Mortal Sin by Allison Brennan Page B

of his and dig around for the truth.
    He wanted to remember. He needed to remember.
    “Rafe, you with me?” Rod asked.
    Rafe nodded. “I don’t think you can help, but truly, if you can, I would be grateful.”
    “Really? Because you’ve been arguing with me since we got here.”
    “I’ll cooperate. I want to know what’s going on. More, I need to learn how to control it.”
    Rod glanced at his watch. “Well then, let’s go.”
     
    #
     
    Skye sent Moira off before Anthony arrived at the storage facility. Hank had arrived, and Skye knew Moira didn’t really want to miss her flight to Montana. She’d been antsy and worried, so Skye told her to go, that she’d explain the situation to Anthony. Moira had certainly been relieved that she wasn’t going to be late, but said she’d call Anthony while they were driving and tell him what they’d found.
    Skye wondered what Rico had done to Moira in the past when she hadn’t obeyed orders. Moira was not a woman who took orders from anyone else.
    Skye didn’t like being in the abandoned building alone, and it was getting chilly, so she waited in her truck. She had plenty of work to keep her occupied, but her mind wandered, thinking about Moira. And Rafe. And Anthony. Her life had been turned upside down over the last six months. The massacre at the mission. Juan Martinez being possessed by a demon. Anthony nearly dying. She’d watched a miracle as water healed him, and she still didn’t know what to make of that. But she’d seen it with her own eyes.
    Then the ritual at the cliffs, the destruction in her town, the spread of these Seven Deadly Sins to other cities and towns. If Moira was right, and there really was one of these demons in Canada, how far could they go? Everywhere? How could they ever hope to stop them?
    Car lights flashed around the corner and parked behind her truck. Skye didn’t get out until she saw Anthony emerge. He walked to the driver’s side as she opened her door.
    “I’m sorry I’m late, mi amore ,” he said. He touched her arms, kissed her cheek. Always the gentleman. Always polite. He could get angry—especially at Moira—but he kept it bottled up, as if he’d been punished for it in the past and needed to keep the anger under tight control.
    “I was doing paperwork.” She put her clipboard aside and locked her truck, then started toward the entrance.
    Anthony took her by the hand and pulled her to him. “Skye,” he said, then kissed her.
    The sudden affection surprised her. Maybe because there had been so little between them lately as Anthony spent more time at the mission than with her, but the kiss pushed all of that away. The kiss told her that everything was the way it had been before. Or was that her own wishful thinking?
    “I’ve missed you,” he said quietly, resting his forehead on hers.
    “Ditto,” she whispered and squeezed his hands. She looked him in the eye. It was dark, but the security lighting gave her just enough visibility. “Are you coming home tonight?” She hoped she didn’t sound desperate. But after today, maybe she was.
    He caressed her face. “Yes. I am truly sorry I have had to spend so much time at the mission. If it wasn’t so important, I would never leave you.”
    “I guess I’m just being selfish.”
    She was joking, but he stared at her as if she’d committed a grave sin. “Do not say that, Skye. You are the most patient, generous person I know. I love you in a way I never thought I could love a woman.” He kissed her again, this time with urgency. She responded immediately to his heat. This Anthony, the one he kept wrapped up in manners and propriety, she craved. The passion that poured into her like a euphoric drug.
    “Anthony,” she breathed out as his lips skimmed behind her ear and her knees went weak. He knew her sensitive spots. She wanted him home, naked.
    If they could postpone this search for twelve hours, she would.
    She stepped back. “Let’s get this over with so