Sinners & Saints (Sinners & Saints #1) (33 page)

           
“Well,
I think I’m still trying to figure it out.”

           
“Look,
rabbit, if this lad is a little shit too then I do want you to stay away from
him, but if not… I want you to try to proceed with caution, at least for my
bad, sick, diseased heart.”

           
“Oh,
so unfair old man. So unfair.” Laughter escapes from the both of us and a
bright smile is put on my face. If I was home, I would fall into my dad’s arms,
embracing his magical hugs, but then if I was home, I wouldn’t be here.

22

HUGO

“Where have you been?” Jordana asks
once I get through the front door.

           
“Confession,”
I answer.

           
“What?”

           
“Church.”

           
She
makes a face. “I thought you were an atheist.”

           
“Atheists
complain too much. Call me undecided.”

           
“Well,
have you checked your phone? Scarlett’s been texting and calling you
apparently.”

           
“I
know, I turned my phone off.”

           
Her
eyes grow wide. “Avoiding the Queen B? That’s big of you.”

           
“Yeah,
well I still have some shock value left.”

           
“Well,
we’re having dinner with them tonight, Ms. Eleanor says. Them and Patrick
Townsend’s mother and sister.”

           
“I’m
just overjoyed.” I deadpan.

           
I
head up the stairs as Juliet is coming down. My heart jumps every time now when
we’re near each other. Her expression is soft. Then hard. Then soft again. I
think she’s trying to figure out if she’s still mad at me. She hardens up and
walks past me without a word. She’s mad at me. Fuck she’s mad. The thought of
her being mad at me is driving me insane.

           
“I’m
sorry.”
Did I just say that?
I don’t
turn around, but I know she stopped walking. “I don’t care when people are
angry at me… but I do care when… I care that you’re mad. I don’t want you to be
mad so I’m sorry.”

           
I
start to walk up stairs. “If you’re sorry…” I stop again but still don’t turn
around. “If you’re truly sorry, then don’t apologize to me… apologize to your
stepmum.”

           
What the hell?

           
I
turn around. “You’re pushing it.”

           
“Am
I?” She walks back up the steps. “You had to find something about her that you
tolerated.
Something.
I could tell
that you felt guilty. I never doubted that, Hugo.”

           
“Fine,
I’ll text her.”

           
“Call
her.”

           
I
pull out my phone and turn it on.

           
“You’re
gonna call her now?”

           
“Yes,
if I wait I won’t do it.” I go to her name in my contacts and call her. “She’s
not gonna answer.”

           
“I
know, but this is a start.”

           
It
rings and rings until finally stopping. “Voicemail.”

           
“Leave
her a message.”

           
“That’s
no better than a text.”

           
“Yes
it is because she can hear how sorry you are.”

           
I
glare at her as the beep sound comes on. I say nothing and Juliet narrows her
eyes at me.

           
“Kelly…
this is me. I know you hate me and…” I stare into Juliet’s eyes and relax. “And
you have every right. You were right… about everything. Everything you said to
me and I am an asshole, but to answer your question from that time in the
hotel, yes I do. I tell you this because it’s my way of showing how truly sorry
I am by giving you the truth I hold on to… I think about my mother every day.
When I hurt someone, I think about my mother. I see her face in every person in
pain. Again sorry.” I quickly hang up and stuff the phone into my pocket, still
staring at Juliet who is now looking at me in that way that makes me feel like
I’m worth something. Something good. Something more.

           
I
don’t want her to respond. It will just make me more confused and just crazy.
So I just head up stairs to get ready for dinner.

JULIET

I was somewhat proud of Hugo today. He
gave in easy and I know he would just claim that it was all for me, but partly
he did do it for Kelly. He didn’t force himself entirely because he has
feelings for me. If he did he would have stayed longer for me to respond. I called
Jaz to talk to him about it, but he was too busy. I can’t text Jess. Rules. And
the only time I can is when
   
if
   
yeah.
If
I actually have sex with Hugo. I
wonder about sex with Hugo a lot. I wonder how it would be. Would it be gentle?
Would it be rough? Is it strange that it doesn’t matter to me? I just want it
to be good. I know it will be good, probably even great. I don’t worry about my
performance in bed, but I do worry and it pains me to admit it. I worry that
if
we do cross over that cautionary
line, he will do nothing but compare me to Scarlett and that my touch wont be
enough.

The doorbell rings and the butler
answers the door. In walks Scarlett frowning, Patrick smiling, two people who
I’m assuming are his mother and sister, and a blonde woman who is an older
version of Scarlett. The resemblance is uncanny.

           
“Oh,
shit,” Jordana whispers.

           
“Let
me guess, Scarlett’s mum.”

           
“Yep,
this is the darkness that gave birth to the demon.”

           
“Eleanor,
lovely to see you again.” Scarlett’s mum has the fakest smile I’ve ever seen in
my life.

           
“Daphne,
lovely to see you as well.” Ms. Eleanor smiles back at her. Ms. Eleanor has on
her tie dye pants and a black shirt. Her dozen necklaces draped around her neck
and diamond earrings matching the glow in her eyes. Daphne is fierce in red.
Her body is tight and she knows it.

           
“Ms.
Eleanor, this is my mother, Jane Townsend, and my little sister, Rebecca.”

           
“Of
course, hello Jane.” Ms. Eleanor air kisses Jane whose smile is tight. You can
tell she disapproves.

           
“Nice
to see you again,” Jane says.

           
“These
are my lovelies, Poppy Montgomery, Jordana Abbott, and Juliet Spears. Cody
Nichols, a very sweet boy, won’t be able to join us because he’s on his first
date.”

           
Jane
smiles at all of us along with Rebecca who stands close to Scarlett. Ugh, I
hope the poor girl doesn’t look up to her. Rebecca’s eyes drift down the
hallway. Hugo appears and she is immediately smitten. Her mouth drops and her
eyes practically pop out of her skull.

           
“Oh
and this is Hugo Mandrake.”

           
“Hugo.”
Daphne raises her nose and chin up at him. Obviously bad blood there.

           
“Daphne.”
Hugo doesn’t give her much energy, which surprises Scarlett, who is glaring at
him in shock.

           
“Shall
we all go to the dining room?” Ms. Eleanor leads the way and everyone follows
except Scarlett and Hugo as she grabs his wrist.

           
“I
called you,” she says to him. “I needed you. You know how my mother makes me
feel.” She looks at me and so does he.

           
“Sorry,”
I say. I really am. For the first time I see Scarlett vulnerable and I sort of
feel sorry for her.

           
She
lets go of Hugo as Patrick comes back out to the foyer.

           
“Are
you guys joining us?”

           
Scarlett
flashes a smile. “Of course.” She walks past me, throwing a look.

CODY

My body has never conceived this much
sweat before. I’m so glad I wore a white undershirt under my light blue dress
shirt. The undershirt is practically glued to my body. I’m still staring at the
menu, avoiding eye contact from my date across the table. I brought Anika to
the Eleven Madison Park. I figured that’s what you do. Take dates to an
expensive and upscale restaurant. I couldn’t ask Hugo this. He’s never been on
a date. I want to do it right with Anika.

“So, what do you suggest?” My eyes peer
up from the menu to her. She has on a nice yellow and green sundress. It’s
tastefully low cut and I’ve been avoiding on not looking down and staring too
long at her cleavage. Dates are stressful. You have to focus not only on being
charming but also on not being too much of a guy that’s obviously imagining
having sex with you.

“Uh… um…” I look down at the menu. I’ve
eaten here once and I can’t remember what it was. “No,” I laugh nervously.

The waiter comes to us.

“Two glasses of Godello, Mr. Nichols.”
He pours us two glasses of the wine I ordered.

Anika,
looking confused, leans in and whispers once the waiter leaves, “I’m not
twenty-one and neither are you.”

“I have a fake ID. Jordana gave it to
me as a gift for my birthday last year. I rarely use it and my parents come
here all the time so…” I shrug.

She squints her eyes at me, placing her
menu down and grabbing her drink. “Your parents are really nice. Well, when you
guys would come and eat there.”

I laugh a little. “Yeah, they’re pretty
cool.”

“It’s always nice to see black people
doing good in life.”

“It is. Mostly white people surround
me, so it is refreshing when I find my people. Even then, though, I don’t
really fit in.” I say the last part before thinking.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” I brush it off. “So, you go
to Columbia?”

“Yeah,” she answers after tasting her
wine. Her eyes light up and that smile is back.

“What are you studying?”

“Criminal justice.”

Impressive.

“You’ve never seen Hugo Mandrake or
Poppy Montgomery?”

“Hugo was the other guy with you guys,
right?” she asks before answering. “No, I’ve never seen him, but that Poppy
girl—the girl in the pink—I have. We actually had a class together.
She always seems like she’s in a daze so she probably wouldn’t know me.”

I laugh. “She doesn’t and, knowing
Poppy, yeah that’s the reason why.”

“What about you?” she asks before
taking another sip of wine. “What do you study at Princeton?”

“Economics.”

“What do you plan on doing after getting
your degree?”

“I want to get my masters in medicine.
Hopefully one day work with my father in the pharmaceutical company.”

“What made you want to do it?” No one
may believe me, but nobody has ever asked me that question. Everyone just
assumes I’m just doing what my parents want me to do.

“My whole life… I wanted to do what my
parents did. I mean, yeah they have my life planned out for me, but career-wise
we’ve always been on the same page. I’ve loved econ since high school. I’ve
loved medicine forever.”

“Why not become a doctor like your
mom?”

I smile, sitting back in my chair. I’m
more relaxed now. “The sight of blood makes me nauseas.”

She giggles. A moment passes through
with us just staring at each other.
 
I like the way she looks at me. I’ve always felt that people saw me one
way my whole life. Through her brown eyes, I can see that there is a
possibility that she could see many layers. I’m not difficult or complex, but
there is more to me. More than I even know. Maybe I could figure it out through
Anika?

“Are you ready to order, Mr. Nichols?”
the waiter asks us. I look at her to make sure and grinning widely she nods
yes.

SCARLETT

Dinner is quiet. Everyone is focused on
the meal. Duck. Patrick and I sit next to each other. My mother next to me.
Jane and Rebecca on his side. Poppy, Jordana, and Juliet, across from us. Ms.
Eleanor at the head of the table near my mother and Hugo at the end of the
table near Juliet. I’m noticing Rebecca staring at him between bites. Of
course, but he doesn’t even entertain it. He just focuses on his meal and when
I think he’s a complete zombie, he looks to her. She looks to him back and I
almost drop my fork.

           
“Scarlett
dear, you should probably stay away from the bread,” my mother says referring
to the roll on my plate.

           
“Daphne,
I see Dr. Coleson is living up to his reputation. You can barely see the
wrinkles now.” Everyone almost chokes on their food due to Hugo’s comment. He
looks at me and nods his head. He’s letting me know he’s still got my back.
Thank you.