked very much like he’d been through hell and back. Colin stepped out of his way and closed the door behind him.

  “Would you like some water? Amara asked her mouth agape as she looked him over. Philip accepted and gulped down the bottled water she handed him.

 
“Where are the papers?”

  Colin gave him the documents and watched as his eyes scanned the contents.

  “Is this it? This is all he had on him?”

  “Are those the papers you needed?” Amara asked, her voice a whisper.

  Philip nodded. “He must have taken them out of the safe when he heard people were aware of the location.”

  “Did Samuel make it out?” Colin asked.

  Philip nodded again, his eyes flickering back to the papers in his hands.

  “Does he know you shot Courtney?” Amara asked.

  “If I hadn’t done it, he would have had to,” Philip said. “It was better that way.”

  “Was she really giving my dad information all along?”

  Colin hated the way her head was bowed, as if ashamed of who she was.

  “Evidently.”

  “What’s going to happen to… he’s dead already, isn’t he?” she said as she watched Philip’s face.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It was bound to happen,” she said, averting her eyes. “I just wish I hadn’t suffered through this for nothing. He’s dead anyway and my mom’s dead.” She brought her glassy eyes up to meet Colin’s gaze. “I’m an orphan now. I’m an orphan and I sold myself. My body, my time—I lost everything for nothing,” she said as new tears began to spill.

  “You paid your father’s debt and then some, Amara. What you did for Méchant wasn’t in vain. All of the money your father owed would have fallen on your shoulders eventually, and he owed a lot of bad men money—far worse men than whatever you’ve ever thought of me,” Philip said as his icy blue gaze fell to the floor.

  Colin sat beside her with a sigh and pulled her into his arms.

  “More importantly, you brought down a very powerful man today. Because of you, those people will have no one in the United States government to get their ammo from. You saved countless lives—innocent lives,” Philip said as he took a seat in the chair in front of them. He leafed through the papers again until he reached the last one. “You’re young; you’re more resilient than I gave you credit for, and you’re brave. Another woman in your shoes would have been a coward today, you weren’t. Your mother would be very proud of you.” Philip folded the paper in half and handed it to her. “You’re the heir to this. Claim what’s yours. There’s enough money there to last eight lifetimes. Anna would want you to have it. If you find any more copies of these, I’ll need them.”

  “If there are any, I’ll get them to you,” Colin said before Amara could answer.

  Philip stood and shook his hand. “We’ll be in touch about Méchant as well.” He offered Amara his hand and apologized for her parents once more before walking out.

  They stood in silence for a moment, a sense of relief passing through Amara as they stared at the closed door. She felt Colin sit on the bed, then melted into his arms as he gathered her into his lap.

  “Maybe it wasn’t all for nothing after all,” she whispered.

  “I’m proud of you,” he said, burying his face in her neck and breathing her in.

  “I can’t believe you showed up after I told you not to come.”

  “I told you I wouldn’t listen.”

  “You could have gotten hurt.”

  “For you, Amara, I’d risk my life any day.”

  AMARA’S HAIR LIFTED as the wailing wind blew in her face. She braced herself against Colin, who stood beside her, holding her hand. Always holding her hand. They walked in silence through the narrow, pebbled street—one Amara had become so familiar with. It was one she so often wanted to escape from, but now they were back there, together. When they reached the front of the unmarked building, Colin let go of her hand and stood back, giving Amara space to gather her thoughts. She turned her face to him, took a breath and smiled. He was so handsome in his dark jeans and dark blue polo. His hand reached up to push his wavy hair back as he looked at her with those dark unreadable eyes. Colin stood close to her—she could reach out and take his hand again, but didn’t. They both knew she needed that moment to herself, to say goodbye.

  It had been Colin’s idea to go back to Paris and make new memories—better ones—together. And there they were, standing in front of what used to be Méchant’s most successful location. Colin hadn’t torn the company apart from the inside as he’d planned. Once he learned everything about Philip and his motives behind having Amara there, and found out Anna and Amara’s safety were involved, he offered to sell Philip his share of the company. Colin wanted nothing to do with it. He’d gotten what he wanted, which was Amara. Call it a romance or an obsession, but the fact was, that he wasn’t going to let her go again—not that she’d have let him. She’d never been as happy as she was with him. Philip bought Colin’s portion of Méchant, but shut it down shortly after. He said too much attention was brought to the company, and there wasn’t much he could do with it anymore. He had never been in the business for the women anyway, although he did enjoy the perks every once in a while.

  Amara suspected he would try to get his wife back now that this mess was over and their loved ones were no longer in danger. Even though she still didn’t like Philip—she probably never would—Amara smiled at the thought of him being happy. Tilting her head up she stared at the window of the room she’d spent many days and nights in, and brought her hand up to the purple pendant on her necklace, running her fingers over the shape of the tear drop. It was one of the items she’d taken from the safe and was both elegant and simple. It reminded Amara of her mother, and as she stood with her hand over it, saying her final goodbyes to the place she’d dreaded for so long, Amara smiled. Her mother would be proud of her. A slight shiver ran through her when she felt Colin’s hand close around hers, and Amara’s gaze cut from the building to his handsome face.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  “I think so. What are we going to do now?”

  A slow, wicked grin spread over his face. “I have a couple of ideas.”

  “Yeah? Like what?” she asked, pushing down the butterflies that threatened to take flight inside her.

  “You really want me to tell you in public?” The way he growled his words and wrapped his arm around her possessively made her heart speed up.

  She swallowed. “Yes.”

  The sun looked like the inside of a grapefruit as it begun descending over them. They stopped walking when they reached an empty spot in the park to watch the hot air balloons that were taking flight in the horizon. Colin shifted to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle.

  “Isn’t it beautiful?” Amara asked in a whisper. She turned in his arms, unsure if he could hear her, and ran her hands from his chest to his neck, wrapping them there.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said, bringing his head down to meet her lips in a slow, sensual, toe curling kiss.

  “Is that one of your ideas?” she asked against his.

  “Is what one of my ideas?” he said in a low murmur and slowly, softly, barely licked the seam of her lips, parting them with the promise of more, but pulling away before delivering. Amara’s chest expanded and retracted exaggeratedly, her desire for him building with each touch.

  “Seducing me with compliments.”

  “I don’t need to seduce you with compliments. I’m just stating the obvious. I am planning to seduce you, though,” Colin said, trailing one finger from her lips down the length of her torso until it reached the top of her jeans. He stroked the strip of exposed skin that showed from under the hem of her tiny t-shirt. “You want me, Mara?” he asked. She nodded slowly, her lips slightly parted as she looked into his darkening gaze. Colin pulled her closer and growled against her lips before sucking her bottom lip into his mouth and letting it go with a pop. Everything he did seduced her. “I can dip my hand into your pants right now and make you come if you want. Nobody would know if you manage to keep quiet.”

  Amara nodded in agreement, her eyes glazing over at the mere thought of it.

  “Or… we can e
njoy the balloons for a little while, go to dinner, and then explore all of my ideas.” He chuckled when she whimpered softly and sat on the grass, pulling him down with her.

  “I don’t want to watch the balloons anymore,” she sulked.

  Colin laughed wholeheartedly and hugged her body tighter, cocooning her in his long arms. “You wouldn’t shut up about the balloons when we were in New York, and now that we’re here, you don’t want to watch them?”

  “Because you’re making all these promises of things you’re going to do with those magical hands of yours, and then I find out you’re just teasing me.”

  “Magical hands, huh?” he asked. She didn’t have to look at him to know he was smirking.

  “Sort of magical.”

  He chuckled, the low rumble of it against her back making her nipples tighten. “Now they’re only sort of magical?”

  “A little bit.”

  “Hmmm, a little bit,” he said, licking the shell of her ear.

  “Hmmm,” Amara moaned.

  “I’ll show you a little bit,” he said, his lips traveling from one side of her neck to the other.

  “Yes. I want to hear all of your ideas.”

  “Marry me,” Colin said. It was so out of the blue that Amara’s stomach dropped. He hadn’t mentioned anything about marriage in months. Once he’d sold his dad’s side companies and managed to convince his uncle to give him more time with Wolfe, he gave Benjamin what he wanted: power over the board. Decisions made, Colin didn’t have to marry right away anymore. His mom was content with an account he’d set up for her, giving her access to more money than she would know what to do with for a while.

  “Marry me,” he repeated, whispering it into her ear and dropping a kiss just below it.

  “Are you asking me to sign another contract?” Amara asked, turning to look at him. She was sure her heart was going to explode out of her chest, and when he produced a small black box from his pocket and opened it for her, Amara felt her blood rushing to her head. Gasping, she looked at him with wide eyes, tears building in them as she looked not at the ring, but at the man holding it. He was the only person who would undoubtedly go to the other side of the earth for her, no questions asked.