Page 129 of A Taste like Sin

“Oh yes,” he murmurs, eyeing me lewdly up and down. “The bastard told everyone who you were.

Fucking yourself like a whore—”

“Lies,” Damien says simply. “You know I would never betray your trust. Never.”

Even though he lied to me. Even though he let a monster creep into my life every single year for so

damn long.

“It was quite the show,” Harrison says, inching forward a step. “I’ll be sure to leak it to the press. I’m

sure that’s what he wanted. They all know, you little bitch. And if you think this blind bastard can

save you…”

He lunges, his hands reaching for my throat.

But they never make contact. A horrible gurgling noise mingles with a crack sharper than any I’ve

heard as Chief Harrison’s head jerks. The angle is too odd. Unnatural. His eyes stare blankly ahead,

his body slumping…

As if from far away, I hear my own high-pitched whisper, “Oh my god—”

“Breathe,” Damien snaps. It’s his hands releasing Harrison’s throat. His body that captures the

massive officer as though he weighs nothing. Even without his sight, he pivots, navigating his way

into my living room, the body in tow.

A chill renders me numb as I remember his confession from all those nights ago.I worked hard to

change the man I was.

A man who moves with a predatory grace as he dumps a dead body beside my coffee table and prods

the black device sticking from his ear. “Julio.” He says a stream of Spanish. Then he breaks off and

turns to me. “Juliana.” His soft tone triggers the tears trapped behind my eyes until now.

I blink and they fall, painting my cheeks.

“Sweet,dulce niña.” He takes a step forward and then hesitates. “I’ll take all responsibility,” he

says. “I will turn myself in to the police. I will reveal my part in Harrison’s deception. If that is what

you want, I will do it now. Julio is with the police… I will.”

He should be lying. It should be so easy to doubt him now. God, I want to. I need to.

“The bastard was lying,” he adds, cupping his ear again, ready to dish out another series of

commands. “I would never reveal you to them. Never—”

“He was there,” I croak, finally placing the odd smell I sensed in the air. Cigar smoke.Harrison,

lingering somewhere in the atrium during my exhibition. Damien even warned me himself: The chief