Chapter 46: Judgment day

Luckily for me, once Sin was done dressing in a rather classy all-white suit, he went downstairs, leaving me alone. It's not like I hated being around him, but it was a love-hate relationship between me and the crazy things he made me feel. The unspeakable sins I would commit for him.

I shook my head and slowly got dressed, my hands gently smoothening the dress against my skin. I wasn't exactly sure where we would be going, but seeing the dress he had picked, it was most probably some sort of moneyed event, like Larissa's auction.

Aldo's death floated at the back of my mind, and I shook my head to get it out as I watched my reflection in the mirror. Sin was completely unbothered by it, and the mixed signals Larissa had given, from yelling about losing her husband to begging Sin to get back with her, I wasn't quite sure anymore.

I sighed and took a step back. My hair fell down my back, and the dress fit really well. There wasn't much else that I needed to do, and I walked downstairs.

Sin was on his phone next to the bar, and he looked up right as I took the first step. My eyes caught his, and I swallowed, hesitating a little, before I finally decided to just thug it out and strode down, the small train of the dress following behind me.

Sin let his eyes accompany me every step of the way, and he leaned away from the bar as I approached him, his left hand still holding his phone to his ear.

I finally got to him, then sighed, my hands opening out on either side of me. He gave an approving nod and then gave me his hand while speaking softly into the phone.

I held his hand, feeling electricity course through my blood at that. From the look he gave me, I knew he could feel it, too.

Slowly, he dropped the phone then turned to me. "We are having breakfast at the burger place."

My eyes widened as I immediately thought of Dan. I had left so suddenly without even a goodbye, and I wondered how he would look at me now. He had been extremely kind to me, and honestly, at some point, I had entertained the thought of being closer.

"You seem to have an objection."

I turned to Sin and shook my head. "I... I just..."

"Are you scared?"

"No," I said, meeting his eyes. Why would I be scared when I was holding the hand of the source of danger himself?

"Good," Sin said, his eyes trailing down to our intertwined fingers. "Why would you be scared when you are holding my hand?"

I almost laughed at the uncanny fact that I had thought the exact same thing but decided to let it go.

"We are dressed this fancy to go to a burger place?"

He shook his head and slowly led me across the massive living room. "We are going to the burger place for breakfast, and it just so happens to be judgement day. As for the dress, we have a ball to attend."

I nodded as we stepped out to a fleet of parked cars. Sin gave a wave of dismissal, then headed straight for the black limo.

A man opened the door, and Sin helped me in before he followed behind. I settled next to him, my eyes slowly turning to watch him.

What exactly was judgement day?

I didn't need to think too long before a knock came on Sin's window.

He opened it, and a man slowly handed him a small case. It looked big enough for jewellery, but it didn't look like it held jewellery either.

Sin brought it to his lap and gave a small smile, but I could see the condemned souls of hell flashing in that smile. I felt a shiver run down my spine as he pulled out a cigarette, then turned to me, holding the lighter on the very edge of his hand.

"You want me to... light it for you?"

"Not now," he said, but kept the cigarette wedged between his lips.

Something in the air felt heavy, tense, and I settled back, my fingers intertwined with each other. Sin didn't say a single word, his eyes resting on the dark window throughout the short trip.

I felt my stomach immediately knot as soon as we turned into the familiar neighbourhood. These are the streets where I had run almost naked, fought for my life from men twice my size. This was the neighbourhood where my father had died with nothing to his name. Where my mother had ruined my life. This was the neighbourhood where...

My thoughts were immediately cut off as I felt Sin's hand rest on my fingers, pressing them tight together. I blinked back the tears that had started to form and turned to him, but he wasn't even looking at me.

He was simply holding my hand, like a guardian of some sort, without looking at me, like he wanted me to know that I could cry if I wanted to.

I swallowed, my chest heaving as I held his hand tight. He said nothing and simply let me, and never have I felt so seen in my life.

We finally got to the burger place, and I turned to it, my lips parting. The ambience was still the same, and I swallowed, squinting through the tinted glass to try and see what was in there.

All I could see were silhouettes but not much more.

"Annalise."

I turned to Sin, just as he slowly leaned to me, his eyes low. I stopped, my eyes widening a little as he gave a small smile.

"Light it up," he said, his voice low.

I reached for the lighter that I had let go of, then switched it on. The flame burned bright between us, and they reflected especially in his eyes as I brought it closer to him to light the cigarette.

The cigarette lit up, and he put his index and middle finger to slowly remove it from his lips, then let the smoke cloud his eyes, but not enough to touch me.

I swallowed before he smiled, his eyes darkening a little.

"We should go."

I nodded obediently, my chest heaving. He didn't move even as I felt the air on my open back, indicating that the doors had been opened. I, too, was held spellbound, and I normally hated the smell of cigarettes, but nothing was more addictive right now.

He slowly turned and got out of the car, leaving me to recover. I shook my head to clear the high off, and walked out, just as he came around, then held my hand.

The door to the burger place was open, and Sin led me in, my heart thumping in my chest.

"Annalise?" a voice said, and I stopped, turning behind the door.

Dan was standing there, his brows furrowed, his eyes a mixture of confusion, relief, and utter betrayal.