Vicious Sins (New York Sinners Series Book 1)

16| Bleed

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Bleed

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Chapter 16: Bleed (Tristan's POV)

Three days had passed. Three days of silence, of monitoring, of tracking and tailing those assholes who dared to touch her. 

I thought about it for hours after leaving Amara's apartment and continued contemplating throughout the restless night. I had a million reasons to walk away from this situation. It wasn't my mess to clean up. 

But no matter how rational I attempted to act, every time I thought back to that night, every time I replayed what I saw, all I could see now was pure, burning red. A fire that burned so bright, a rage so powerful, I couldn't see beyond it. 

This was her job, it had nothing to do with me. It wasn't the first time she dealt with men like those and it certainly wouldn't be the last time either but something had kicked off inside of me after watching her fight those men off. I knew Amara could fight for herself and I knew she had done it in the past yet I had never actually seen her do it until that night. 

I never expected it to haunt me the way it did. The image of her stumbling over to me, covered in blood and bruises was painted far too vividly in my mind for me to forget. 

It infuriated me. It took me two years to force my feelings down, contain myself, and keep control of myself. At first, it was hard because Amara left without a word, without any explanation. The year she was gone was pure torment for me. The woman fucking devoured every thought I had. 

Just when I thought I was past the point of dwelling over it, she came back, reappearing as if she had never left, as if everything was still normal. But it wasn't. She was different when she came back. So I was left with no choice but to act indifferent and unaffected. 

I practiced it enough for the act to become real and over the past three years, my indifference morphed into pure and charged hatred for her. I hated her for everything she had the power to do to me and for everything she did to me. I hated her for leaving, I hated her for driving a wedge between us once again, but most importantly, I hated her for what her father had done to me. 

She was beginning to threaten that indifference I trained myself to feel and I couldn't afford that. No matter what, I couldn't walk away from this now, I had to see this through. A life for a life. It may not be fair to Amara since she was completely oblivious not only to my history but even to her own for the most part. But I didn't care anymore. 

I hated her enough to want her dead. I hated her more than I once wanted her. Wanting her was never an option anyway. Not then... and most certainly not now. 

Starting my car, I drove to The Veil where I had called Dante to meet. The drive was short and it didn't give me enough time to mull over the mystery that was Amara Milano. Walking into the room, I spotted Dante sitting by himself with a chessboard in front of him. 

"Must be nice," I said as I walked over to him, "playing both teams. You win even if you lose." Stopping beside the table with my hands tucked comfortably into my pockets, I glanced pointedly at the board where he played for both sides.