Page 114 of Merciless Sinner

A shadow of worry washes over his face as he comes closer and shrugs out of his jacket.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don't know.”

As he looks me over, I know he still feels guilty for his part. But I understand what happened with him. He couldn't control fate and wasn't to know what was going to happen to me and my parents.

Amelia, on the other hand, set out to be duplicitous. I understand that she's sorry now, but what about then?

She never seemed to factor in how devastated I would have been if Virgo had chosen her.

Virgo sits on the edge of the bed.

“She wants me to give her a chance,” I explain. “But I don't know if I can and I don’t think I should be thinking about this when there's more important things to worry about.”

“This is important too,” he points out. “It's important to you. Or you wouldn't be worrying about it.”

My shoulders slump. “This just feels like one more thing I don't need to worry about.”

“I know what you mean.” He leans forward and plants a kiss on my forehead.

“She's asked if I could give her until Friday. We're supposed to go to an exhibition at the museum.”

“Then you have till Friday to decide. Until then, I need my wife.” The way he says that suggests he's had a long, rough day.

He's been here for me, but I know he's been working around the clock at other times, to get down to the bottom of what's going on.

I need him too, badly, so when he pulls me onto his lap, I go and straddle him. Within moments, we're naked, and he's inside me, and I'm riding him. This is our escape, my escape from reality. We keep going through the night, taking breaks here and there, but always finding each other.

Eventually, I drift off to sleep in one of our breaks.

My body melts into a dream, and I see myself walking into a hallway I recognize as my parents’ house.

When I get to the end of the hallway, I see Amelia. She turns at the sound of my footsteps, looking surprised to find me there. But then a smile of pure, raw sin spreads across her face, and she looks evil.

“You don't deserve him, Olivia. You never did. Virgo was always mine. You're just a confused bitch.” She rushes forward, and I jump out of the dream, and into bright daylight.

I'm by myself, in the bed, and the quietness of the ensuite bathroom suggests I'm alone.

I swallow hard, and dab at the sweat trickling down the side of my face.

Then I recall the dream I just had, and the horrible feeling twisting and squeezing my stomach. That was just a dream, right?

Not a memory?

I didn't see Amelia after she tried to seduce Virgo, so it couldn't have been a memory.

It wouldn't make sense if it was a memory. Not with what she said to me.

When I saw her in the park, all she wanted was my forgiveness, so that had to be a dream.

I go through the rest of the day feeling uneasy with this hollow inside me that gnaws away at my insides.

The feeling stays with me.

Friday rolls on and things are still the same. But it's now time to come to a decision on whether or not I'm going to give my best friend a chance.

I have an hour before I have to see her.