Sinner (The Hades Squad #1) Read Online Free PDF

Robinson.”
    “Never heard of her. She's not cooperating?”
    “Angel's been on the romance best-seller list forever. She's a Princeton graduate. Thinks no one can improve her work and the world should be grateful she deigns to gift them with a novel once every two years.”
    “Ouch. She sounds like a handful.”
    A Bach fugue, “The Musical Offering,” one of his favorites, weaved into a momentary conversational lull as they spooned the cooling stew into their mouths. The basket of bread Destiny had placed on the table now held only two slices. Lincoln offered her one, making sure he touched her wrist and palm as he did so.
    “You have an amazing voice.” She turned a hundred shades of pink from forehead to the hint of cleavage escaping the confines of her ivory sweater. “I heard you singing in the shower.”
    “Sang in the church choir.” He flashed her a grin. “Probably the only reason they let me into church. Catholics don't have that Protestant knack for singing.”
    “I can't carry a tune. But I love music.”
    “What's your favorite piece?” He mopped the bowl with the last slice of bread.
    “You mean song?” She cocked her head to one side and met his stare directly, the first time she'd done so without prompting or insistence on his part. “I'm not sure I could narrow it down to one. I love Norah Jones, but I like Nickelback too.”
    “No classical in the mix?”
    “I like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.” Her mouth quirked up on one side. “Probably because it's the only classical music I can recognize.” Comprehension widened her black eyes to Bambi size. “You like classical music.”
    “It's a bit of an obsession. I'm guessing you're not an opera fan.”
    “I've seen Figaro .”
    The skin covering her forehead creased into three tiny horizontal lines, and for a crazy moment he wanted to lick them smooth.
    “How…how did you get into classical music?”
    You're all confused. Can't figure out the big bad SEAL paratrooper, and had me lumped into the brainless category.
    Lincoln swallowed more wine than he intended.
    Hadn't he done the same with her?
    So far her story held up, but anyone who used an alias triggered an ingrained suspicion, and until he uncovered the truth, he had to maintain an emotional distance.
    “My mom says I used to scare people as a toddler with my booming voice. Mom actually entered me into a local talent contest. I still have the video of me singing ’Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.’”
    “Did you win?”
    “Third. I won a dollhouse, which my sisters promptly appropriated.”
    She studied him. “Are you from a big family?”
    “Big Heinz 57 family. My dad's from Jamaica. My mom's from a small village in Ireland. Mom lives by the pope's decrees, so there're eleven of us.”
    “Eleven?” Mouth plumped into an O, Destiny stared at him, brows hiking to her hairline. “Eleven. I can't even imagine that. How many brothers and sisters?”
    “Five boys, five girls.”
    “Where're you in the mix?”
    “Smack-dab in the middle.” Ah, he liked her like this—relaxed, curious, intelligence sparking and dancing and animating her whole face. “What about you?”
    “Only child.”
    All the vibrancy drained from her face. She swallowed, avoided his eyes, and dropped her spoon into her bowl. Her luscious mouth settled into a flat line. Lincoln guessed family issues existed. “Are you a born New Yorker?”
    “I wish. No, I was born in Derby, Connecticut.”
    “Never heard of it.”
    She snorted. “Believe me, no one has.”
    “From your expression, you didn't enjoy Derby.”
    “No.” She gulped down the rest of the merlot in her glass. “So what happened to your musical career after you won the contest?”
    “By the time I was five, our local parish priest had roped me into the choir. Most young boys have a high soprano voice and mine tended to be more alto, so I was in high demand.” Lincoln topped up Destiny's wine. “Of course, a ton of sissy jokes go