Page 124 of I am Dressed in Sin (Death by Daybreak MC 2)
My breath catches and I move over to stand beside him, taking comfort in his nearness, in that cinnamon scent of his.
“I couldn’t let that happen, so I took her, and we ran away.” Sin continues to smoke, staring at the exterior wall of the house instead of the woods. “My father found us eventually, camping out in a foreclosed house nearby.” Sin lets his silver eyes slide to mine, like a mimicry of the moon behind his head, hanging heavy and pregnant in the sky. “He convinced me to come back; he promised things would be different.”
“What was your sister’s name?” I ask, thanking her departed spirit for the ferocity and the love she instilled in this man. She might not be here to benefit from it, but I can—if Sin will allow it.
“Leilani,” he says, his voice breaking, as if it’s been a long, long time since he’s said her name. He hooks a wry smile, the scar on his mouth turning the expression into something tragic. “Before my mother met my dad and let him ruin her life, she was born and raised in Hawaii.” He exhales sharply, dropping his still smoking cigarette into the ashtray. “The name means ‘heavenly child’.”
He stands up, his sweats sliding too low on his hips, revealing that pair of tattooed angel wings on his Adonis belt. It’s … it’s a lot to look at. I tear my gaze away and force it back to his face.
“Well, surprise, surprise. Daddy didn’t change. He continued on with his gambling and whatever the fuck else he did. Got himself killed actually.” Sin reaches out and lets my dark hair cover his hand, watching as the silken strands slide through his fingers. “His debtors showed up at the house to collect, so I told Leilani to run.”
“You don’t have to tell me this if you don’t want to,” I offer, but Sin is committed now. This is happening.
“The men beat the shit out of me while she took off. She didn’t make it very far. Actually, she only made it about as far as the street. She was hit by a car, Gidget. And those men? When they were done with me, you know what they did? They walked right by her while she lay bleeding on the pavement. The driver of the car was never found.”
“Were you able to see her before she passed?” I ask, and he nods.
“I made it outside; I held her.” He reaches up to rub at his face. “I held my nine-year-old sister as she died.” He glances over at me as my heart stutters and breaks for him. Pain calls to pain. His is mine and vice versa. We understand each other in a way that someone lacking in tragedy might not. “And then do you know what I did?”
Leilani was nine when she passed … I was nine when I met Sin.
He exhales sharply, and then he’s grabbing me by the shoulders and shoving me up against the side of the house. I let out a small sound of surprise.
“Listen to me, Gidget.” He stares me down, but I don’t startle easily. He knows that. “I was so angry then, and I wanted revenge.” Sin licks his lips, eyes gleaming. I’m damn near certain I’m the first person to hear this story in God-only-knows how long. “I tried to steal a gun from a Daybreaker outside a bar.”
I just stare back at him, gobsmacked.
Stealing a weapon from a patched-in member? That’s a death sentence right there.
“That Daybreaker just so happened to be Cat.” Sin stops talking, swallowing hard. “He wasn’t president then, obviously, but he took pity on me. He gave me his gun and told me to kill the fuckers who took my sister from me. He said if I did, I could start staying here on the compound. Have a bed. Have regular meals.” Sin taps the weapon in his shoulder holster. “He let me keep the gun, this gun right here. I shot three men at age sixteen, and I killed them all. So I get it. I understand what it’s like to grow up the wrong way, to learn suffering and hate before you learn stability and love. I get that.”
He releases me suddenly and stands up straight, but he’s still too close. Always too close to me.
Sin reaches into the pocket of his sweats and produces a new phone; it doesn’t have scratches on it or a cracked screen the way his does.
“I owe Cat a lot, Gidge. I owe this club a lot.” He hands the phone over to me. “Your father doesn’t want you to have a phone, but he won’t explain why. I think he’s worried. I think he knows more than he’s letting on.” Sin taps the screen with a single finger. “Keep this hidden and keep it close.” He lifts up a finger, and I cock a brow. “Don’t make me regret this.”
