Page 69 of The Sinner’s Desire (The Sinner’s Touch #1)

Three Months Later

“I won! I’m the champion!”

I shake my head, smiling as I watch his happiness.

You don’t need to be a child specialist to see how much these weekends with us are helping our boy.

I watch Lilly dancing around Bruno, teaching him how to clap his hands with hers in celebration. Then they do their little “victory dance,” as she calls it.

Seeing the joy my woman brings him only makes me love her more—if that’s even possible.

Some people were simply born to be someone’s “home,” and just like my adoptive mother was for me, Lilly is the same.

Bruno and Lilly together feel natural—two souls that found each other through some destiny written long before they met.

Sometimes we stay up late, after making love for hours, and I listen to her talk about her plans for him. At just twenty-one, newly turned, Lilly has taken on the responsibility of raising this boy without flinching at the challenges.

Adopting any child takes an enormous amount of generosity and commitment. But taking in a child known to come from a background of abandonment and pain—that’s a task for someone truly exceptional.

After what happened with Maria, I worried that Lilly would be traumatized or would need time to recover.

I have no problem killing. But for someone who spent most of her life in a convent school, it couldn’t be so black and white. And yet, she seems to have moved on.

Both the shots Lilly fired at that bitch and the knife I drove into her thigh were clearly acts of self-defense; legally, the process was relatively straightforward.

Still, I needed to be sure that the incident wouldn’t trigger more nightmares for Lilly. One day, trying to check in on her, I asked if she thought about our final confrontation with my ex–adoptive mother.

Her answer was: “I couldn’t let her hurt you again. I would kill her every single day if it meant keeping you safe. The world is a better place now that she’s gone.”

Then she asked if I thought less of her because of what she’d done.

Not a chance.

Lilly will always be my angel.

If there’s one thing that stuck with me from that day, it’s this: not everything is black and white. Life is made up of shades of gray. No one knows how far they’ll go when their limits are pushed.

In my woman’s case, that limit—her price—was my life. She didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger to protect me.

The bullet I took in the leg wasn’t just a graze, but it meant nothing compared to the possibility of losing my Lilly. As much as I would have wanted to spare her from that nightmare, I can’t deny that the death of Maria was a win for humanity.

“Amos, I’m gonna be a soccer player when I grow up!” Bruno says, snapping me back to the present.

“Did you decide that because of the jersey Blood gave you?” I ask.

“No. Because I’m gonna be a real champion and score lots of goals!”

Lilly smiles—I think she’s not taking him too seriously—but I listen carefully to his words.

“I’ll find a soccer school to enroll you in, then.”

She looks at me with a small frown, probably because it’s the first time I’ve taken a concrete step toward the future. Something that will unite the three of us, especially since I haven’t proposed yet.

I had it all planned, but I decided to wait until she recovered from what happened with Maria.

Now, I’ve made up my mind—it’s time.

Lilly doesn’t talk much to me about Bruno’s adoption, and I know it’s because she doesn’t want to pressure me.

It’s had the opposite effect. I feel excluded, as if they’re planning a life in which I may or may not be included.

I will be.

I’m not going anywhere. They’re both mine—I just need to tie up one last loose end before I can make us a family for good.

“You’re a fucking psycho. I never laid a finger on her!” Ramon screams, terrified, inside the warehouse where I brought him.

I’ve been patient. I waited for his release on parole.

I have zero faith in the judicial system, and I knew the bastard would find a way to wriggle out of justice.

Early this morning, I got word from the man I had tailing him—he was getting out, awaiting trial at home.

He didn’t spend even twenty-four hours on the outside. Now he’ll never return anywhere.

“You didn’t have the chance. You went into her room, haunted her in her own house, a place where she should’ve felt safe.”

I don’t mention the nightmares she still has sometimes—he doesn’t deserve to know he marked her that deeply.

“I have the videos, Ramon. All of them—from most of Lilly’s adolescence.”

“You’re bluffing. If you had them, you would’ve handed them over to the court, like you did with the other girls’.”

I give something close to a smile, but it’s more of a snarl of hatred, as I start cranking the handle that lifts the chains suspending him.

“That was only so those girls could have their justice. Oh, almost forgot—some friends of mine, very good at tracking offshore accounts, drained yours. Right now, every one of the girls you hurt is receiving a generous anonymous donation. It’s the least I could do to compensate for what you stole from them. ”

“What about Lilly’s cut?” he asks, sweat pouring down his forehead. The chain is fully tightened now, and his feet no longer touch the floor.

“Your life,” I reply, and then I begin his punishment.

Two hours later, I get into my car while the cleanup team makes sure no trace is left behind.

My phone rings.

“Are you coming to dinner with us?” my woman asks.

“Popcorn?” I know it’s Bruno’s night, and “dinner” is always the same.

“And sundaes.”

“I’ll be there in just over an hour, baby. Wait for me.”

I start the car, already forgetting Ramon completely. For me, he’s the past.

Lilly and Bruno—they are my future.