Chapter 44 When The Enemy Is Right Under Your Nose

Chapter 44 When The Enemy Is Right Under Your Nose
Serena

I was barred from leaving my room by Mrs. Rivers. The height of it all was that Lara had allegedly made a post hinting that the prime suspect was right here in the house.

One of Mrs Rivers' first rule when I arrived was that I wouldn't have access to a phone, so if the whole world was shouting, “Crucify her! Crucify her!”, I wouldn't know.

Mrs. Hale was also locked in her room. Mrs. Rivers claimed it was “to prevent you two from conspiring further against the family.”

I didn’t understand what I could have possibly done to deserve this kind of maltreatment from the Rivers.

I was being treated like a criminal while the real culprits walked around freely, pretending nothing had happened.

I sat upright on the bed when I heard the sound of something pounding violently against the wall.

Mrs. Rivers’ panicky voice drifted through the door: “Hold him down! Hold him down!”

“You know what he wants,” Saint replied in a strained voice. “These attacks are from anxiety, and you caused it, Mother.”

Was Sin the ‘he’? Was he alright?

The pounding grew louder. Someone, probably one of the domestic staff, let out a loud shriek that caused me to jump.

If I didn't know better I'd think someone has changed into a dragon or something. Why did the person shout like that?

“Open the door, Mother,” Saint ordered.

I moved closer to my own door and pressed my ear against it, praying I was safe from whatever drama was happening outside.

“You know what she’s capable of,” Mrs. Rivers said. “Detective Gilbert thinks she shouldn’t be let out of sight for even a second. Your brother should go back into therapy so the episodes will stop coming.”

“I can’t hold him much longer,” Saint said, his voice tight with effort. “Whatever happens after this, I tried my best.”

I had the strangest feeling I should step away from the door.

I’d barely made it back to the bed when Sin’s massive frame came barreling through it, shoulder first, wood splintering around him like it was made of rubber.

He was striding toward me with single-minded intensity.

There was nowhere to run.

Saint stepped through the destroyed doorway right behind him, breathing hard.

“Don’t run,” Saint said quickly. “It’s just an episode. He only needs you.”

I managed to stay still until Sin reached me.
He pulled me into a crushing embrace, his arms like steel bands around my body, face buried in my neck.

Mrs. Rivers stood frozen by the door, looking like she’d seen a ghost.

Lara appeared a minute later, her eyes wide as she watched Sin hold me like I was the only thing keeping him tethered to the earth.

Sin scooped me up bridal-style without a word.

He turned to Saint. “You coming?”

Saint nodded once.

“Detective Gilbert—” Lara started.

Saint cut her off smoothly. “Knows who the real culprits are.”

I was doing my best to stay still, to not screw things up by asking the wrong question, but damn, I was confused as hell.

Sin carried me down the hallway to his room. The panel scanned his face once for facial recognition, and then he was kicking the door shut behind us with his foot.

The door actually slid close on its own, but kicking it made things dramatic.

He set me gently on the bed.

“Did I scare you?” he asked, brushing my hair away from my face with surprising tenderness.

“You’re still scaring me,” I confessed in a small voice.

“It was just an episode,” he murmured. “You were far from me and my system thought it meant I wouldn’t see you ever again.”

Saint came up behind me on the bed, kneeling so he could push my hair over one shoulder.

His hands ran slowly down my arms, causing me to shiver.

“What triggers it?” I asked.

Neither of them answered at first. Then Sin spoke, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Tell her,” he said to Saint.

Saint’s lips trailed soft kisses along the side of my neck as he began to speak.

“Sin was autistic growing up,” he said quietly, his mouth brushing my skin. “But it wasn’t the kind that came with obvious medical problems. It was the psychological kind. He destroyed things when he got nervous. Forgot himself and hurt women when he got carried away by pleasure.”

His hands slid into the neckline of my top and tugged it down, exposing my breasts.

Sin’s eyes darkened as he watched Saint’s hands fondle them, his thumbs circling my nipples until they peaked.

“At first, our parents thought sending him abroad to a strict seminary school would fix him,” Saint continued, his voice muffled against my neck as he kissed lower. “There were bullies. But he out-bullied all of them. They tried to hurt him… and he broke them in return. Our parents refused to believe the school when they described Sin as fearsome.”

Saint’s fingers pinched my nipples gently, drawing a soft gasp from me.

“By the time he was secretly moved back here,” he went on, “it was too late for corrective changes. He was never allowed out of the house for fear of collateral damage. When we were in the middle of our first threesome one night, those girls kept urging us to go harder on them. They had no idea what he was capable of.”

Sin’s hand slid up my thigh as Saint continued speaking against my skin.

I was caught between them again, Saint’s mouth on my neck, Sin’s fingers inching higher, and even though my brain was still struggling to process everything I’d just heard, my body was already responding.

Sin leaned in, his lips brushing my ear.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered. “But when the episode hits… I need you close. I need to feel you. To know you’re real.”

Saint’s hand cupped my breast, squeezing gently.

“And I need to make sure he doesn’t lose control,” he added. “So we do this together.”

I shivered between them, caught in the storm of their darkness, their protection, their obsession. And even though fear still lingered at the edges of my mind… I didn’t pull away.

Because the truth was becoming impossible to deny, I was always meant to find them.

“Your family will never let us work,” I whispered, voice trembling. “People will talk.”

“Not for long.”

Saint’s mouth hovered over my breast, his breath hot against my skin. “An already signed copy of the Will was sent to the family’s lawyer. The copy Father was trying to sign was the second one. The one for his grandchildren.”

His mouth closed over one of my nipples. I arched my back with a gasp, but the movement only thrust my other nipple straight into Sin’s waiting mouth.

“The first Will says ninety percent of the family’s wealth will be split between the two heirs,” Saint continued, grazing my nipple with his teeth until I sighed. “Which means if we marry you…”
He bit down gently.

“…we’ll successfully lock in the family’s wealth.”

It was like someone pressed a button inside my head and everything clicked into place.

Saint and Sin wanted to make sure the family’s fortune stayed locked between the two of them.

That was why they were so comfortable with the idea of sharing me as their wife. So this thing between us might just be a simple attraction?

It wasn't about love but a game of two men who wanted one bride so they could ensure the family's wealth was safe.

There was also something else, if they already knew they were the only ones listed in the Will, that meant their mother was suspecting she wasn't listed in the Will.

Which was exactly why she’d tried to manipulate and
sign the second one, thinking it was the first.

I had to tell them. Their mother wasn’t just cold or controlling. She was their enemy.