The Sin Trilogy Bundle: A Necessary Sin, the Next Sin, One Last Sin

by Georgia Cates

  “That’s not too far.”

  “It’s over twenty miles to my house.” I don’t want to put him out.

  He shuts the door on the cab. “A taxi will cost a fortune. I’m taking you home.”

  I can see this isn’t an argument where I’ll be the victor.

  “Okay. As long as you don’t try to talk me into joining your band. ’Cause I’m never stepping foot on a stage again.” Shit. That was brutal.

  “I make no promises.”

  Chapter Two

  Sinclair Breckenridge

  I’m in the background of Bleu’s life, as I have been for weeks. I have eyes on her at all times, even when they’re not my own. I safeguard her from harm. It’s all I’ve done since tracking my lass down in a small town in Mississippi, right outside of Memphis. I act as her protector from afar and she has no idea. She believes she’s hidden from The Fellowship—and me—but she couldn’t be more wrong. I’m always here, keeping a watchful eye on her and the MacAllister family.

  I often need to be reminded that this is Bleu’s world. Every person she has contact with isn’t a threat but there’s an enormous problem with that. I have no idea who’s friend or foe.

  I was concerned when Bleu disappeared at the bar with a man earlier tonight. I was on the verge of barging into the back until my lass came out on stage to perform with the band. I don’t think I’ve ever been so surprised in all my life. I knew she played but I never pegged her for a public performer. That doesn’t seem like my Bonny at all.

  But I guess I don’t really know the real Bleu MacAllister. I only know the woman she pretended to be.

  Her father is dying. I’ve hidden in the shadows so she could have these last days with him but we’re running out of time. Abram’s men are hunting her. According to the tabs I’ve been keeping, they’re getting closer. That means it’s time for Bonny to know I’ve come for her.

  Bleu and Ellison’s residence is transient. There’s not a single item they couldn’t bear to part with. These two are prepared to flee and leave everything behind at the drop of a hat.

  I’m waiting in Bleu’s dark living room when she comes home. She’s with him—the man from the bar. I wasn’t expecting that. In the weeks I’ve watched her, she’s never brought a man home. I’m not at all pleased about this. My immediate reaction is to get up and beat the piss out of him. I fight the urge and remain on the sofa since I don’t know who he is to her. It wouldn’t go over well for me to assault a member of her family.

  “Thanks for the ride.”

  “No problem. I didn’t mind at all.”

  Aye, I bet he didn’t mind.

  “Well.” She hesitates as though she doesn’t know what to say next. It’s that awkward silence thing. Good. “It was nice catching up with you.”

  “It’s been too long. How about we don’t wait seven years to see each other again?” Ahh. He’s an old acquaintance.

  “Sounds good.” No. That doesn’t sound good at all.

  He reaches up and pushes a strand of stray hair behind her ear. If I know my lass, she’s fighting the urge to untuck it since she despises her hair like that. “I’ve always hated the way things ended between us.”

  What does that mean? Is it possible Bleu had some type of romantic relationship with this man?

  “Me too,” she agrees.

  Please, don’t invite him inside, Bonny. I’m not sure how I’ll react to that.

  He moves closer and I can see it coming from a mile away. He’s going to kiss her. And I don’t think I can sit here and watch it happen.

  He touches the side of her face with his palm and I twitch to go to her, to get between them. “I’d really like to kiss you but I’m afraid you’ll kick me in the nuts again.”

  If she doesn’t, it’s likely I will.

  “Cody,” she sighs. “You’re a great guy but the timing is all wrong. I’ve just gotten out of a really intense … situation. I’m nowhere near ready for a new relationship.”

  “I get it, Bleu. But you should be aware that I’m a very patient man. I can wait.” He leans in and kisses the side of her face. “Goodnight, Memphis Bleu.”

  This man has a pet name for my Bonny. I’m not okay with that.

  She shuts the front door and turns the deadbolt. Her high heels clang across the tile floor until she reaches the carpet of her bedroom. Everything goes quiet. Walls separate us but I imagine she’s kicking out of her heels. It was always the first thing she’d do when we’d come home from a night out. I doubt that’s changed. I’d bet money she’s sitting on the edge of her bed right now rubbing her feet. She hates wearing heels because they’re uncomfortable.

  “Hey, Dora.” That’s one of Harold MacAllister’s hospice nurses. “How’s Dad tonight?”

  Bleu is calling to check in on her father—part of her nightly routine before going to bed.

  “Good. I’m coming in the morning. You can tell the dayshift I’ll be there in time for breakfast. He eats better for me than Myra, but mostly because I force him.” She laughs. “Have a good night and call if anything happens.”

  A moment later, I hear water running. She’s going to have a soak in the tub. It’s something she does almost every night.

  I recognize the smell of her signature fragrance floating in the air—peaches and cherry blossom. I inhale deeply. Damn. I’ve missed that scent.

  I sit on her bed and it feels like the longest wait of my life. I don’t know how she’ll react to discovering me inside her home. I’m certain she’ll initially be startled. Fear will likely follow. I expect a physical struggle. She’s an agent so she’s going to make a move for the gun she hides at the head of her bed. But she won’t find it there.

  The door opens and she comes out of her bathroom wearing a short, satiny robe, her hair wrapped in a towel. She jolts from surprise and then goes completely motionless.

  “Hello, my sweet Bonny.”

  She takes a few steps back and darts around the bed when I stand. I’m certain she’s going for her gun. “There’s no need for that because it’s not there.”

  She makes a move for the door and I catch her around the waist from behind. I hold her tightly to prevent escape. She throws her head backward and slams it into my nose. I immediately feel warmth ooze down my upper lip.

  I walk backward to the bed and fall with her on top of me, her back pressed against my front. She’s struggling with every bit of strength she has. It’s like wrestling a wild animal. “Stop fighting me, Bonny. I’m not here to hurt you.”

  “Liar! I don’t believe you.” She tries to kick my knee where it joins my prosthesis.

  When you physically struggle with someone, it isn’t long until one or both of your bodies give out to exhaustion. I’m fit but she’s more conditioned so I have no doubt she’ll outlast me. I must use words, not strength, to convince her.

  I use the last bit of power I have left to flip us over on the bed. Bleu is on her stomach pressed into the mattress with me lying on top of her back. I move my hands to her wrists and bind them over her head. I wrap my legs around hers, locking them so she can’t move. “I would never harm you, Bleu. I swear.”

  She stops struggling and I become aware of how hard we’re both panting. “Then why are you here?”

  “Because I love you, Bonny.” In our scuffle, she has lost the towel from her hair. I release one of her wrists and use my free hand to push away the wet strands stuck to her cheek and neck. I press my face to the side of her head so my still-panting mouth hovers over her ear. “I claimed you, Bleu. I don’t take that lightly. You’re mine to protect so I’ll always do what I must to keep you safe.”

  Her body relaxes beneath mine. I adjust my position so my weight is no longer pressing her into the mattress. She turns to look at me over her shoulder. “You’re here to protect me? From what?”

  I don’t wish to have this conversation while restraining her. “Are you finished fighting me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.�
� I move off her. We’re exhausted from our physical battle so we lie side by side on the bed catching our breath.

  She drops her damp hair towel on my face. “Your nose is bleeding.”

  “Thanks.”

  I wipe the blood away and hold pressure until the ooze stops.

  “Abram’s men are coming for you. They’re getting closer. I expect them to track you here by early next week.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I’ve been keeping tabs on their whereabouts because I’m responsible for your safety.” I still can’t believe what a poor job she’s done of concealing herself. “To tell you the truth, this whole hiding in plain sight thing isn’t the genius plan you thought. I expected a chameleon of your caliber to do a much better job of camouflaging herself.”

  “Normally I would but my dad’s sick. I couldn’t go far.”

  Staying puts her at risk. “I found you weeks ago.”

  She bolts up. “You’ve been watching me for weeks?”

  I rise so I’m sitting next to her. She’s angry. I see it in her eyes. “Aye. Three. But don’t be cross with me. It was the only way to ensure your safety without robbing you of this time with your father.”

  Her face relaxes. “Then you know my dad is in hospice care?”

  “Aye.”

  She squeezes her eyes shut for a moment and shakes her head. “I can’t leave him.”

  I understand her wanting to be with her father but she’s left herself wide open for attack. “Staying here is too risky.”

  “I can protect myself.”

  “We both know I could’ve killed you just now if that had been my intention. You’d be dead if I were one of Abram’s men.”

  She looks away, staring blankly at the wall. It’s because she knows I’m right, although she won’t dare admit it. My lass hates defeat.

  “I won’t leave like some coward.” Why did I have to fall in love with such a hard-ass?

  “Your father is dying. He won’t be much leverage for Abram to use against you but what about your sister? Can you protect her and yourself around the clock?”

  I know I’ve caught her attention—she looks shocked. “Ellison is innocent. She’s done nothing to The Fellowship. She doesn’t even know of its existence.”

  “Abram doesn’t care. He’ll use her to draw you out if that’s what it takes.”

  Her eyes grow large. “Oh God. How do I undo this?”

  I’ve spent the last three months battling the same question and see only one fix.

  “I know what you have to do.” Her baby blues gaze at me in anticipation. But I’m afraid my solution won’t be anything she’s expecting to hear. “Marry me.”

  She goes completely silent. “Did you hear what I said?”

  “Marrying you would pull me into The Fellowship even deeper. Why would I do something like that?”

  I never taught Bleu the ways of The Fellowship. I spent my time fucking her instead of teaching her our practices so now I must give her the quick version. “Every member takes a vow to never violate the family of another member. That means Abram can’t harm you if you become my wife.”

  She’s shaking her head. “Common sense tells me betrayal overrides that vow. I lied to all of you about being a former agent. I came to Edinburgh to kill your father, the brotherhood’s leader. That alone is grounds for my execution. It won’t matter if I’m your conjoined twin. The brotherhood will never accept me for anything other than what I am—a traitor.”

  “The brotherhood knows nothing of your betrayal. My father, Abram, and I all agreed it could spiral into panic and chaos if they thought they’d been compromised.” I know it must be killing Abram to keep this secret. He’d love nothing more than to make me look incompetent. “That’s the only reason Abram didn’t rat me out for initiating an FBI agent into The Fellowship.”

  She hangs her head. “I’m sorry I put you in that situation.”

  “Hey, you.” I place my fingers below her chin and force her to look at me. “I’m not sorry. Not even a little bit. I would do it again if given the choice.”

  “Marriage might save me from being killed by Abram but your father knows about my betrayal. That can’t be fixed.”

  But it already has been. “I told him you were Amanda Lawrence’s daughter but lied about it because you were investigating her murder. I explained that you thought he might be more forthcoming about information if he didn’t know he was a suspect.” It’s mostly true, minus the part where she planned his murder. “He has no idea you came to kill him. I swear.”

  “You may have fixed things with your father but Abram is still coming after me.”

  I take her hands in mine. “He won’t if you marry me.”

  “Abram will never accept your marriage to me.”

  “Good thing his approval is not a requirement.”

  She can argue all she likes but I’ve thought this through for months and looked at it from every angle. Marriage is the only thing that makes sense.

  “What do the brothers think happened to me?”

  “I told them you were called away for a family emergency and you’re home caring for your terminally ill father. As far as they’re concerned, you’re still one of us and nothing has changed. You could return today and they’d welcome you back with open arms. Especially my mum. She misses you terribly.”

  “I miss her as well.”

  There’s still the matter of her wanting to kill my father. “I spoke with my dad about your mother’s murder. He stands firm that he isn’t her killer.”

  She shakes her head. “No. I was there. I recognized Thane’s voice.”

  “You were a frightened child who heard a Scotsman’s voice. You never saw his face. Even you must admit there’s room for error.”

  I know my Bonny Bleu. She’ll never marry into the brotherhood if she believes its leader murdered her mother. I have to convince her my dad is innocent of this crime. “My father is The Fellowship’s leader. He answers to no one. That makes him untouchable. He’d take ownership of your mother’s murder if he were her killer. It’s our way. You know this about us.” She looks as though she’s considering my theory. “He was very much in love with your mother. He wouldn’t have harmed her.”

  She looks as though she’s struggling internally. “Accepting his innocence means I’ve been mistaken for eighteen years. My whole life has been spent obsessing over killing the wrong man. You can’t possibly imagine the way that makes me feel—as a trained agent and as a person in general.”

  “You were a young, traumatized child. It stands to reason you’d be easily confused.”

  She looks as though she might burst into tears. “This means her killer is still out there. And I have no idea who or where he is.”

  Bleu needs to know she won’t be alone in this. “We will find your mother’s murderer. When we do, I’ll help you kill him if you like. But first on our agenda must be making you safe.”

  She nibbles her bottom lip for a moment before looking down at her hands in her lap. “Bonny. Look at me.” Her eyes meet mine. “Marry. Me.”

  She shakes her head. “I don’t want to enter into a marriage for the wrong reason.”

  “Then enter into it for the right one.” She told me she loved me on the last night we were together but she thought we’d never see one another again. I have no idea if her feelings still stand. “You told me you loved me.”

  “I do. I love you very much.” My body instantly relaxes when I hear her declaration. The heavy weight of not knowing has lifted. “But marriage is drastic.”

  “Any man can see the good inside you. But what you need is one who sees the bad and loves you anyway. That’s me.”

  “Becoming your wife means I marry The Fellowship as well. I’m not sure I can handle that.”

  “Tell me what part of it worries you.”

  “For one, you’ll take your father’s place as leader one day. When you do, you won’t be mine anymore.”

 
She’s wrong. “Bonny. I’ll always be yours. Nothing will change that.”

  “You can say you’ll be mine but it isn’t true. Not really. I’ll always have to share you with The Fellowship. In a sense, they own you.”

  The part she possesses is so much bigger. “I belong to you, Bleu. And you belong to me. That is never going to change.”

  “All of this is a lot to take in without any kind of warning. I need time to sort out my thoughts.”

  This is the worst marriage proposal in history. Marry me or die. No woman spends her life dreaming of those words. “My proposal is unexpected and unromantic. I can’t imagine a worse combination. I don’t even have a ring for you.” I cradle her face with my hand. “For that, I’m truly sorry but I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I swear.”

  She doesn’t reply.

  “Say yes, Bleu. Take your place as my wife and mother of my children.”

  “I can’t believe you just said something so cruel.” She jerks away. “You know I want to be a mother but there’s a very high probability that’ll never happen.”

  I don’t believe that. I see our future when I look into her eyes and it has everything we dream of. “If you want babies, you will have them one way or another. I’ll see to it.”

  “The Fellowship will expect you to produce a legitimate heir. What are they going to say when I can’t give you a son?”

  “I don’t care what they say but we already know we don’t have the luxury of waiting. We’ll see the best fertility specialist right away. We’ll make our decision together based on what is best for us. Not The Fellowship.”

  “I want to be crystal clear about one thing since we’re talking children. If I say yes and if by some miracle, I’m able to become pregnant and if it’s a boy, I won’t let you take him from me.”

  “I know. I’d never expect you to go along with that.” I’m a little hurt she thinks I’d take our child from her. “I don’t think you fully grasp how much I love you, Bleu. I’m willing to change the rules for you.”

  She reaches for my hand. “Believe me when I say it doesn’t go unnoticed.”