Secret Sin

19

Dad scowled but didn’t argue. My siblings thundered down the stairs, following my parents to the garage. Then Bishop and I were alone. Was my house always that silent? The absence of sound seemed to scream at me from all directions, urging me to say something. To propel us off the knife’s edge toward a resolution, one way or another. “I’m glad you’re here.” My words echoed in my ears, seeming so much louder than they’d been. I ignored the swell of awkwardness threatening to drown me and forged ahead. “When I first asked you to take me home with you, I was looking to assert my independence and experience life. Never in a million years had I considered it might lead to something more. What were the chances?” I peered up at him, imploring him to understand. “I never meant to hurt you. I was just scared. Everything you wanted was the opposite of what I’d told myself for years that I needed. You showing up at dinner and the nightclub? That freaked me out. I hope you can understand that.” He moved closer, taking my face in his hands. “This is my fault, Pip. I know that I’ve come on too strong, and that’s not normally like me. You somehow make me do crazy things I never would have done before. Feel crazy s**t I never would have felt before.” He paused, his earnest stare piercing me through. “All I wanted was for you to give me a chance. You can still experience the world with me—anything out there, I’ll give it to you. All you have to do is ask,” he said fervently. “I think I can do that,” I whispered. Instead of the warmth I’d expected at my answer, Bishop’s gaze dropped, and his brows drew together. “I should have come talk to you sooner, and I’m embarrassed to admit that something in particular brought me here.” His eyes returned to mine as his jaw clenched tightly shut. “I was with Callum earlier, and he happened to find you on Tinder. Please, tell me you didn’t get on that damn app because of me this week.” “What?” I gasped, eyes wide. I couldn’t fathom what he was talking about until my conversation with Aria came rushing back to me. My eyes drifted shut. “Aria,” I groaned. “We were at a family wedding yesterday. A man asked me to dance, and I accepted because I felt like I should, but everything about it felt wrong. It was so disorienting and upsetting that I stopped mid-dance and ran. My sister found me in the hallway. I explained a little about what had happened between us. She insisted I needed to get out there. That meeting someone new would cheer me up. She told me to create a Tinder profile, and I refused. She must have created it behind my back last night because I’ve never even downloaded the app. Please, believe me. I had nothing to do with that.” A ragged curse tore from his lips as he swept me into a crushing hug. “Thank Christ.” Relief gave his words wings, and they lifted me straight off the ground. “I hate the thought of you being with anyone else, kitten.” I held him tight for a second longer, then pulled back to meet his gaze again. “Then why did you set up that meeting with Callum?” I asked, a painful twinge searing through my chest. “Would you really have shared me?” “I would have tried if that’s what you truly wanted, but I would have hated every goddamn second.” “Then why did you offer?” “Because that was the only way I could think of to prove that I’m not the prison sentence you seemed to think I was.” I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t that.” “Then what?” His head tilted, eyes pleading for understanding. “Why have you been so resistant?” “Because I’ve daydreamed for years about being normal. Life was supposed to be different for me—dating, travel, maybe even a job. I was going to be a normal girl and not get married off by my father to some man I hardly knew. Go from living under one man’s roof to another’s, never learning to stand on my own.” His lips quirked upward in the corners. “And who told you I would take that dream from you?” I shrugged meekly. “Me. I’ve never known a Mafia man who didn’t keep his wife or girlfriend tucked away for safekeeping.” His eyes sparked to life with a flash of his beautiful dimples. “Lucky for you, I’m Irish, and we’re used to our women being entirely too batshit crazy to control.” I choked on a laugh as a swarm of bubbling emotions summoned a new pool of tears. Bishop placed a tender kiss at the corner of each of my eyes. “I’m not asking for forever yet, just that you’ll give me a chance. Give us a chance.” I leaned forward hesitantly and allowed my lips to ghost against his. “I don’t want to push you away anymore. I don’t want it to be over.” “Whatever this is, kitten, it’s not the end. This is only the beginning.” OceanofPDF.com Bishop spent the next hour with me on the couch, watching a movie and talking. We cuddled and teased and laughed until my heart felt full to bursting. By the time my family returned, I had to rein in my obnoxious smile so that my dad didn’t suspect something more had gone on while he was out. I was reluctant to let Bishop leave when the time came but pleased when he asked me, with Dad present, if he could pick me up for breakfast the following morning. Dad looked at me as if to verify that I wanted to go and took my giddy grin as answer enough. I was so excited I could hardly sleep that night. It was amazing how freeing it was to allow yourself to feel what came naturally. I’d felt like I shouldn’t want to be in a relationship, adding guilt and frustration to an already uncertain situation. When I simply allowed myself to enjoy the way I felt around Bishop, warm light seemed to flow through my veins. That electric rush gave me the energy I needed the next morning when Bishop showed up bright and early after thoughts of him had kept me awake late into the night. “Morning, gorgeous.” His voice was raspy and sexy as hell. He took my hand in his and walked me to his car. “You sleep well?”