The Sinner's Club [18+] Complete

chapter eleven.

TUGGING THE CAP lower on my head, I make sure my hair is all tucked up beneath it. I keep my face down, my eyes on the tiled floor below me. As I pass through the lobby, I see the men Nathaniel left to protect me sitting on lounges, flicking through some magazines. I don't know if they report back to Viktor or Nate, but I'd rather not risk it. I need to speak to my old friend in person.

It's daytime, and the street is busy, the sun bright in a cloudless sky. Despite the supposedly cheery setting, I flinch at every honking horn and keep away from strangers passing by. The threat of Dario still looms over me.

When I finally make it to Sin City, I wait for Nate in his office. It takes everything in me to stay still and calm. An hour ticks past, then another. Finally I hear footsteps, and he appears in the doorway.

He looks stressed—bags under his eyes, his tie pulled down, his hair messy like he's run his hands through it.

"Hi." My voice is quiet.

His dark eyes snap up to me, and he goes still. "Gabi? What the fuck are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the hotel."

I shake my head slowly. "I can't go back there."

"What are you talking about? Viktor has just headed back there."

My hands clench together, my palms sweaty. "Yeah...That's why I can't go back."

His eyebrows draw down, and I know he's running a thousand scenarios through his mind, trying to solve this situation like a puzzle. He steps forward slowly, closing the door to his office behind him.

I lean back into the couch as he walks over to his desk and leans against it. "Fine," he says. "Tell me what's wrong and how I can fix it."

My mouth opens, but the words catch in my throat. Emotion—paired with humiliation—bubbles up. I clear my throat.

"Do you remember the roses I get every month?"

He shrugs. "I guess...Wait, do you think they're from Dario?"

"No," I say quietly. "They're not from him." My hands shake as I wipe them down my legs. "The thing is, I've been feeling like someone was watching me for a while now. Even before I met Dario...I always felt like..." I don't know how to explain it in a way he'd understand. "There was someone there. And I tried to convince myself that I was imagining it or being paranoid, but I wasn't. The roses I've been getting for years? They were from Viktor."

Nate stares at me for a long moment. A slow blink. "So?"

I stand up, indignant. "So? That's all you have to say?"

He sighs and rolls his eyes. "So the guy has a crush—that's not exactly breaking news, Gabi. Everyone knows it. He's been buying dances off you for years."

Warmth floods my cheeks. "It's more than a crush. I think...I think he followed me home."

A memory flashes through my mind from a year or so ago: a tall figure hidden in the shadows outside my apartment building.