Free The Angel (The Original Sinners) by Tiffany Reisz Page B

through the low and dying light of
the fireplace. Her heart ached at the thought of hurting Søren. But he wanted
the truth from her no matter what.
    “Your penance,” he began and she braced herself.
    “Yes, Father?”
    “Make your peace with Wesley this summer while you’re away from
me. Make your peace and do not return to me until you do.”
    Nora’s stomach clenched. Make her peace with Wesley? What did
that even mean? Just get over him? Or would she have to talk to him? She didn’t
know. She didn’t want to know.
    “Yes, Father” was all she could answer.
    She bent her head.
    “Through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and
peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
    Nora crossed herself.
    “Amen.”
    Nora stood up with a heavy heart. She hated that on their last
night together before she left, she’d had to confess something so hurtful. But
suddenly she was off her feet and in Søren’s arms. Without a word, he carried
her upstairs to his bedroom.
    “You aren’t angry?” she asked as he stripped her of his shirt
and laid her in the bed. He slipped out of his pants and pressed his naked body
into hers.
    “Eleanor, will you ever learn that when I say ‘I love you’ I
mean it?”
    “Eventually maybe,” she said and smiled at him through the
dark. “I’ll miss you so much this summer. Are you sure I have to go? Running
away really isn’t my thing. Not anymore anyway.”
    “I’m afraid in this scenario, discretion will be the better
part of valor. Eleanor, this isn’t simply about the Church or the public finding
out about us. There is more to fear than someone simply discovering that we’re
together.”
    “You don’t agree with Kingsley, do you? You don’t think it was
just an old client of mine who stole my file, right?”
    “I’m truly in the dark on this matter.” Søren gazed toward the
shadows that lurked outside of the lamplight. “Whoever it is, and for whatever
reason…I will not let them harm you. I’d let them cut out my heart first.”
    Nora reached out and touched the wound over Søren’s heart. A
superficial cut, it would heal in just days. The wounds underneath, however,
were old and scarified and likely would never completely heal. Scar tissue,
she’d once read, was the strongest of all tissues. Maybe Søren’s heart was so
strong because it was so scarred.
    “Eleanor? Do you remember my father’s funeral?”
    Nora closed her eyes and became suddenly seventeen years old
again. She’d faked a good excuse for her mother and accompanied Søren to his
father’s funeral. She was there for Claire, his sixteen-year-old sister. Or at
least, that was the cover story.
    The night after the visitation she’d found Søren sitting in a
large armchair in his childhood bedroom—a bedroom that held only the memories of
nightmares for him. She remembered walking in and seeing him sitting, praying
silently in a pool of moonlight. The white light had illuminated his face, his
pale hair. On silent feet she came to him, and he’d taken her in his arms and
held her. It had been the first time he’d admitted that he loved her, had loved
her from the moment he saw her when she was only fifteen years old. His sadness
and grief for the father who’d tried to destroy him came out that night as he
told her the horror story that was his childhood. She’d only meant to comfort
him. She’d made it to the next morning still a virgin, but just barely.
    Nora giggled. “Oh, no. As long as I live I will never forget
that night.”
    Søren caressed her lips with his fingertips. “I know what you
overheard, little one.”
    Another memory came to her. This time it wasn’t nearly so
pleasant. After leaving Søren that night, she’d headed for the room she and
Claire were sharing. The house had over a dozen bedrooms but Søren insisted that
neither she nor Claire sleep alone. The minute they’d arrived at the