Lessons in Sin

“Hi, Tinsley. I, uh…” Her breath shook as she stole a peek at Magnus and returned to me. “My spiteful behavior and bilious treatment of you is unforgivable. I’m sorry for hurting you, and I will be thinking only of your pain during my one hundred hours of community service.”

Wow. That was…something. Delivered in an unchanging pitch with adult verbiage, it reeked of Magnus’s coaching.

Even if she didn’t mean a word of it, I appreciated the information. In addition to being expelled, it sounded like Magnus had given her a hellacious penance for her confession. One hundred hours of community service? Dear Lord, he was a sadist.

He stepped to his desk and perched on the edge, his head down and eyes up, never taking his attention off me.

Alice’s mother ushered her out, offering me an apologetic smile as she passed. When they were down the hall and out of hearing range, Alice’s father approached.

“Miss Constantine.” He ran a hand over his bald head in agitation, his gaze on the floor. “One thing must be understood. I would never go against your mother. Caroline Constantine is a woman of great respect. I respect her and understand she must put her daughters before mine. So if she decides to seek retribution—”

“Save it. I’m not telling her about this, and neither is Father Magnus.”

“You’re not?” The man looked up, eyes wide and hopeful. Then he twisted, taking in Magnus’s unreadable, unresponsive expression.

“I won’t. He won’t. There’s no reason to involve her.” I sighed. “Just…go.”

“Thank you.” The man left, shutting the door behind him.

“I hate when people do that.” I rested my hands on my hips. “My family can be arrogant and overbearing, but we’re not the damn mafia.”

“Sure about that?”

Not really. Maybe we were similar to an organized crime family. But we were super respectable and admired. And way more discreet about bloodshed.

To be honest, I didn’t know half the shit my family dabbled in. Like most of my siblings, I was sheltered from the details. Only my brothers, Winny and Perry, worked in the family business. When I asked about it, I was fed lies. Any and all criminal dealings were hidden behind smoke and mirrors. And money. A lot of fucking money. My family owned half of New York City.

“We’re not Italian, so…” I blinked once.

His face showed no emotion. A face his god had gone to great effort designing and sculpting. “You’re free to go for the day.”

“Oh.” I glanced at the door. “No punishments. No opossums. What ever shall I do?”

He tilted his head, studying me, his gaze enigmatic.

“What?” I returned stare for stare.

“Have you given any thought to applying for colleges?”

“Yes. No.”

“Explain.”

“I’ve given a lot of thought to what I want to do, and it doesn’t require a college education.”

“I’m listening.”

“I want to run an animal rescue.” My stomach tightened as I braced for a negative reaction.

He pushed his lips out, thinking. Then he nodded. “I can see that.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but I suggest you earn a degree in business so you can operate it efficiently.”

“I would hire someone to do that.”

“Okay. What about the actual care of the animals? The health care and maintenance?”

“I would hire people for that, too.”

“Then what would you do?”

“I would play with the animals, of course.”

“Of course.” He narrowed his eyes, judging.

He thought I was spoiled and entitled, and he would be right.

“Annnd…” I jogged my shoulders playfully, grinning. “I would fund it.”

“With your trust fund?”

“Yes, that. And with my amazing passion. A project, business, charity, movie, piece of art—none of that takes shape unless it’s backed by someone who’s deeply passionate about it. It’s that investment of passion that drives the success of any business. Am I right?”

“Yes.” A smile pulled at his mouth and lit up his stunning eyes. “You’re absolutely right, Miss Constantine.”

“I know. I’m also really good at remembering things. Maybe I’ll read all the books on how to run a successful business. Or maybe you’ll teach me since you used to be, like, the king of the corporate world?”

“You investigated me.” His face blanked.

“Just a few searches on the internet. If anyone knows how to dominate a business, it’s you.”

Tension rippled through his frame, and his finger traced the edge of the desk, back and forth, back and forth.

We stared at each other for several platonic seconds. Then the air shifted, morphed, simmered into a hot minute of hungry intimacy. I grew warm and itchy beneath my uniform, and he gave no indication of looking away.

Damn him and his assertive eye contact.

“So give that some thought, and I’m going to, uh…” I thrust a thumb over my shoulder and sidestepped toward the door. “I’m gonna go.”

He slowly straightened and stepped with me, stalking, watching with that look in his eyes that I’d become achingly familiar with. He was thinking about our kiss. We both were.