My fingers comb through my still-wet hair from the shower, pausing mid-motion at the array of men shuffling around the room.

"What the hell?" I move forward as a man begins rifling through the dresser drawer filled with my clothing. "What are you doing?"

"He's packing your things," Theo says from the couch, watching them with interest but making no attempt to step forward and help. The man doesn't even spare me a glance as he takes handfuls of my panties and shoves them into the suitcase.

"Packing my things." I narrow my eyes in a way that I hope comes off as intimidating. "What do you know that I don't?"

Theo makes a sound of thought. "That's a question for your...," he pauses for a thoughtful moment. "Boyfriend? Is that what you would call him?"

I wrinkle my nose. Such a casual term doesn't seem befitting of a man like Sinclair Black.

Theo nods his head in agreement. "Whatever. Your man-toy. He should be downstairs."

"Or you could tell me." I slide into the spot next to him and poke his arm, smiling hesitantly. Something tells me this isn't going to be something I'll like and Sin won't even bother giving my two-cents a listen. "I'll take you up on your movie offer. What do you say, Adam Sandler and Chinese food tonight?"

"I'm serious, Calli-girl." He bends his head closer to mine and speaks so softly I have to strain to make out his words. "He'll threaten to kill me again. He's been doing that a lot lately." His brow furrows. "It's more annoying than anything, but I guess I should probably hear him out."

"Threatening you?" I'm not surprised but the knowledge displeases me all the same. "Shouldn't you be more concerned than that?"

He shrugs a shoulder, the crooked smile flitting over his lips flashing the dimple on his left cheek. "Just between you and me, I think he has a soft spot for his men. He usually only kills the really disobedient ones."

"What qualifies as 'really' disobedient?" I ask.

"Gossiping, for one," a dark voice rumbles from behind me. Theo straightens, the lighted-hearted expression melting from his face. "And not taking their duties seriously. You're dismissed, Theodore."

I frown, glancing back at Sinclair. He leans against the doorframe of the stairwell, tapping his fingers impatiently on his muscled forearm as he waits for Theo to leave.

Once he's gone, I sigh. "You don't have to be such a grump."

"A grump." His eyebrows pull together. "I've been called many things in my life—bastard, the devil, murderer," he says darkly. "But grump is certainly a first."

"It's hard to be scared of a man when I know he has a perpetual habit of leaving the seat up and likes to cuddle before bedtime." I walk forward and wrap my arms around his waist even though his face is still tense with agitation. "So grump it is."

He makes a sound of displeasure even as he relaxes against me and reaches up to brush his fingers through my messy waves.

"By the way, stop threatening my friends," I murmur into his chest.

"Your friends are my men. In case you've forgotten, I employ them," he says. "So I'll do what I please."

"Hard-ass." I frown, turning my chin up so I can look at his face. "Are you going to tell me what's going on here?"

He's silent for a moment, then says, "We're moving."

"Moving?" I blink. "Why?"

"Because it's not safe here anymore."

"Has it ever been?" I take a step back from the warmth of his body and frown up at him. A weird sentimental part of me has become attached to this place: this is where everything started. Where we started.

"It's been safe enough," he says. "I don't want you caught in the middle again."

"Don't tell me you plan on coming here alone?" My stomach pinches with nerves. "I'm not leaving if I know there won't be anyone to watch your back."

His eyes narrow. "I can handle myself just fine."

"Says the man who was almost stabbed just a few nights ago." I meet his steely gaze with my own. "I want someone with you at all times."

He doesn't miss a beat. "No."

"No?" I stare disbelievingly at him. "Don't be arrogant, Black."

"It's not arrogance, angel. I'm virtually indestructible."

"Yeah, virtually," I frown. "You're not a god, Sin. Don't be hasty because you think it makes you look weak."

"We're done talking about this." He ignores the exasperated glare I shoot him and starts for the upstairs. "They're almost done packing. Get ready, we'll be leaving in the next hour."

I open my mouth to argue but he's already gone before I can get another word out.

...

I've lived in the city my entire life. The giant buildings and overcrowded streets usually don't bother me but being isolated for so long causes me to shrink back at the overstimulation of it all.

The penthouse is at one of the top floors of one of the towers I've grown up knocking my head back to gaze at the very top. The view is better than anything I could ever imagine, but I pretend to only glance at it just to spite him.

His men set the suitcases down on the gray tile floor of the kitchen, mill around for a few moments more, then quickly exit the apartment and leave the two of us in an empty silence.

"What do you think?" Sin turns away from the wide window within the living room that takes up nearly a third of the wall.

It's beautiful. A stainless steel kitchen connecting to the living room with a huge TV hanging upon the wall and a large sofa with grey cushions thick enough to sink into. A draping yet sleek light fixture with warm white bulbs dangle from the ceiling and a set of expensive-looking paintings take up the blank space on the walls.

There's a rack of shoes next to me, all of them large and masculine enough to indicate that they belong to Sinclair. A black quilt slings over the back of the couch, rumpled enough to indicate that it's been used and messily kicked away. Clean dishes sit in the strainer beside the sink and a box of forgotten saltine crackers sit on the marble countertop.

All of this feels strange as compared to the coldness of walking into the upstairs of Sin's private rooms when I walked in the first time. "You live here already," I say warily.

He slides his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans. "Yes."

I frown as I turn into the hallway off to the left, pushing open the door to what I assume is the bedroom. Why had he never mentioned this place before?

If I thought Sin's last bed was big, then the one before me is enormous. The black silk blankets lay in a crumpled pile on the side of the bed, the unnecessary amount of pillows thrown haphazardly over the floor.

I can feel the intensity of his presence against my back as I step into the room and glance at the rugged state. Everything else is perfectly tidy, down to the neatly drawn back curtains on the window behind his bed and the unwrinkled clothing hanging in the closet off to the right.

Something doesn't feel right about this. "Do you stay here often?"

"I used to," he rumbles from behind me. "But it's been a long time."

A shiny piece of clothing catches my eye underneath the dark fabric of a pillowcase. I hesitantly lean down and pick up the pillow, my stomach dropping at the small shift of fabric that tauntingly drapes over the ground.

"Say you're fucking with me," I hear myself say. Blood roils in my ears as I pick up the sparkly pink pair of panties with shaking fingers. I turn my eyes upon him. "Because if you're not, you're a fucking dead man."

He curses. "It's been months since I've last been here, angel." Sin runs a hand through his hair, causing a few stray hairs to fall around his face. "Christ, put those down. That's disgusting."

An unamused laugh rips from my throat. "Not disgusting enough considering you put your dick in—"

"Angel." He steps forward close enough that the heat of his body radiates against my chest. "You know what I am. What I need to survive."

I roll my eyes.

"It was months ago." He cups my chin on his fingers, running a gentle thumb along my jaw. "Months. I can show you the logs on the security system."

I drop the panties and breeze past him. He's at my heels as I stride into the kitchen and to the sink.

"I have cameras," he says. "Let me show you."

I scoff as I squeeze a fat glob of soap into my palms and vigorously scrub them together. "Not a single part of me wants to watch you put your dick into some random chick."

Sin is silent for a long moment as he watches me run my hands under the stream of water. "Okay," he says slowly, wrapping his hands around my waist. "Then let's try something different."

I glare at him over my shoulder but don't remove his hands despite the hot burn of envy that tightens my chest. "What?"

He presses his body against mine so firmly I can feel the steady beat of just heart against my shoulder and the warm tickle of his breath against my neck as he leans down to whisper in my ear. "Why don't we replace every memory of the women I've had here?" My body heats as his fingers draw little circles over my hips. "First, I'll start with the obvious places. The shower, the bed, the couch. Then we'll move onto the places I've left untouched—the counter, the bathroom sink, against the window." A small traitorous sound of need leaves my lips as he presses his lips to my jaw. "We won't stop until we've claimed every inch of this place as yours."

I take a shuddering breath, cursing how my body thrums under his touch. "Stop being so tempting." As if disconnected from my brain, my head drops back onto his shoulder on its own accord. "I'm supposed to be angry with you."

Something impish sparks in his eyes. "I think you'll find the opposite far more satisfying." Sin's fingers slide into the belt loops of my jeans and tug me around so that my chest presses against his. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are when you look like you want to strangle me?"

I snort. "Are you sucking up to me?"

"No," he says, pausing for a thoughtful moment. "If I really wanted to suck up to you, I'd do this." Sinclair's hands wrap around my waist, hoisting me onto the counter and tugging at my jeans until I help him drag them down my legs.

He nudges my legs open and squats between them until his breath brushes over the thin lace of my panties.

I shiver, pushing his head away as a sudden jolt of self-consciousness cuts its way through the heady lust clouding my thoughts. "You don't have to do this."

His eyes flicker up to mine. "Quiet and let me enjoy you." Without a second of hesitation, his fingers tug the thin fabric aside.

I shudder as his tongue cuts through my slit. "Sin." His tongue circles my clit, causing an insatiable heat to rise in my core. My fingers slide into his hair as he picks up speed and I resist the urge to writhe against him. "Jesus, that's—" I yelp as he nips the small bud.

"Do you want this?" he murmurs lowly against my skin.

I want to be mad at him but it's so hard when his mouth is so goddamn perfect. My fingers tighten in his silky locks as the fire rages in my chest, demanding that his touch soothe the aching burn. "Yes."

"Then no more protests," he says as he leans back into me, "and let me take care of you." I gasp as Sin raises my right leg for easier access and slips a finger inside, drawing tight circles over my clit with his mouth until I'm shivering and have to brace a hand against the counter to keep my body upright.

A breathy sound leaves my throat as he hooks his fingers deep inside me. "Why are you so good at that?"

I can feel his mouth pull into a smile against my skin. "Good thing you have me all to yourself."

His fingers quicken and the tightness in my abdomen grows as he flicks his tongue over my cunt. I gently push at his head as he threatens to bring me over the edge. "You're going to make me come already."

If anything, his pace because even more relentless. "Good," he says, pressing a kiss to my pubic bone as he rubs deep inside of me. "Go ahead, love. Finish around my fingers."

I tighten around him as I find my crest, grappling onto the counter for balance as waves of pleasure roll through my body.

Sin doesn't withdraw until aftershocks quiver through my body. "Good girl," he says as he rises from the floor and tucks his body in the space between my legs.

I rest my head on his shoulder as his arms come around me, another wave of heat rising in my core as his hard cock presses against my stomach.

I glance down, unsurprised to see it straining against the zipper of his pants. "Can I touch you?"

Sin moves my face back over his shoulder. "This is about you," he says. "I don't plan on receiving anything tonight."

My brows draw together. "But I—"

"Angel," he says, drawing himself tighter against me. "I mean it. This is your time."

I don't say anything to that. To be quite honest, I'm not sure what to say. My chest swells at the sentiment but a small indignant part of me rages over the fact that I know I'll probably never be able to stay mad at this man.

"I hate you," I say, but the words come out gentler than I intend. More tender. Not a single ounce of frustration seems to make its way to my voice.

His baritone chuckle rumbles through me. "No," he says, playing with the ends of my hair against my back. "You don't."

I sigh. He's right. Both of us know that I haven't hated the man standing in my arms in a long time.

—

a/n

Hope you're all doing well! I know it's been a while since I posted and I want to thank you guys for being patient with me. I've seen some concern whether or not I'll be finishing AB—of course my answer is definitely yes. It would be silly to give up so close to the end.

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter