Read Sins (Vance Davis Dossier #2) for Free Online

Aleksander’s crew, she had instantly known it was him and risked her life to stop him before he’d been caught or worse.
    That had been a turning point for Vance. After everything that happened to Jessie, he couldn’t go back to being hired muscle for some pimp, looking the other way while girls were being bought and sold like cattle—worse than cattle. But he also couldn’t go around killing every piece of slime, however tempting it may be.
    A couple of rowdy drunks stumbled in, pulling Vance back to the present. He barely cast a glance at them over his shoulder. Little Z seemed content to enjoy his late-night breakfast without conversing much. Admitting to himself that there wasn’t anything to be learned tonight, Vance paid his bill and headed back to the apartment. It occurred to him that he should have called Allie hours ago to let her know he wouldn’t be home. By the time he’d realized it, though, he was afraid she’d be asleep. That’s what he told himself anyway. It sounded kinder than admitting some part of him hoped she’d give up on him if she finally realized he wasn’t a home-for-dinner kind of guy.
    Valentine had made herself comfortable in his absence. He’d half-expected to come home to an empty apartment. Instead, she was curled up on his couch, asleep with the TV droning softly in the background. He watched her for a moment, admitting if only to himself that there was something about this one. He felt a pull to protect her, stronger than he’d felt since meeting Jessie for the first time. He wasn’t sure how he’d keep her from going back to the life she’d found herself in, but he was certain she’d suffered her last abuse—even if it meant blowing the entire mission. With a sigh, he covered her with a blanket before collapsing on top of the covers on his bed.
    He awoke with a start three hours later. The sun was peeking through his windows, giving him enough light to see Valentine curled up on the floor beside his bed. It took him a second to decide if she was asleep or awake.
    “Why are you sleeping on my floor?” His voice was soft.
    Her shrug was barely perceptible with her arms curled up to support her head. When she looked up at him with those enormous blue eyes, he could see the answer: She’d been scared.
    “Are you hungry? I can go pick up some fast food or something. Or if you want some breakfast, I can take you somewhere away from the city. I just have to make a phone call first.” It occurred to Vance he still had a love-struck ex-girlfriend in a hotel across the city. The thought struck him that Jessie would be highly amused by his current predicament.
    “You look like my dad. A little. Through the eyes, the jaw. He was big like you, too.”
    Vance propped himself up on an elbow. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
    Another shrug. “I don’t hold it against you.”
    “I appreciate that.” He chuckled. “So, do you want breakfast or not?”
    She hesitated.
    “What is it?”
    “How long—how long am I going to be here? I thought I was supposed to go back this morning.”
    “Do you want to go back?”
    She buried her face in her arm.
    “Hey.” He crawled off the bed to crouch on the floor next to her. “Can I tell you a secret?”
    She peeked up from the crook of her arm.
    “I mean it—it really is a secret. If you tell them, you’ll get me killed, so you have to promise.”
    She nodded, her eyes growing wide. “I promise.”
    “I am who these guys think I am, but what they don’t know is that I’ve spent the past five years helping girls like you get away from guys like him. If you want to go back, I’ll let you. It’ll kill me because I think it’s the wrong thing, but I’ll let you.” He was lying. He’d drag her out of here kicking and screaming if he had to. He wanted to give her a chance to take control, though. He wanted it to be her choice. “But if you want to be free, I’ll take you away from here and hide you so they’ll