Page 53 of Where Sinners Repent

No one steps foot inside unless she’s in immediate danger.

Okay boss. Want my vest too?

I ignore it, flying down the highway toward my home. Where I know my brother waits for me. Where he has to be waiting for me.

As soon as I step into our apartment, the one underneath Ash’s penthouse, he’s there. I feel him in the shadows before I see him.

Sitting ramrod straight in a chair, waiting for me.

My breathing is shallow, hands curling into fists at my side, before stretching out.

My head drops, my view of the ground blurring. But I can hear him. Hear him stand up from his chair. Hear the belt sliding from his pants.

“I tried to warn you, brother,” he murmurs, advancing on me.

I swallow, but it feels like I’m drowning.

His boots come into focus. “When are you going to realise that no one knows you better than I do?”

He’s right. I should have known.

My lip trembles.

He hooks a finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him. His dark eyes bore into mine. “Now look at you...”

If I could feel shame, I’d be burning from the inside out.

I feel nothing but violence.

“Please,” I whisper, dropping to my knees.

The belt folds in half, and I hear my brother inhale slowly through his nose. He hates that he has to do this. I know he does.

The first strike is my favourite. The one that catches me off guard and ignites pain across my back and ribs.

For the first time today, I can breathe.

“Harder,” I growl.

And he listens.

My muscles loosen.

“Again,” I plead.

But I can still see her glazed eyes blinking at me. I can still feel her clinging to me.

“Again!”

This one lands over my shoulders, blinding pain exploding across the skin.

“Maybe now you’ll realise she isn’t worth it,” he whispers.

When his next strike lands, a thought slips through the pain.

The worst part is that she is.

Chapter 14