Another knock, softer this time. Elijah’s voice. “Marcus? Charlie? I know you’re both in there.”
Marcus releases me reluctantly, and I open the door to find Elijah standing in the hallway, his angel face troubled. He slips inside quickly, closing the door behind him.
“Sister Margaret is watching,” he says quietly. “She saw me follow you upstairs. She’s going to report this.”
The three of us stand in my tiny apartment, the walls feeling like they’re closing in. I can see the fear in their eyes, the same fear that’s clawing at my chest. Everything we’ve built, everything we’ve risked, it’s all crumbling around us.
“Adrian’s with the Bishop now,” Elijah adds, his voice tight. “Private meeting in his office. I saw them go in together.”
My stomach drops. I move to the window, looking down at the garden below.
From here, I can see Adrian’s office window, can see the shadows of two figures inside.
Adrian’s shoulders are rigid with tension even from this distance.
Marcus joins me at the window, his body close enough that I can feel his warmth. “What do you think the Bishop is asking him?”
“The same things he asked me.” My voice sounds hollow. “About inappropriate relationships.”
Elijah moves to my other side, and suddenly I’m flanked by both of them, their presence both comforting and terrifying. We stand there in silence, watching Adrian’s office window, waiting for something we can’t name.
The meeting stretches on. Minutes feel like hours. My hands twist together, and Marcus covers them with one of his, stilling the nervous movement. Elijah’s fingers brush my shoulder, a touch so light it might be accidental, except I know it’s not.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Adrian emerges from his office.
Even from this distance, I can see how pale he is, how carefully blank his expression.
He stands in the garden for a moment, his head tilted back like he’s praying or trying to breathe, then his gray eyes lift to find my window.
Our gazes lock across the space. Even from here, I can see the weight of whatever just happened written across his face.
He starts walking toward the rectory, toward us, his movements deliberate and controlled. Marcus’s hand tightens on mine. Elijah’s breath catches.
We wait in tense silence until Adrian’s footsteps echo on the stairs. He appears in my doorway moments later, and the four of us stand frozen, the air thick with unspoken fear.
“We need to talk,” Adrian says quietly, his voice carefully controlled. “The Bishop asked me directly if I know which young woman in the parish might be a source of temptation.”
The silence that follows is deafening.
“And?” Marcus’s voice is rough. “What did you tell him?”
Adrian’s gray eyes find mine, and I see everything in that look. The love. The fear. The impossible choice he’s been forced to make.
“I said I would look into it,” he says slowly. “We can’t let him think it’s Charlie.”
29
ADRIAN
Charlie’s voice trembles through the phone, and my hands tighten around the receiver until my knuckles go white. “There was a man at the diner today. He sat in my section for two hours, just nursing coffee and watching me work.”
My stomach drops. “What did he look like?”
“Mid-forties. Scarred knuckles. The way he moved… I don’t know how to explain it. Like he was always ready for a fight.” She pauses, and I hear her breath catch. “He made me uncomfortable, Adrian. Really uncomfortable.”
Tommy.
The name burns through my mind like acid. He’s not just watching me anymore. He’s watchingher. Making sure I know he can reach the people I care about. Making sure I understand exactly what’s at stake.
