A SECRET SIN

15

Be the energy you want to attract. I’d read that on i********:, and it struck a chord. If I projected

independence and confidence, I would attract those qualities into my orbit, or so said the internet. I

was still undecided on the matter.

“You are my idol,” I told Shae as we walked into the restroom after a couple of drinks. “I wish I

was just like you in every way.”

She chuckled and raised a brow. “No one’s perfect, and no one has a perfect life.”

“Yeah, but you’re hot as hell, you can fight, AND you’re not attracted to men. I wish I didn’t like

men,” I grumbled as I closed my bathroom stall door.

“Who said I’m not attracted to men?”

“Um … I don’t know. I thought you were into women?” I could have sworn Noemi had hinted at

Shae batting for the other team, but now that I’d had a few drinks, I wondered if I’d been wrong.

“I’m attracted to men. I’m also attracted to women. I just decided years ago that men weren’t

worth the hassle.”

“A- men!” My overzealous cheer echoed in the marble-lined bathroom, making me giggle.

“Right?” Shae agreed. “If all things are equal, women are definitely the better choice.”

I nodded as I finished my business. “So have you ever dated a man?” I exited the stall and caught

her eyes in the mirror as she did the same. I was so freaking curious about her. How she’d learned to

fight. Why she wanted to work alongside the Irish men. What conditioner she used to get such a glossy

shine to her hair. All the important questions.

“A couple, but they rarely hold my interest.” She dropped her gaze to the sink as she washed her

hands. “We’d better get back out. I wasn’t supposed to leave Noemi on her own.”

When we returned to our table, Noemi was right where we’d left her with a round of martinis

waiting for us.

“Drink up,” she called. “And let’s hit the dance floor!”

We clinked glasses, and the alcohol seemed to filter straight into my bloodstream. We’d already

had margaritas with dinner and tequila shots when we first arrived at the club. I grinned at the warm

buzz heating my skin. “Let’s do this!” It was definitely time to dance.

A half hour later, Noemi and I retreated to the table while Shae continued to dance. The woman

was a powerhouse, not even breaking a sweat.

“This is exactly what I needed,” I told my cousin, grateful she’d indulged my last-minute request

to go out. “And Shae is really great. I’m glad Conner sent her along even though it was unnecessary.”

I wasn’t crazy about men always thinking we needed chaperones. What really needed to happen was

for men to learn to behave like f*****g civilized human beings, then we wouldn’t be at risk. Like that

would ever happen. The only way to change the dynamic was to be a badass like Shae. I peered back

at her again in the crowd.

“And with her here, we didn’t even need our fake IDs,” Noemi chimed in, raising her glass.

“Hell yeah!” I clinked my glass with hers, but just as I started to drink, my eyes collided with a

murderous stare across the room. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Bishop speared me through with indignant accusation. His black-on-black suit was almost as dark

as the noxious aura surrounding him. He was a pressurized storm of righteous fury, and I’d never seen

anything more beautiful in my life. The intensity of chiseled features and calculated power. He was an

angry god come to earth with only one thing on his mind. Me.

Breathing suddenly felt impossible. Had he known I was here? Could this have been a

coincidence? Somehow, I doubted it. Then how had this happened? Had he followed me? My heart

thundered in my ears louder than the bass pulsing from the speakers.

Noemi’s gaze followed mine. She quickly pushed for an explanation, but I didn’t have the

capacity. I needed to get away like a rabbit from the hungry fox.

Grabbing her hand, I led us onto the dance floor, where Shae was already grinding to a Lady Gaga

remix that had spiked the energy in the room. Our small circle moving in motion with the rest of the

crowd gave me the buffer I needed. I was one tiny minnow in a giant school, and together with the

alcohol, it allowed me to pretend none of this was happening. The perfect distraction. Well, maybe

not so perfect.

I could still feel Bishop’s eyes on me even though it had to be impossible. I was too buried in the

crowd. Yet there it was. The possessive touch of his stare. As if we were all alone and I was dancing

just for him.

When Shae abandoned our circle and a solid body slid in behind me, I didn’t protest. It wasn’t

Bishop. I knew that just as well as I knew that Bishop would be pissed when he saw me pressed

against another man. Good. Let him feel a fraction of the helplessness I’d felt since he barreled into

my world, stealing away my plans and making me feel things I didn’t want to feel.

I rolled my hips and lifted my hands to rest behind me around the back of his neck. The man

smelled all wrong, but his hand splayed on my middle held me confidently against him, and he moved

like a dream. A hazy dream that abruptly burst when I was yanked from the dance floor by a tight grip

shackling my wrist.

“Noemi, call your husband to come get you. We’re leaving,” Bishop barked at my cousin, who

clambered next to me, captured in his other hand. He let out a sharp, short whistle that instantly had

Shae’s attention. He motioned to Noemi, silently instructing Shae to watch over her.

I never even got to say a word to my cousin before being dragged from the club. I didn’t fight him

because I didn’t want to make more of a scene than he already had. Instead, I waited until we’d

reached the sidewalk out front to yank free of his bruising grip.

“What are you doing here, Bishop?” I held my arms wide with disbelief, drawing more than one

curious stare. “How did you know where I was?” A swell of emotions collided in my chest—relief at

seeing him again after a week apart and bristling outrage at the possibility that he’d followed me.

Rather than rising to the challenge of my implied accusation, Bishop almost seemed to grow

calmer, but not in a good way. Carefree Bishop was now lightyears away. The man before me,

outfitted in an impeccably tailored dark suit with perfectly styled wavy hair, was brutally intense, and

every ounce of that seething ferocity was aimed at me.

“I thought we talked about this, Pippa.”