Free The Rising: Antichrist Is Born by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins

Victory.
----
    Ten Tuesday nights later Marilena sat in her apartment, dozing. Footsteps in the hall roused her. She did not want Sorin to find her in the dark, so she rose quickly, dizzying herself, to turn on a light as she heard him at the door.
    “Just get home?” he said. “The place looked dark from the street.”
    She nodded. Lying to him had become the norm. But what was the difference? His being gone and apparently feeling no compulsion to explain was a lie of omission, was it not? The way he studied her made her wonder if her countenance gave her away. The walk to the bus and the discussion with Viviana had shaken her.
    “Any more messages from beyond?” he said, hanging his coat and pulling a beer from the refrigerator.
    “Every week,” she said, playing to him.
    “And what was it this time? ‘Someone is feeling regret over a childhood memory’?”
    “Yes,” she said. “Something like that.”
    As he turned on more lights and began puttering at his desk, she sat back down in her chair, causing him to ask if she was all right.
    “I wouldn’t mind a talk if it is all right with you.”
    “A talk?” He sat on the edge of his desk and gazed at her. “As long as you’re not about to tell me you’ve contacted the netherworld.”
    “You know better than that.”
    “How long is this going to take?”
    “Honestly, Sorin, if you don’t have time to talk with me—”
    “I’m just asking, dear. I have a big day tomorrow and a little more work to do, so—”
    “Then just forget it.”
    “I don’t want to forget it. I simply want to get an idea whether I’ll have time to finish my work tonight or have to get up earlier.”
    She shook her head.
    “I see,” he said. “You want me to coax it from you.”
    “I want nothing of the sort. If you are so busy and have so much to do, where have you been?”
    He moved to his desk chair. “Since when do you ask me where I’ve been?”
    “When you complain of being too busy to talk with me.”
    She hadn’t expected it, but that seemed to leave him speechless. For once. Marilena had certainly learned the folly of arguing with him. No contest.
    Now he sat straightening things on his desk. Finally he said, “Well, if nothing else, you have roused my curiosity.”
    “Forget it, Sorin.”
    “No. I apologize. You have my full attention for as long as you need it.” When she simply stared at him, he continued. “I’m serious, Marilena. You’re right. You’re not asking for too much, and I am on pace with my work, so please …”
    “Then promise you’ll hear me out.”
    “I believe I just did.”
    “Sorin, I know this is going to come as a shock to you as much as it has to me. Believe me, it is not a passing fancy but something that has been weighing on me for months. I have tried to fight it, tried to talk myself out of it, and determined to keep it from” you.”
    His brow knotted. She certainly had his attention.
    “I want to talk to you about it, and I don’t want you to get upset or defensive.”
    He leaned back in his chair. “I know,” he said.
    “You know?”
    He nodded. “It’s been written all over you for a long time.”
    “It shows?”
    “Of course. I know you, Marilena. I know we don’t have a conventional marriage, but you have to recognize that our minds often seem like one.”
    “Often.”
    “So it shouldn’t surprise you that I know what you’re thinking. Even more than your favorite fortune-teller.”
    “She’s not a—”
    “I’m teasing, Marilena. I’m just saying that I know.”
    “And so?”
    “And so you want to know if there is someone else.”
    Marilena fought a smile. The great intellect thought he knew so much, knew her so well. In fact, while she was curious, that had been the last thing on her mind. Of course there was someone else. Sorin was a man, wasn’t he? He was sleeping with someone, and frankly, that was more than all right with her. It took the pressure off her, and she did not desire him