The Sinner's Club [18+] Complete

chapter forty-one.

THE SIGHT BEFORE me is odd. I tilt my head, studying and scrutinizing.

Nathaniel raises an eyebrow.

I have never seen him wear anything but a suit. Now, he is dressed in a perfectly white t-shirt, tucked into navy trousers, leaning against the door of a sleek, black sports car outside my apartment building. His ankles are crossed, hands in pockets.

"Are you coming, Wren? Or are we going to stand here all day and hope the walls demolish themselves?" he asks.

I walk toward him slowly, still taking in the way the shirt stretches across his chest and cuffs around his biceps. His skin is golden in the morning light.

"This is new." I nod toward the car.

"I went shopping on the weekend. Come on." He pulls open the door for me, and I slide in.

The leather seats are so soft, everything shiny and in perfect condition. I reach out and touch the dashboard with my fingertips as Nathaniel climbs into the driver's side.

"I didn't know you had your license. I assumed you were just chauffeured everywhere," I murmur and see the corner of his mouth tick up as he pulls out onto the road.

He drives obnoxiously fast, breezing through stop signs and running red lights.

"Jesus, Nathaniel." I grip the sides of my chair tightly, though a kernel of exhilaration is popping in my stomach.

He glances at me briefly, and I realize just how different this version of him is from the one I first met.

His eyes are bright this morning, the color of stained wood, and his lips only curl up more the longer we speed through the city. It isn't a malicious smirk or a dangerous snarl; it's a smile. Or something very close.

"Didn't you have important meetings for the next few days?" I ask as we fly down a back street.

"Nothing that couldn't wait," he responds.

There is a moment of warmth where I feel like I am someone's first priority. The new franchise is his priority, I remind myself, not you.

We pull into the parking lot behind the crumbling building. Another car is already parked there—a baby blue hatchback, nothing overly fancy, but it does shine like it's brand new.

Gravel crunches under my shoes as I step out of Nathaniel's car. He locks it, and it beeps, the headlights briefly flashing.

"Is someone else here?" I ask, still eyeing the hatchback. I wasn't expecting anyone else to join us, and I find the thought to be rather...irritating. It's not like I was looking forward to spending three days with Nathaniel to myself but...well, maybe part of me was.

"No," he says, then nods to the car. "It's yours." I go still, his words processing slowly.

"What do you mean?"

He tosses me something that I reflexively catch. They're cold in my palm; car keys. There is a small, silver bird pendant attached to them. I stare down at them for several long moments.

"I told you I went shopping on the weekend," he says, sounding just this side of smug.

My fingers close around the keys until they bite into my hand. In my mind, a car equals freedom in so many ways. I could jump in and drive Elodie to the beach two hours away. We could go to the playground with the flying fox she loves that's across town. We could leave this city, if we wanted. Take the highway and never look back.

With great reluctance, I throw the keys back to him. He snatches them out of the air with a frown.

"What's wrong? You don't like it? I didn't think you'd want anything flashy," he says, brushing his thumb over the bird pendant.