Sinners 01 - Branded (22 page)

“Be right back,” he says.

Sutton watches Cole leave and answers me in a grim voice. “As soon as your bruises
fade. We can’t have anyone questioning why you look like hell. This is never to be
talked about again. Ever. Do you understand me?”

His change of manner alarms me and something doesn’t feel right. His posture radiates
tension and the tightness in his voice seems out of character for him.

“Then tell me what’s going on,” I say.

He fixes his glasses and meets my eyes with a drawn-out sigh. “It’s horrific. I’ve
never seen it this bad. Just when I think it can’t get any worse, the violence escalates.
If you walk the wrong way, they blow off your head. Gang fights are constant, sending
victims by the dozens to the hospital, and we have limited staff.” He avoids my eyes.
“I’m not pushing what happened to you under the rug. Please try to understand. They’d
murder you. And I know you’d agree we need to protect those who saved you.”

I nod. Of course, I’d never want anything to happen to them. Cole, Zeus, and Sutton
are all I have.

“What’s causing it? I mean, it’s always been violent and ugly, so what’s going on?”

He puts his hands on his head and struggles for an explanation. “I shouldn’t tell
you.”

“Yeah, I figured,” I say. “I swear, I won’t say a word about it—to anyone.”

“I know you wouldn’t—it’s not the sinners fighting each other. It’s the sinners fighting
the guards. Talk of the uprising has surfaced. It’s scattered and unorganized, but
it’s happening nonetheless.”

I don’t know how to respond, so he continues in a whisper. “The commander knows something’s
up, and that brings me to my next point…”

I swing my head up to meet his eyes.

“If there’s anything, and I mean
anything
, going on between the two of you, it needs to stop. I will not allow either of you
to be tortured and executed over a crush and raging hormones.”

His words hang in the air, making me uncomfortable. I want to deny my feelings outright,
but I can’t, so I squeeze my lips together. The silence says it all, and he knows
it.

Just then, the door beeps and Cole struts in whistling while holding a brown paper
bag. “I grabbed some bagels. Want one?” As he focuses on our faces, he raises an eyebrow.
“Uh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. Go ahead and finish. I’ll just get cleaned
up.” He goes into the bathroom and shuts the door. Next thing, I hear the shower running.

Sutton exhales in frustration. “He’s a good man and an outstanding guard, probably
the best one here. But he’s got some difficult decisions ahead. So do you. But he
can’t afford to have anything clouding his mind. If you risk it, you’re going to kill
him.”

“Nothing’s going on.” I swallow the dryness in my throat and clench my teeth.
What am I thinking, allowing myself these feelings when they can’t go anywhere?
Sutton brings me back to Earth like my father used to, and just like in the past,
I weigh each of his words individually, fighting a battle between heart and mind.

“Good. Keep it that way. I have to go now,” Sutton says, breaking into my inner monologue.

“Thanks for everything. See you in a few days.” I speak loud so Cole hears.

Sutton stands, wraps his coat around his shoulders, and grabs his bag as he turns
to leave. His eyes lock onto mine with intensity. “Remember what I said. He’ll be
forced to choose a side.”

I nod. It requires some effort since a million thoughts run rampant through my brain.

Suddenly, the bathroom door bangs open, and Cole stumbles out while pulling on his
tall boots. He clunks to the door and puts his arm out for Sutton. “Thank you. We’re
indebted to you. Forever.” Cole smiles and squeezes his arm as Sutton frowns.

What was that? “We” are indebted?
He makes it sound like
we
are together. That’s not good. Not good at all. Why doesn’t he just ask for Wilson
to come and lop off our heads now?
But we’re not together. Nothing has happened and nothing can happen. I won’t be the
reason Cole gets killed.

“Be safe,” Sutton says.

“See ya,” I squeak out.

He shakes Cole’s hand, eyes me with warning again, and closes the door.

“Man, he was in and out fast,” Cole says. “I even brought him a bagel.”

“He’s got lots of patients to tend to. You know, all the shooting victims.” I push
for a response.

He looks at me like I shouldn’t know what’s going on out there. His mouth moves like
he wants to say something, but nothing comes out. He slowly walks over to his safe,
pulls out his pistols, and shoves them into his holsters one at a time. A knock interrupts
the awkwardness.

Cole answers, opening the door slowly to find Bruno standing outside, looking droopy
from the wet weather. He lifts the hood over his head and smiles.

“Morning, buddy.”

“Yeah, yeah, come in,” Cole says.

Bruno pushes past him and removes his wet poncho, placing it over a chair at the table.
“What’s for breakfast? Or more importantly, how’s it taste?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t had time to eat,” Cole says. He pulls on an overcoat and
double-checks the room to make sure he doesn’t forget anything. In the meantime, Bruno
nods his head my direction.

“Hey, I hope you’re ready for another titillating day standing outside my door,” I
say with sarcasm.

He smiles his big, contagious smile. “As always, I’m ready for hours of excitement.”

Cole looks at him, at me, and then back at him. He puts his hand on Bruno’s shoulder.
“I hope your day isn’t too exciting. I don’t want to have to beat your ass when I
get back.” He claps his hand jovially on Bruno’s shoulder as he speaks, but I sense
the threat behind it.

“No fun, I promise. Just complete boredom.” Bruno grins and steals a glance at me.

Cole calls Zeus and they’re out the door. He doesn’t even bother saying good-bye.
A feeling of emptiness comes over me and I can’t take another day in my room, staring
at the walls. I’ve got to do something purposeful.

Before Bruno steps out into the hallway, I stop him. “Hey, I have an idea.”

Bruno turns his head toward me, squinting his eyes with suspicion.

“I don’t want to cause any trouble, but I have a favor to ask.”

“Great, this should be good. What is it?” He tilts his head, his arms folding across
his massive chest. “And as long as it won’t piss off Cole.” His tone indicates I’m
Cole’s property. That aggravates me, so I take a deep, cleansing breath.

“It’s nothing like that. It’s just—I’ve been in so many bad situations. Wrong place,
wrong time type things, and wondered if you’d show me the basics of self-defense.
I hate not knowing how to protect myself… especially if something happens to one of
you.” The words fall out, pleading and hopeful as I try to read his expression. “Leaving
me helpless is cruel, don’t you think?”

He hesitates and, noting my bruises, seems resigned to do it. “I guess you’ve got
a point. All right, I’ll help you.”

“It’s always so loud in here. No one will notice the noise… Plus, there’s no harm
in teaching a weak, recovering female a few things, is there?” I do my best to look
as downtrodden as possible.

His eyes rest on the dark bruises that pattern my upper arms. The handprints are obvious
from where the guard held me down—they’re taking the longest to fade. Looking at them
infuriates me, but watching his expression change to one of solemn anger helps assure
me he’s one of the “good” guards. He takes off his Glocks and lays them on the counter
after removing the clips.

I stand and face opposite him, hands hanging at my sides.

He looks around again, unsure.

“All right, I’m ready,” I say.

So he begins. “First things first. Always be aware of your surroundings. Don’t walk
anywhere alone. If you must, carry something sharp between your knuckles if you can
find something. Avoid dark places—that’s a given. Use common sense and always trust
your gut.” He circles around me as he speaks. “I’m guessing you’re not in the best
physical condition, right?” he asks, but it’s more of a statement.

“Most definitely not.”

“Well, we’re going to whip you into shape. You don’t stand a chance if you can’t run
or punch correctly, so let’s begin with that.”

Next thing I know, I’m doing push-ups. I can barely bang out twenty when he yells
at me to go faster. He makes me sprint back and forth between the rooms, throw a mix
of punches, and do more push-ups. I was sore before, but now I know I’ll be an invalid.

Two hours later, I’ve had enough. I’m throwing up in the bathroom when he says, “That’s
enough for today. You’re tough. I’ll give you that. I’m willing to bet you’ll have
this down in no time.”

“Thanks,” I mumble before I heave again.
My freaking stomach.

I can almost hear the smile in his voice. “Don’t be ashamed. Believe me, at some point
we’ve all had our heads in the toilet bowl. Although, I prefer to puke in a trash
can myself. There was this one time the water splashed back in my face. And that’s
probably one of the nastiest things that’s ever happened to me.” Then he takes up
his post outside our rooms in the hallway.

I stumble to Cole’s bed and lie down. Every muscle, including the tiniest ones I didn’t
know existed, hurt.
Should I keep this from Cole?
The answer is I can’t
.

I’ve never been a liar, but I’ve had plenty of experience around them. My stepfather
was the prime example. He lied all the time. He lied to all of us when he married
my mother and we moved to High Society. At first, it was all rose-colored glass and
then he smashed it. He showered my mom with flowers and cards. He bought us ice cream
and took us to school. But he did it all just to win her heart, and when he did, everything
changed. He began feeding her pills to the point she was barely coherent half of the
day, and when she was, she was angry…
angry at me.
His hypocritical behavior, and my mother’s inability to distinguish the truth, drove
my brother away. I resigned myself to never, ever be a liar.

The thoughts make me antsy, but when I try to get up, every muscle screams. I sit
in a huff, knowing walking off my anxiety won’t work right now.

At last, Zeus bounds into the room, making his entrance with lots of wet kisses. Cole
speaks in whispers to Bruno in the hallway for a minute before he comes in.

“Hey, babe. Heard you had an interesting day.” He smirks at me.

Did he just call me babe?
“Uh, yeah. I figured it wouldn’t hurt if Bruno taught me some basic self-defense.
I hope you’re not angry with me.”

He pauses in the doorway, thinking. “I guess I don’t have a choice, do I? I’m betting
if I said no, you’d do it anyway. And knowing Bruno, he’d teach you.”

That’s it? That was easy.
“So you’re okay with it?” I want to jump up and down, but my body won’t allow me
to move.

He can’t hide his surprise. “You’re that excited about learning self-defense? Just
don’t use any of it on me, because you wouldn’t win and I don’t want to be the one
responsible for putting your ass back on bed rest,” he says. He laughs, takes my chin
in his hand, and tilts up my head. “Please be careful. Just because you know a few
things doesn’t make you invincible. Plus, I’ll still do everything in my power to
protect you,” he says. “Which reminds me, we still need to talk,” he says. I raise
my face to his. “Now don’t freak out. I’m going to ask you some basic questions about
your past, and if you’re uncomfortable, we’ll stop.”

My entire past makes me uncomfortable.
“What do you want to know?” I ask, already moving away from him toward the chair.

“What did your father do for a living?”

I cock my head to the left.
That’s not the question I expected.
“My father, well, he was a humanitarian. An extremely wealthy one, but you’d never
know it. He cared deeply about people, including the sinners. He thought the system
was unjust and was fairly vocal about it. While he had some wonderful supporters,
he also had a boatload of enemies. He never discussed his actual line of work with
me, and I was too young and naive to think much about it,” I say. “Why do you care
about my father?”

“I’m trying to put all the pieces together,” he says. He shrugs as he pulls off his
shirt and throws on a black T-shirt. He begins making something for dinner, and the
smells are intoxicating. My stomach rumbles.

“Are you hungry?” he asks as he puts something on the plates.

“Yes, actually I’m starved.” That’s something I haven’t said in a while.

He sets the table and motions for me to sit down. He sits, bows his head, and says
grace. It puzzles me.

“Where’d you learn that?”

“My mother taught me when I was young. I always give thanks for what I have because
the next minute it can be gone.”

“Makes sense. She must’ve been a good mom.” I pause while chewing and look at him.

“She was.” His eyes never leave his plate.

“Do you have any siblings?”

“No, but didn’t you say you had a brother?” he asks, changing the subject.

The steak and potatoes with cheese rock my world. “Is this a special occasion or something
because I haven’t eaten like this in ages…?”

He shrugs and raises his eyebrows while shoveling in another bite.

I take my sweet time answering his question because I’m too busy stuffing my face.
Zeus props his head on my shoulder, so I cut off a piece of steak and sneak it to
him when Cole looks down at his food.

“Your brother?”

“Oh, Keegan. He left shortly after my mother remarried. As kids, we were extremely
close, but one day, he was gone. I haven’t heard from him since.”

Evening brings darkness so Cole flicks on the light. He leans back with his arms behind
his head, fully relaxed. It’s wild to have a normal conversation.
We should’ve started this way, getting to know each other, but instead, we do everything
backward.