The Rebirth of Sin (Wicked Trinity Book 2) by Courtney Lane Page A

steps.
    Reality wormed its way back into my thoughts. Shaking my head, I stopped our stride. “Maybe later?’ I asked Brandy. “I’ll meet him at the end of the party.” I unlinked my arm from hers and steered my steps in the opposite direction to catch up to Noah. The further away I moved from Braedan, the more frigid the air became. I hadn’t the slightest idea what to make of the feeling, only that I knew it was something I hadn’t felt in a very long time.
     
    Noah paced around the circular drive in front of the estate. He took breaks every now and again to glare at the woman manning the pop-up valet station. 
    “Noah?” I called, making him turn around swiftly and throw the entirety of his aggravation at me.
    “We’re leaving right fucking now.” His voice was deep and cut through my small sliver of hope that the worst that occurred between us would never happen again.
    “We’ve only been here an hour,” I stated, keeping my tone contradictory to his. “Can you give me thirty minutes?”
    His eyes flickered as they leveled down at me. “Why are you so eager to continue to play charades with your fake personality and your pretentious and self-righteous parents?” His tan skin turned ruddy with fury. He shot a fire-laced glance back at the home. “The amount of hypocrisy standing around in that room makes me sick to my stomach.”
    Thoroughly confused, my hands gestured as if they were meant to catch something. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
    “You’re blindingly callow at times, princess. Allow me to educate you. If you want to find the worst individuals to ever have graced mankind, you only have to look in two places: The church and politics.”
    Smoothing down the sleek side of my long—recently dyed black—hair, I brought my hair back over to one shoulder. I glanced from the inquisitive valet back to Noah. “I guess, to you, the least of the worst people are in prison?” I pointed behind me back to the house. “Compared to the criminals in prison, those people, who are just living their lives and trying to inflict change the only way they can, are the true evildoers?” I crossed my hands in front of my lap and shook my head. “No one is perfect, Noah. We are all hypocrites in some form or another. I know there can be corruption in politics, but there is corruption everywhere. Certain things have to be done to work the system; it’s just how it is. Don’t lump my mother with a handful of people who are everything that’s wrong with politics.”
    “Do you know the rough estimate of people who are wrongly imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit? ” he countered. “The justice system is broken, and it’s because of the people you’ve been rubbing elbows with. I can’t fathom how you of all people need to be reminded of that.”
    “This is my life, Noah,” I declared with conviction, teetering between exhaustion and anger. My hand shook as it hovered over my racing heart. “I’m finally in a decent mental place where I can return to it, and you’re making me feel guilty about trying to live in it? After what we went through last night, why aren’t you supporting me? You told me to be patient and wait for you to change, but all I keep seeing is how you are never going to.”
    “How are you living, Keaton? You’re faking so many things you might as well be made of silicone. That life in there is not for you. Your mother is back to her old tricks, making you become what you’re not. I suppose I was wrong in thinking if you came back here, you’d realize the truth about her.”
    “If she’s turning me into something you think I’m not, how is it any different from what you’ve done to me?”
    He hesitated, and the anger draping his face began to dissipate. “I made you a better woman,” he declared, using a tone more tempered than he had previously. 
    “I’m not a better woman, Noah. I’m able to cope with things I couldn’t before, but I’m far from