Chapter 11: On My Side

"Larissa is quite the woman," someone else said with a small chuckle. "I bet she regrets it now that Sin is not sitting alone."

I gave a small smile. Nice. One point for me. I deserve an incentive. I turned to Sin, and he was already looking at me, an unreadable expression settled behind his eyes. My lips parted a little as he slowly moved his hand. I turned, realizing that I was still holding his hand. I immediately moved away, then cleared my throat, my head lowering as I turned away.

"I don't think she should. She chose Aldo and..."

"Enough. I believe there is a reason I am sacrificing private time to be here," Sin said, his voice calm. At this point, I was wondering if this man ever actually has to yell.

Everyone at the table stopped talking, and a few moved their attention to their food.

"Are you going to attend the auction tonight?" Callum asked, his eyes darting to Sin.

I could see that he had a level of closeness to Sin that the rest did not have. For one, he was sitting closest to Sin, and he seemed more comfortable than the rest who just seemed like they were walking on eggshells.

"Depends on if Annalise wants to," Sin replied.

My brows shot up as I turned towards Callum. "Yes?"

"Are you going to the auction?"

I swallowed, my brows furrowing. I could remember the attendant had mentioned an auction later. Why was Sin making it seem like it was my decision now?

"Of course," I said, swallowing. "I have been looking forward to it."

Callum smiled, then nodded. "Who is Angel with, Sin?"

Sin gave a small sigh. "We should eat or talk. Choose one and leave the other."

"I do want to talk to you. I don't know if this is the appropriate place..."

"This is the appropriate place. What do you want to talk about?"

I slowly leaned away, and my lips sucked in between my teeth. It seemed like it was starting to get heated between them, and even the rest had stopped eating now.

"What you did to the gallery. That was unacceptable, Sin."

"Who was it supposed to be accepted by?" Sin asked, his head slowly raising. "You?"

"You set an entire gallery on fire. There were people inside."

"I made sure they made it out, did I not?"

"What of the scare? Are you going to pay for damages?"

"Is this a way of threatening me? Or extorting me?"

Callum sighed. "You are putting Dante in the position to beg on his knees, is that it? You want Dante to beg and grovel..."

"Yes," Sin said, his voice slightly rising. "I want him to fucking beg. I want him on his knees. Is there a problem with that?"

I swallowed, my eyes blinking rapidly. I wasn't sure where to look or what to do, and I just sat there, careful not to make too much noise.

"He was your friend, Sin. He was our best friend. Don't you ever think about those times? You and him on the rooftop? You and him laughing about the silliest things?"

Sin closed his eyes, his jaws clenching. "Enough, Callum."

"No, listen to me. He made a mistake. He was scared. He didn't mean to..."

"Callum!" Sin yelled, his eyes wide.

I flinched, grabbing his hand instinctively, my fingers pressing down on his fingers, my lips parting.

For a long minute, all was quiet, and I slowly looked up, my eyes meeting Sin's. He was looking down at me, my hand holding his tight.

"I..." I trailed off, unable to think of an excuse. I started to lean away when Sin's hand grabbed mine even tighter, keeping me in place.

"Stay," he said, his voice a low growl.

I blinked, then looked down at our intertwined hands. I looked back up at him, and he let his gaze dart between both of mine before he slowly turned away.

"Sin, please."

"I have had enough, Callum. I didn't quite expect you to be on my side. But no worries. I have always been a one man army. And I always win."

"Sin, I am not against you. I just..."

Sin suddenly pulled me to stand, then wrapped his hand around my waist. I could barely stop myself from flinching from the pressure he was applying to my waist. Without one more word to Callum or anyone else, in fact, he pulled me with him and walked out of the hall.

I had no choice but to follow, and despite how curious I was, I didn't make the mistake of turning back to look at the people there.

If there was one thing I had learned about Sin in these few hours, it was that he was chronically unforgiving. I wasn't sure about his entire personality, but he seemed like the type to turn completely against anyone who dared to turn against him first.

We got to the suite, and he let me go. I stayed back as he slowly removed the buttons of his jacket, and then pulled his phone. I watched as he calmly dialed a number.

"Have you been keeping an eye on him?" He slowly nodded. "Don't do anything yet. Wait for my orders."

He slowly dropped the phone, then walked to the dresser, his eyes closed as he leaned on it.

I sucked in my bottom lip, then took a step forward, clearing my throat.

"Would you like a quiche?"

Sin grabbed a cigarette. "There is one more thing you need to know, Annalise."

I nodded, my lips lightly parting. "Yes?"

"You are not only my wife, you are my ally. Even when the world stands against me, make sure that you stand by me. Ensure that for these five months, you are on my side. Or I assure you, you will be the first to go down."

I nodded slowly, my eyes darting across both of his. "I doubt you needed to say that. If I am married to you, then I am loyal to you. That goes without saying."

He let out a small puff without replying to me and put the smoke out. I watched him keenly, then slowly covered the distance to where he was standing.

He looked up at me, his eyes still cold as ever.

Neither of us said a word, and I slowly moved, standing on my tiptoe as I reached to wrap my hands around him.

He said nothing till I broke away from him, and his eyes held mine for a minute. He nodded and then pulled slowly at his tie.

"You earned yourself a million dollars," he said simply, then walked away.

And here's a man who believed in buying everything.