Read Online The Sin Collector by Jessica Fortunato - Free Book Online

would meet, lives I would change. I would have neighbors who knew me, and friends who trusted me. A life without secrets, a life with shared dreams and endless hopes. I imagined myself a girl who would sleep sound at night, deep in weightless dreams, loved and content within the protective walls of her teal green house. I shook my head as if the act would shake the memory from my mind. The longing must have still been visible on my face though as Billy slid over and put his arm around me getting very close so he could speak without the driver hearing us.
     
    “I’m not being a very good friend am I? I have become so used to traveling alone. Don’t look so sad LiLi. We will check in at the hotel, I will go visit Clara and then I promise we will have a good time. We will forget the other night, even if it’s just for a few hours.”
     
    “It sounds like a date.” I smiled weakly. I was just happy he was talking again. “Why do you consider Dublin home?” I didn’t want to talk about being sad. I didn’t like talking about my feelings. Maybe there was more human in me after all.
     
    “We moved to Dublin when I was fifteen and we lived here until I was twenty. When I became of age, we traveled around, with Clara performing the ritual all over Europe and Russia. No matter where we traveled, we always ended up spending a few months a year in Dublin. Then Clara settled down here. It’s our touchstone.”
     
    “That’s nice.” I tried to give him a large grin but all I could manage was the same weak smile.
     
    “You’re not alone now you know LiLi.”
     
    I was about to respond with words I hadn’t chosen yet when the car stopped and the driver turned around to inform us we were at the Fitzwilliam Hotel. It was very large and grander than anywhere I had ever stayed. Billy handed the driver something, money I assumed, and he helped load our bags onto the dolly. A bellboy appeared out of nowhere and greeted Billy as Mr. Owens. I couldn’t help the smile that escaped my lips and I arched my eyebrow at him. He shrugged nonchalantly and we followed him to our room. It seemed as if the Bellboy knew Billy, which confused me. I had assumed Billy normally stayed with Clara when he was in Dublin, but now that thought seemed silly. He was over one-hundred years old for cripes sake. He wouldn’t want to shack up with his mom. The bellboy’s engraved nametag read “Connor.” Now that I was face-to-face with him, I had to agree that he did indeed look like a Connor, if a person can look like their name. Connor pushed our door open with the swipe of a card and I felt the stunned look that took place in my features.
     
    The room was exquisite. The living area had a large overstuffed, yet elegant couch with two similar armchairs across from it. A glass coffee table sat in between. On the farthest wall was a large fireplace with a fire already burning and a long window flanked either side of the mantle. The room was decorated in variations of a soft silvery grey that was instantly calming. I liked the room at once. It felt open and inviting. I wandered away from Billy and into the large bedroom. The fluffy white bed was huge and had at least a dozen pillows in the same grey fabric as everything in the living room. I followed a pleasant flowery smell into the white porcelain bathroom where a vase was overflowing with fresh lavender cuttings. A baby elephant would have fit comfortably in the whirlpool tub, which had a remote with several settings displayed.
     
    Screw living under the radar. I am never staying anywhere without a therapeutic massage option again. I was still dazed but suddenly overwhelmed with excitement. I took the memory of Jimmy that had been crushing my chest since we found him and shoved it to the back of my mind. Everything was so beautiful and so new, I was grinning from ear to ear. I spun around to see Billy leaning against the door jam.
     
    “ So I can assume you like the room then?”
     
    “Yes,