Free Carter: The Sinner Saints #1 by Adrienne Bell

was bigger than her apartment…by a lot.
    It was a hell of a lot nicer too. The bed, the carpet, the couch—everything screamed high class. And the view…
    Ally joined Carter at the window and looked across the glistening buildings and rooftops that surrounded them. The sun was starting to dip toward the horizon, setting off golden sparkles on the gentle waves of the Sacramento River.
    After a minute spent staring off into the distance, Carter turned toward her. “Feeling better?”
    If she was, she wasn’t about to admit it.
    “I feel…exhausted,” she said.
    It was the truth. Ally couldn’t remember a time that she’d ever felt so tired in her life. And it wasn’t just lack of sleep. Her brain was fried. She felt as if the last drops of fight had been drained out of her. She was tired of running. Tired of fighting. Hell, she was even tired of standing.
    Carter put his hands on her shoulders and spun her around so that she faced the bed. “So sleep,” he said.
    “Maybe just a little nap,” she said as he guided her over to the oversized mattress. The thing looked like a heavenly cloud, all thick and white and fluffy. It was almost impossible to resist its call.
    The frame was set so high off the ground, Ally almost had to get a running start to lift herself on top. But it was worth the effort. The moment her back hit the soft down comforter, she sank into its depths. She reached up and grabbed a pillow, dragging it to her head.
    “Just for a few minutes,” she muttered as she curled up. She still wasn’t convinced that this was the safest place they could be, but she figured the chances of Fuller and his men knocking down their door in the next twenty minutes was pretty low.
    “Whatever you say,” Carter said, not doing a very good job of stifling his laughter as he pulled a fuzzy throw from the end of the bed and draped it over her. He must have sensed her lingering unease, because he traced his fingers down her cheek after pulling the blanket over her shoulders. “Everything is going to be all right, Ally. I promise.”
    Ally tried not to read too much into the comforting gesture. It wasn’t too hard, since a moment later her eyes closed on their own, and a moment after that she drifted off.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    It was a promise he had no right to make. Carter knew that. They were in a hell of a mess.
    But telling Ally that wasn’t going to help her sleep, and she desperately needed to rest. He tried telling himself that was the real reason he’d wanted to reassure her, that she was no good to him running on fumes, that exhaustion only made her a liability.
    But those were just more lies. Ones that were meant to make him feel better.
    The truth was, he felt a strange ache in the center of his chest seeing her struggle to stay upright, to keep her eyes open for a few more minutes just because she was scared and confused. He didn’t like watching Ally suffer. He didn’t like it at all.
    Some of his own discomfort faded now that she was peaceful and calm. The gentle rise and fall of her chest told him she was asleep. It hadn’t taken long. No surprise.
    He brushed back a few stray strands of hair from her cheek, and she unconsciously shifted toward his touch. Carter let his hand linger for a moment on her warm skin, before forcing himself to turn away.
    Little white lies might help Ally fall asleep, but they weren’t going to save her life when the bullets started flying again. To truly keep her safe, he would have to stop Fuller, but before he could do that, he needed to know what the son of a bitch was up to.
    He grabbed his phone and went to the window. He looked out across the city as he dialed the office’s secure line.
    Mason picked up on the first ring.
    “I was wondering when you were going to get around to calling,” Mason said in lieu of a greeting.
    “Is the office clear?” Carter asked.
    “Affirmative,” Mason said. “The police left a few minutes after determining you weren’t