Tangled Sin (A Dark Realm Novel) (23 page)

Yes, thanks to her mother mentioning that Piers had been with them at whatever party they’d attended.

“He’s a friend, Liz. Nothing more.”

Liz’s gaze skated over Saia’s nearly nude body. Before her aunt saw Riley’s name on her back, Saia pulled on her blue terry robe and tied the belt around her waist.

Someone rapped on the bedroom door. “Saia?” Noah called out.

“Dressing room.”

Her brother stopped at the door and studied her just as Liz had moments ago. He’d come home the moment he heard she’d returned. Saia understood it was because of the Caligo, Trevor, tracking her. But like Liz, he hadn't asked her much about being away.

“You’ve come to tell me what a fool I've been, too?” she asked before he could say anything. “And that Mother is right, appearances have to be maintained? Or that Piers is a good choice?”

He looked her over, and his austere expression softened. “You’re upset.”

“You think?” In frustration, she tugged the towel from her head. Damp hair tumbled down her back. She turned back to her closet. Roughly, she hauled out several dresses, tossing them on an armchair there. A dark green one caught her eye and she pulled it off the hanger—no! No more green for her. She threw it aside and pulled out something in deep red. The color of blood and gore, yes, perfect for her mood.

“Mother only wants what’s best for you.”

Saia pivoted. Noah had taken the other armchair in her dressing room. Liz stood just inside the room. “Yes. Apparently, that’s Piers. Did you not see how the sun shines from him?”

Noah leaned back in his chair. His steepled fingers pressed to his lips, hiding his smile, but his dark blue eyes gleamed.

Looking at him like that was a punch in the stomach. Her face crumpled, and a sob broke free.

“Saia, what is it?” Noah was at her side.

She shook her head. How could she tell her brother that Riley had looked at her the same way at their last meal together? Except, while her brother was amused, Riley had made love to her with his eyes. Later, he’d done just that in that dark alcove.

And all she’d thought she’d seen in his smiling green eyes had been just a dream.

Liz draped an arm around her heaving shoulders, steered her back to the bed, and sat down beside her. Noah stopped in front of her, looking helplessly at her tears.

“What’s wrong, hun?” Liz asked. “What happened when you went off with Riley?”

Surely, Liz didn't expect her to bare her heart in front of Noah?

Liz sighed, and with an apologetic look, she said, “Honey, we know what happened. Gaelin told us.”

Gaelin? Then Liz knew—did they both know
everything
? She glanced at her aunt and saw the truth in her understanding expression.

“I should have killed the bastard,” Noah said, a tick pulsing furiously on his jaw. “If it weren’t for him, you would have been safe from that damn Caligo.”

“No, Noah.” Saia swallowed hard and told him what happened. “I was at Satire’s, and Trevor started hassling me. If it weren’t for Riley, that thing would have killed me. Riley did nothing except protect me…I was safe, but I had to leave him.” She could never tell her brother why, or about the women he’d always need because of his dark soul.

“Leave him? You’re not making any sense.”

She dashed her tears with the back of her hand. “He is Wrath’s heir.”

“Wrath?” Noah repeated, frowning. “I thought you were in Vegas?”

“Vegas?” Saia shook her head in confusion, looked at Liz’s suddenly pale face then back to her brother’s. “No, I wasn’t there—”

“Hold on a sec.” Noah held up a hand, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “You mean
Wrath
as in the seven deadly sins.”

Saia nodded.

“You were in Hell?” Noah blasted Liz a furious look. “You lied to me!”

“It’s no lie.” Liz sprang to her feet. “There
is
a Caligo on the prowl for her. You could do nothing. I refused to have another of my family down there.”

“That was not your call to make,” he bit out in cold anger.

“Stop it—stop it!” Saia cried out. “I wasn’t in Hell, just the echelon where Riley comes from.”

She explained about the demon she’d accidently stabbed in the park, who’d hauled her into Stygia, and how Riley had saved her.

Noah lowered beside her on the bed, his expression tightening as she spoke.

“It matters little now. I'm fine.” Another sob shuddered through her. “He-he will be safe.”

“Safe?” Liz asked, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“He has to remain in Stygia during the transference. He can't be here when that happens. If he loses control, he would unleash his Sin on us humans and cause mayhem and darkness. The archangels will kill him. And I…I don’t know if he’s okay…” She rubbed her burning eyes, and despite everything, her worry over him grew. “Now Mother insists I go to dinner with them and the Haimons and pretend everything’s all right.”

“I thought Riley was just helping you out with the Piers issue?” Noah leaned forward, arms braced on his thighs, his eyes like blue diamonds.

She could never hide the truth from her brother, and wasn’t surprised he’d known all along that Riley wasn’t really her date. “Yes, he was…fat lot of good that did me.” She dropped her hand and pleated the ends of her robe.

“Saia?”

At her brother’s soft question, she inhaled a shaky breath and looked up. “I love him, okay?” A bitter laugh escaped her. “Don’t look so horrified, Noah. All he’s interested in is keeping me safe. Nice, huh? I’m in love with a demon who doesn’t want me, and you make it your life’s work killing them.”

Noah exhaled heavily. “I don’t kill innocent demons, Saia. Not the ones living on Earth anyway. But Caligos, definitely, or any other supernatural evil out there.”

She stared at her brother. She’d half expected him to rant. “You’re accepting all this rather calmly?”

For the first time, she saw his composed demeanor shift. Sorrow. Pain rearranged the lines of his attractive face. His gaze dropped to his boots.

“There was someone,” Saia said as understanding dawned. “And she was like Riley. What happened? Did you reject her because of what she was?”

Abruptly, Noah pushed to his feet, his expression stony. “Leave it alone, Saia. It happened a long time ago.”

How long? Noah was barely twenty-six?

It took a moment for Saia to wrap her mind around his astonishing revelation. That’s why Noah hadn’t gone after Riley with his dagger. Something else clicked into place.

“Wait—” She swung around to Liz. Narrowed her eyes. “
You
! It was you I saw in the alley when Riley killed that Caligo.
You
helped him.”

Liz glanced at Noah and nodded. “Yes, it was. I’m like Noah, a hunter.”

“What—why? Why didn't you tell me?”

“I couldn’t. I made a promise to your mother…” Liz wandered to the window and stared outside.

Saia glanced at her brother, who remained silent, then back at Liz. “This have anything to do with the cold war going on between you two?”

Liz turned, her gaze pained. “Yes. My lightning was Jai—”

“Mother’s brother?” Saia’s mouth dropped open in shock. She’d been very young when her Uncle Jai had died.

Liz nodded. “I wasn't in a good place when we met. But we fell in love the moment we laid eyes on each other. Jai, he calmed me, helped me through my grief…” She rubbed her face with a trembling hand. “It was a friend’s birthday, and they decided to go to a club. Jai took me. Later that night, on our way back, we were attacked by blood-demons. Jai tried to protect me but was killed instead, as I would have been if Riley hadn't come across us. He saved me.”

Saia’s gaze settled on the lumpy scars on Liz’s neck, and finally, she understood why Liz hadn’t gotten rid of them. “Mother blamed you for Jai’s death,” she said softly, everything falling into place.

Liz wrapped her arms around her waist, her eyes clouding with old anguish and memories. “I deserved it.”

“No, you don’t.” Saia hurried over and hugged her. “It was a terrible tragedy, Liz.”

Noah rose from the bed. “All right, let’s get this into perspective. There’s still a Caligo out there after Saia. We need to flush out the slippery bastard.”

She wheeled around to her brother. “Trevor?”

“A Caligo named Trevor?” Noah shook his head. “Don’t really care. Saia, look, I know you hate this, but keep to dinner plans. Stay with Mother and Dad. I don’t want you alone in the house until we hunt down this er, Trevor.”

Biting her lip, she nodded. It seemed even the fates were fighting against her, forcing her into dinner with Piers.

Into a trap.

The elegant restaurant at the country club buzzed with festive spirit. Cheerful red floral centerpieces decorated the pristine white table linens. Laughter and low voices, along with the tinkling of cutlery, resonated softly in the restaurant, hiking the dull ache in her head.

Saia cut a quick glance at her cell phone. Could this evening move any slower? Only ten minutes had passed since she last checked.

Rose Haimon, a tiny, birdlike woman with a snowy cap of hair, happily prattled on about some approaching event. Her mother smiled, she finally appeared to relax.

She would, when this evening seemed to be going her way.

Saia turned her attention to Jack Haimon. Piers took after his father, with the same lean build and dark hair, except the latter’s had thinned and receded quite a bit. His skin appeared ruddy, and his eyes were a little glassy from too much wine. A good thing they had a chauffeur.

“What about the club?” Piers shifted and angled his head toward her so she had no choice but to look at him. His gaze slid over her face in expectancy.

Saia bit back a sigh.

He wore one of his navy designer suits. His dark hair remained perfectly groomed, not a strand out of place. Riley simply cut his off when it got in the way.

Her chest tightened. It took a deep breath and a moment to ease the pain.

“All right, then.” Mr. Haimon set his empty wine glass on the table and rose to his feet, a content look on his face. “We must take our leave.”

He pulled out his wife’s chair. Rose showered Saia with a happy smile as she stood. “Goodbye Saia, dear. Do visit us soon.”

Not if she could help it.

“Goodbye, Mrs. Haimon.” She offered a polite, non-committal response and wished the woman wouldn’t look so pleased. With Piers being far too attentive all through dinner, despite her reticence, it had given his parents—and her mother—ideas. And pushed Saia to the edge of her tolerance.

For godsakes, it was just dinner, not a marriage agreement.

She concentrated on her father, far safer than looking at expectant faces, she decided. He looked so handsome in his charcoal-gray suit, and he still had all his hair, much to the twins’ delight. Noah had just snorted and said he’d rock his dome, ink the thing and be a badass hunter.

When the Haimons finally left, Saia exhaled in relief and met her father’s knowing gaze.

She grimaced, then went dead still. If Liz and Noah knew about Riley, of course her father would, too. And he hadn't said a thing to her?

When Piers turned to speak to her mother, Saia quickly slid into the chair recently vacated by Rose Haimon. “Dad?” She had no idea how to ask, so she just said it. “You always knew, didn't you, what Riley is?”

He nodded. “I have business associates who are of the same ilk. He kept you safe, for that I'm grateful. But be careful with him, Saia.” Then his gaze softened. “No man, regardless of his species is good enough for my little girl.”

Overwhelmed, she struggled to hold back her tears. He knew, and had accepted Riley.

“Edward?” Her mother commandeered his attention, no doubt so Piers could focus on Saia.

She rubbed her aching temples and wondered if her mother knew about Riley, too.

She probably did. It was most likely why she disliked him, well, besides the fact that he worked in a bar.

“Headache?”

She jumped at Piers’s voice too close to her ear and dropped her hand. He’d moved to the seat next to her. “No.”

A whiff of his spicy aftershave and some acrid, smoky odor hit her square in the face. She eased back. It had to be his overwhelming scent responsible for her headache. Not the fact that she’d spent sleepless nights hurting over her messed-up life.

But whatever Piers had smoked, the pungent smell made her stomach roil. She had to get out of there. She jerked to her feet. The restaurant tilted, and she stumbled against the table.

“Whoa, there.” Piers grasped her arm.

Her father rose, his brow creasing in concern. “Saia?”

“I'm fine, Dad. I just need some air.” Wine in an empty belly, not good. She gave him a reassuring smile then pulled on her coat and headed for the entrance. Maybe the fresh air would settle her head.

“Saia, wait.”

She bit back her frustration as Piers hurried after her.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” he said.

“About what?”

Piers took her elbow and steered her toward the sitting area just off the foyer. Several tall potted palm trees cornered her.

“Saia, I’ve been quite patient. It’s time,” he said with the tenacity of a bulldog gnawing on a dry bone. “You’ve agreed to dinner with my parents and me. You know what this means. Now we can move forward.”

“What?” She shoved away from the prickly fronds.

He blocked her path, his face a little flushed, his light blue eyes determined. “We’ve had a great time together the last week. I don’t think we should wait. How about a New Years wedding? We can get the Ritz for mid-January. What do you think?”

Saia opened her mouth, then shut it. No words came out. How could they?

He’d actually called the Ritz for the reception?

I knew you’d come around if I gave you time,” he droned on with a satisfied expression. “We are a much better fit than you with that bartender. As if he actually stood a chance with you.”

He chuckled, took out a hand-rolled cigarette from his coat pocket then dropped it back.

“Piers.” Saia forced his name through clenched teeth so she wouldn’t scream. “This past week has been mere coincidence. The meetings were not deliberate, not on my part anyway. I'm not marrying you.”

“What did you think this dinner with my folks was about?” he snapped.

“Dinner with friends.” She skirted him and stomped back to their table.

“Saia, wait, don’t be like this,” he whined, hurrying to keep up with her fast trot and seemingly unaware of the interested looks from the other diners.

All she wanted was time away from him and some fresh air. Not the marriage offer or whatever the hell it was that he’d thrown at her.

“Are you all right?” her father asked as she pulled off her coat, dropped it on the chair, and slumped into the seat opposite him.

She nodded.

Piers stood near her chair, his hands on the backrest. “Mr. Grayson. I’ve asked—”

“Piers, stop,” Saia begged, not wanting him to embarrass himself further.

“Let him speak,” her mother ordered.

“No!” Her gaze rushed to her father as Piers sat beside her. “Daddy, can we leave? I'm tired. Oh, and I'm moving out of Liz’s place and getting my own apartment after New Years.” No way could she live there with Riley next door.

“This is not the time for that conversation, Saia,” her mother said.

“Neither is this travesty,” she shot back. “Did you really think I’d agree to this?” God, this farce of a dinner was pushing her to the breaking point.

The odd stillness in the air cracked through her frustration. A frisson of awareness crawled up her spine, like something lethal had prowled into the restaurant. Her mother glanced to the front. At her indrawn breath, Saia turned.

Blood drained from her head.

Piers snarled in recognition. “What the hell is he doing here? I thought he was history?”

Saia ignored him, understood the awed but wary silence in the restaurant far too well since she too fell under his spell.

Riley stalked toward them, the hostess trotting fast at his heels.

His black leather trench coat flowed open, revealing black dress pants and a charcoal-gray button-down shirt. Honed with that edge of menace he always carried with him, and still sporting the razor-trimmed hair, he looked bigger, lethal…and dangerously sexy.

And he was pissed as hell.

Nothing showed on his face, but the knowledge seeped into her mind.

The hostess finally managed to snag his attention, forcing him to stop, her smile a sensual invitation. “You need anything else, here’s my card.”

Saia’s mouth tightened, and just like that, images crowded her mind of those women all over him in his bar, then him with that blonde.

Her chest hurt, and she couldn’t breathe past the pain. Far better he stayed away. Riley may want her, but she couldn’t live that way. He could never give her what she wanted. His fidelity.

She tore her eyes from him, grabbed her glass, and drained the rest of her wine.

If only she could reach into her brain and yank free Wrath’s brutal visions of all those women with Riley, touching him and running their fingers through his disheveled hair, maybe then she’d finally have some peace. She set her empty glass on the table.

Disheveled
hair? Her head snapped up. Her gaze rushed to his brutally cut strands. A style he’d worn since they’d been in Stygia. Her heart crashed against her ribs. That vision, it had to be from earlier,
before
they’d gotten together. Hope expanded. Wrath had only shown her images from the past, but in her shock and pain, she hadn't seen it. Hadn’t realized.

Riley dismissed the hostess. The card crumpled in his hand, he continued toward them. Stony emerald eyes met hers for a brief second before he stopped at their table. “Mr. Grayson—Mrs. Sen-Grayson, good evening. I'm sorry to intrude, I need to speak with Saia.”

To hide her shaky hands, she picked up her empty glass again. It was either that or run to him because hope was a bitch and she couldn’t let go.

Piers shot to his feet in fury. “You have two seconds to leave, or I’ll have you thrown out.”

Riley turned. Green eyes took on hints of lime and narrowed, exactly as they had moments before he’d killed Móric.

What was wrong with Piers? Riley would crush him like a bug. Piers had no idea whom he was dealing with. She grabbed his arm and tried to tug him back to his seat. Hissed, “Sit down, Piers.”

Let. Him. Go
. The words slashed her mind like shards of ice. Hastily, Saia dropped her hands. Piers moved his chair closer to hers and sat again, bristling with anger.

“Why don’t you join us, Riley?” her father said.

Riley sat on her right and waved away the menu the waiter held out. Saia had no idea how, but her chair was now closer to his, a gap widened between her and Piers. Riley shifted, and his thigh slid alongside hers. Her breath caught in her throat. His touch brought back torrid images of them together in the hots nights of Stygia. His hands, his mouth sliding over her skin and down her body… Desire burned hot and sharp. She dampened.

Riley’s hands dropped to his thighs and fisted. His nostrils flared.

He knew. He smelled her arousal.

“Saia and I had a bit of a misunderstanding,” he told her father without a hint of tension while she struggled to get her rioting body under control. “I want to set things straight between us.”

“And you think crashing a dinner party is the place?” her mother asked, tone colder than hoarfrost, which warned Saia this wasn’t going to end well. “Mother—stop!”

Riley didn't respond. He rose and held Saia’s chair. “Perhaps it’s best we talk at the house.”

Piers lurched off his seat as she stood. “Saia—” His mouth opened then closed. He glared at her.

Please, please, just leave
. She couldn’t bear another scene.

“Mr. and Mrs. Grayson.” Piers nodded stiffly at her parents before he pivoted and stormed off.

“I’ll drive Saia back.” Riley helped her on with her coat.

As they walked out, he didn't take her hand like he usually would, and Saia knew his cool demeanor concealed a seething mass of rage. He followed her like a looming shadow.

The crisp air and light drizzle did little to ease her wariness as he hurried her across the dimly lit parking lot toward the Escalade when Wrath’s words consumed her like a backdraft;
Réomer unleashes his sin on unsuspecting mortals, the archangels will end him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, fear cramping her stomach.

In the process of opening the truck door, he wheeled around so fast, Saia stumbled back.

“Did I ruin happy family time?”

“Stop it! You shouldn’t be here.”

“Tell me that again and I won't be responsible for my actions.
”
The skin tautened over the rigid lines of his face. “You are my mate. You left me. Who helped you, Saia?”

A little uneasy, Saia frowned. Did Wrath not tell him he’d sent her back? If it had taken him this long to get back to her, it only meant one thing, Wrath must have held the truth to keep Riley in Stygia. Safe. Until his two thousand years had passed.

He’d come for her, anyway.

Oh, God. It was too soon—too soon, and too dangerous. If he lost control—
no
!

With everything in her, she fought to keep her emotions under control, her expression indifferent, and did the only thing she could. “I had a chance to come back, I took it. All I wanted was for my mother to back off. I realize now, she just wants my happiness—”