Chapter 13: Even if that destroys me

"Sure," Sin finally said into the phone, then slowly dropped the phone, his eyes thin.

I would have preferred for him to stay on that phone forever because, to be honest, the silence, the fact that his attention would be solely on me, the fact that everything I had thought of before coming out here had decided to abandon me, it was more nerve-wracking that talking to his daughter.

"Uhmmm... how old is she?"

He met my eyes. "Six."

"Oh. That makes you a lot older than I...." I stopped, then slapped my mouth. "I meant..."

"Of course, I am older than you are, Annalise."

I could tell from the tone of his voice that he did not mean that in a kind way. What other way was there to mean it? I am not so sure.

I nodded. "Yes, sir. I meant, Sin. Uhm... are we really going back?"

"Yes."

He moved his glass, then started to reach for the bottle of wine. It was closer to me than it was to him, and I reached for it the same moment his fingers clasped around it. His hand wrapped around mine instead, and he met my eyes.

He had boredom etched behind his dark orbs, and I started to move my hand. Instead of letting me move like any normal person would, his hand tightened around my hand and the bottle.

I gave a small yelp as he pulled me with the bottle, then poured it into his glass before letting me go. I guess I should have kicked the idea of normalcy out the window ever since that contract surfaced.

"Does it say that you are allowed to touch me in the contract?"

He let the glass dangle around his lips. "You should have read it, Annalise."

I swallowed. "I don't want to be touched."

He didn't reply that, but he slowly moved away from me. I saw him adjust before he grabbed a cigar. He lit it, then walked towards the window. I watched him as he sat on the edge, his eyes thin as he watched the view down below.

"Is something bothering you?" I finally asked, turning to him fully.

His expression wasn't so different from what he always carried. But I could see the light lines on his forehead and the focus in his gaze. He said nothing, and I started to shrug.

How did I think he would ever be inclined to talk to me? He barely even knew me.

"Do you think you can take care of my daughter, Annalise?"

I turned back to him. "I certainly won't put her in harm's way. I mean... I know how she probably feels."

He didn't reply, and I crossed my legs under me, then moved the tray so I could watch him on the window, eat, and trauma dump. I rarely did this, but if I am going to be stuck with him for five months, one of us would have to talk. It looked like that would have to be me.

"My mum left when I was eight," I said, taking up the bowl of pasta. It was still hot, and I sighed, the aroma hitting my nose.

"She found another man, and she took all of my dad's money too. And borrowed a lot more in his name."

Sin took a drag. "Your mother's a bitch."

"She is," I said, laughing. "I guess she already knows, though. Four years ago, she... she died."

Sin took another drag but said nothing this time. I sighed, then turned back to the food. I have relived that dreadful moment so many times in my head that I did not know how to lose my appetite or be sad anymore. I did not know how to die anymore. I was too dead on the inside.

My fingers did tremble as I held the plate. My eyes thinned, and my body warmed with the pit of hell that opened inside me. I hated how I would never be able to take revenge. For leaving me and then letting that man do what he did. For being cruel enough to bring me to the world so she could kill me any other way than physically.

"Is that revenge?" Sin suddenly asked, and I looked up at him, my chest heaving.

I blinked hard, my eyes lowering, my lips lightly parting. "I am sorry, I just..."

"You... have my permission, Annalise. When you see Larissa, treat her the same way you would treat your mother."

I met his eyes. "What?"

"I do not intend for the auction to have the same sort of peace there was this morning. We are leaving in two days. That auction is her family's way of getting back on top."

I nodded, my eyes thinning. "Am I now doing the work you can not do?"

He smiled. "Pretty much. I am expected to let go. My new wife is not. You are allowed to ruin a billion-dollar painting. It is a fake, anyway."

"They are going to sell fake stuff?"

"Mhm. And we are going to buy them, Annalise. Are we not?"

I nodded slowly, a small laugh escaping me. "Why did she leave?"

His lips pursed, his eyes thinning. He took a long drag of the cigarette, then closed his eyes.

"Why did she leave you, Sin? Was it something you did? I don't want to do this, and then you turn out to be at fault. I don't like Larissa one bit, but... I have a conscience, too."

"If you do have a conscience, you would expose that money laundering auction. Fake pieces are going to be sold for billions. My conscience is dead. Yours isn't. Show that to me."

I swallowed, then took in a deep breath. "Would your daughter not want her mother back? I will be gone in five months. Your daughter would go back to needing her real mother, even if I somehow distracted her. What do you intend to do? Do you intend to keep hurting your daughter?"

Sin said nothing and took yet another drag before he put the cigarette out. "If that is what it takes."

"You are letting your hate blind you. You are going to be hurting everyone, including yourself. You are..."

"Shut up, Annalise. You know fucking nothing. I lost a child. I lost a wife. Larissa is losing everything. Even if that destroys me. You... you better remember what I said about being on my side. Expose that cheap painting tonight."