Sinners & Saints (Sinners & Saints #1)

by Ballinger, Chelsea

  “Here we have a classic piece from Pierre Decree.” She brought us to a private auction at Christies where the finest of china, furniture, and art are being bid on. “We will start the bid at forty thousand dollars. Do I have forty thousand?”

  Ms. Eleanor’s arm with paddle in hand rises immediately for the painting filled with rainbow colors in the form of swirls. The auctioneer points to her and people around look at us, some of them knowing her, with disapproving looks. They probably don’t even care about the painting; they just want to challenge her.

  “This happens every time,” Jordana says once the bid for the painting reaches one hundred thousand. “That woman betting against her is Mrs. Grabale. She has a grudge against Ms. Eleanor.”

  “Why?”

  “Her first husband became Ms. Eleanor’s second husband.”

  I snicker, shaking my head. “That’s like my Aunt Kathy. The husband of every woman in my family’s social circle has been hers at some point.” I make a face, remembering. “Even in our family. She dated my dad when they were at university.”

  “It’s a waste of time. Mrs. Grabale’s sixth husband is under investigation for tax evasion. She doesn’t have it.”

  “She never has it,” Ms. Eleanor says. Her face contorts, staring at the painting once they reach a hundred fifty thousand. “And Andy was an obnoxious pompous aristocrat. If it weren’t for me, her second and third husband would have never been the senator and an Oscar winning actor.”

  Jordana leans in and whispers. “She slept with both too.”

  “I’ll let her have this one.” We watch as Ms. Eleanor refuses the painting and Mrs. Grabale gleams in victory when announced the winner.

  “Really?” Jordana questions Ms. Eleanor, shocked.

  “You never let her win,” Poppy says.

  I watch as Ms. Eleanor and Mrs. Grabele exchange looks of shockingly respect.

  “Us women, no matter how crude we are with one another, we must always remember that we have two enemies in common.”

  The three of us look at each other confused, then back at Ms. Eleanor waiting for her to answer.

  “Men,” she sighs, still staring off. “And old age.”

  That sounds about right.

  In the next room, the hosts of the auction have pâté’s and drinks being served. We wait while Ms. Eleanor gives information on where to send the works of art she won.

  “So, who’s hosting this?” I ask Poppy and Jordana.

  “The Manhattan Women’s Elite,” Jordana says.

  I smile to myself. “Oh yes, every place has an elite of the finest. My mum’s head of London’s.”

  “Yeah, every housewife of a politician or CEO strives to be one of them. I honestly don’t get it. So glad my mother’s a feminist.”

  “Darlings, are you ready?” Ms. Eleanor asks us.

  “Yes, I’m starving for real food,” Poppy says and I agree.

  We head for the exit but stop in our tracks once Ms. Eleanor squeals. “Noel!” She wraps her arms around the guy in a tan suit. He has brown hair that’s long as it curls around the back of his neck. He looks to be twenty-four or twenty-five.

  “Hi, Ms. Eleanor.” He seems very happy to see her. This must be Noel Rochester.

  “Are you back from medical school?” she asks him.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Do you remember Jordana?”

  “Yes,” he says staring at her. “From high school and Poppy too.”

  Poppy and Jordana both greet him.

  “Oh and this is Juliet Spears. Juliet, this is Noel Rochester. He was one of my children from when Scarlett and Hugo’s brother were there.”

  The mention of their names causes something to shift in Noel’s eyes as he smiles at me.

  “You were friends with Scarlett and Gabriel Mandrake?” I ask, nosy as usual.

  “Yes,” he hesitates. “We were living together.”

  “I met Scarlett,” I tell him. I just want to see his reaction.

  “She’s back?” he chokes out the question.

  “Yeah, engaged,” Jordana informs him. I’m guessing she’s noticing the same behavior. “Juliet is staying in her old room.”

  He nods his head. “Well, Juliet, I can honestly vouch that you are staying with a wonderful woman.”

  “Oh, Noel,” Ms. Eleanor pinches his cheek. “You were always such a sweet boy.”

  “I have to go—my mother is waiting on me, but Ms. Eleanor it’s lovely to see you again. Sorry I lost contact after I left.”

  “It’s alright. Hopefully we’ll meet again soon.”

  “Maybe,” he says doubtfully and quickly leaves.

  “So that was Noel,” I say to them as we walk out.

  “Yep, he had already left when I got there,” Jordana answers. “But apparently reformed himself.”

  “Noel was always a fine boy, but unfortunately Scarlett never likes to be alone in her despair,” Ms. Eleanor says.

  “So what changed him?” I ask.

  “Gabriel,” Ms. Eleanor sighs. “My heart weeps at the mention of him, but Noel took it very hard.”

  “They must’ve been close then,” I say.

  We decide to have lunch at a French restaurant called Le Marc.

  “So, Jordana, why did you move to Ms. Eleanor’s?” I ask.

  “Before they got divorced, I traveled around the world with my parents. I lived in Tokyo, Milan, and France before finally settling in the States. My dad loves L.A. He’s from there. My mom hated it along with the groupies he brought to the studio. He and my mom got divorced. She moved us to New York, but my mom has the heart of a gypsy so she can’t stay in one place for so long. I just wanted to stop. Stay somewhere, live a normal life. Well as normal as I could get.”

  “I met Jordana’s mother through Poppy’s mother,” Ms. Eleanor tells me.

  “They were in the same modeling agency back in the day,” Jordana says.

  “What about you Poppy?” I ask.

  “They live in L.A too. I personally love New York better, so Mommy dropped me off here during Fashion Week.”

  “How was the high school here?”

  “Welsh Academy was your usual well-educated institution.” Jordana rolls her eyes. “When I got there, the school was still in mourning.”

  “Mourning?”

  “Karlie Dale. She was long gone when Hugo and I got there, but she was a good girl. Scholarship student. Beautiful, well-loved because of how nice she was. Apparently though she tried some cocaine for the first time and overdosed.”

  “Jesus,” I say taking a sip from my water.

  “Yeah, it was a huge scandal. She survived and I heard her mom sent her to live with family in Ohio. Then the Gabriel thing happened, but people weren’t too sad about Gabriel Mandrake’s death.”

  “I was,” Ms. Eleanor says, her lip poked out. “Gabriel was a nice boy too. Just sad all the time and sadness attracts the malevolent.”

  “You mean Scarlett?” I ask her, narrowing my eyes.

  “Of course, Lady Macbeth at her best,” Jordana smiles.

  “How did Scarlett come to live with you, Ms. Eleanor?”

  “Oh, I remember the day well. It’s a day I’ll truly regret.” Ms. Eleanor speaks in a happy tone, but she is serious. “Her mother brought her right after her father’s death. She was a… dark lovely. She was a little girl that clearly possessed darkness in those grey eyes. If it wasn’t for her blonde locks, some might have seen it easily. She and Noel were the first. Then came Chad and Gabriel. I am a woman of wonder and my wonder stirs away from the children. I can’t help it. I had no control over Scarlett’s influence over the boys. She was born to capture every man she came across. Women like that are rare and for a reason.”

  “Something should have made her like that. No one is born to be that cruel,” I suggest.

  “You are right, my dear.”

  “So what made Scarlett that way?” I ask more myself wondering.

  “Good question
,” Poppy says twirling her hair.

  “Why a man, of course,” Ms. Eleanor answers, giggling and sipping her Bloody Mary.

  SCARLETT

  I buzz the doorbell on the shitty intercom.

  I stare at the barely red door with chipped paint on it, waiting for it to open and let me in away from this horrible Godforsaken city… Brooklyn.

  “What do you want?” the jagged voice speaks through the intercom.

  I slowly grin. “Hello Chad.”

  Not a second goes by before the alarm sounds for me to enter. I walk up the cold steps to the second floor of this foul smelling building. Number 2C opens up and I view the strung out eyes of Chad Michelson, one of my former devotees, and his eyes still scream love as I walk up to him in my white Vera Wang dress and black Chanel sunglasses. I remove them and smile.

  “Miss me?”

  He glares, his jaw twitching. “Bitch.”

  “I take that as a yes.” I brush past him and let myself into his one bedroom apartment that hasn’t been clean in months. I see three vials of cocaine on his coffee table along with six empty beer bottles. The blinds are barely hanging from his windows and the walls are as badly chipped as the outside door. His only furniture is a dirty green couch covered with burnt cigarette holes and unorthodox stains and a brown coffee table in front of it. There is definitely nowhere for me to sit.

  “Your parents really did cut you off, huh?” I say as he sits on his disease infested couch. Dust spills out once he lands on it.

  “My dad won’t give me any money outside of rent until I get clean,” he says cutting down a line on the broken glass mirror. He grins up at me. “Want some? It’s pure, just the way you like it.”

  “No thanks.” I haven’t done a line of coke in over two years. I miss it, but it’s never worth it. I can’t become like Chad. Chad Michelson used to be gold. Blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a smile that could light up a room, but behind that smile stands a dark soul—the same as mine. He’s just more reckless. He does too many drugs, drinks too much tequila, and talks too much shit to his father, a man who controls his fate.

  “When did you get back?” He rubs his nose after a hit.

  “A week ago. My fiancé and I.”

  He stops what he’s doing and stares up at me, his face contorted and ill. “Finally getting all that you wanted, huh?”

  “Come on, Chad, you and I were never in the cards.”

  “No.” He stands up. “Even before, it was always you and Gabriel. Well, that was until he fucked you over. Precious Gabriel, a disappointment to the almighty Scarlett. All life was ruined until his fucktard of a brother arrived.”

  “Still angry at Hugo for succeeding at what you failed to do?”

  “What is that?”

  “Gain my adoration.”

  “No, he gained your tit to suck milk out of.”

  I shrug. “You still had the other one.”

  He chuckles and lights a cigarette. “So what do you want?”

  “You still handy with a camera?” I ask.

  “Yes,” he answers rubbing his temples.

  “You still need a lot of money?”

  He arches his brow, smiling at me. “More than you know.”

  “Still a son of a bitch without regard for anyone?”

  He bites his lip. “Till the day I die.”

  I glance at his coke. “Hopefully not too soon, but nevertheless I have a job for you.”

  15

  JULIET

  I freeze in the middle of the foyer when I see a blonde boy standing, staring at the pictures over the fireplace.

  “Hello,” I say.

  He turns around. He’s cute but pale looking. He looks ill. He sniffs and wiggles his nose while his eyes rake over my body. Slowly he licks his lips. His pupils are the shape of olives and his eyes are bloodshot. Clearly he’s high. I think about the picture and the boys. Already met Noel. Gabriel’s dead. This is Chad Michelson.

  “How do you do?” He walks toward me.

  I extend my hand out to him. “Juliet Spears.”

  “Chad Michelson.” He grabs my hand. His hands are sweaty and clammy. He’s wearing a worn out grey t-shirt with a small hole on the sleeve.

  “I’ve heard of you,” I tell him, letting go of his hand and rubbing it on the back of my jeans.

  “Hopefully not all bad things,” he says still staring at my body. “You have an exquisite pair of legs.”

  “Wow, that was not creepy in any form whatsoever.”

  He’s taken aback by my sentence and points his finger at me, shaking it. “You’re interesting.”

  “I get that a lot.”

  “Trust me, its a compliment in this house full of cards.”

  “And you used to be one of them.”

  “Yes, it was during my prime. Now I am a tragedy, they say.” He steps a little too close. “You are really, really beautiful.”

  “Yeah, well you are really, really too close for comfort.” I step back and his sinister smile appears.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I turn around and see Hugo glowering at Chad.

  Chad laughs. “Well looky here, if it isn’t the prodigal minion. Look at you, you gotten all manly now.”

  “And you’ve gotten more deplorable.”

  “Hugo,” Chad pouts playfully. “Always sensitive.”

  “Juliet, leave us,” Hugo orders me. I don’t take orders.

  “Yes, Juliet,” Scarlett comes in. “Why don’t you give us all a moment to catch up?”

  “You invited this parasite?” Hugo asks her.

  “Parasite? Really?” Chad arches his brow.

  “A person that receives support without giving anything useful in return. In other words, a mooch, a freeloader.”

  “A trust fund baby, which is—well, we all have to admit—all of us,” I interject and Chad laughs while Hugo’s eyes grow with fire.

  “I really like her,” Chad says pointing at me. “But I did you a favor, if it means anything.”

  “What is he talking about?” Hugo looks back at Scarlett.

  “We can discuss it once we go to your room,” she says.

  “My brother will freak out,” Hugo tells her and Chad chuckles.

  “Aw, is the retard still scared of little old me?”

  Hugo begins walking towards us and Scarlett grabs his arm, but he yanks it away. I jump in front of him without thinking, pressing my hands against his chest. “Hugo.” He finally looks at me. “I’ll keep August busy. Make sure he doesn’t come to your room, yeah?”

  He takes one last look at Chad before looking at me. He steps out of my way. Scarlett is shocked and so am I. Hugo not only let me calm him down, but I think he too trusts me with August.

  HUGO

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” Chad’s eyes are filled with gleam once we get to my room and he starts to laugh. “Scarlett, is that leash on him tight enough?”

  “We don’t have time for your childish taunting today, Chad,” she says placing her purse on my couch and sitting down with her arm stretched out on top and her legs crossed.

  “Oh, I’m only observing that history might be repeating itself,” he says.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I ask annoyed and sit down next to Scarlett.

  “Well, you know, she lost Gabriel.” He shapes his hand into a gun and points it to his head, cocking his head to the side. “Maybe she could lose you.”

  “Why, because some girl stopped me from kicking your ass?”

  His eyes narrow on me. “You know you used to didn’t show this much emotion.”

  “Enough,” Scarlett says. “Can we please get to important matters instead of you two having a swinging dick competition? Hugo, please calm down.”

  I square my jaw, grinding my teeth. Scarlett gently combs her fingers through my hair, soothing me down.

  “Aw, so cozy.” Chad shrugs. “So, I followed your daddy to Tribeca.”

  “Who the hell lives in Tribeca
?” Scarlett asks.

  “His wife’s little cousin. Remember her?”

  “Janet Eaton,” Scarlett answers. “We went to school with her. She was a year above us.”

  “Yep and she is still quite the little slut,” Chad says as he pulls out the photos from the envelope and tosses them on my lap.

  I see the first picture of my father in a very compromising position with Janet Eaton.

  “How the hell did you get close enough to or even the equipment to take these?” I look up at him. “Didn’t daddy cut you off?”

  “Our girl here is supplying me with income.”

  “So, your dad is sleeping with Kelly’s cousin. That’s very naughty.” When Scarlett says naughty, it isn’t as sexy as when Juliet says it. Fuck me. I’m comparing them again. Then again this probably isn’t anything. Juliet’s British so technically everything she says is sexier than any American, Scarlett included.

  “Hugo.” I’m not noticing that Scarlett is saying my name repeatedly.

  “Yeah, well it’s not a surprise,” I say like nothing’s wrong. “When he was married to my mother, there were several rumors that he slept with her cousin and her best friend.”

  “You still have a talent for voyeurism, Chad,” Scarlett compliments him.

  “I’ve always had an eye for the dirty,” Chad smiles proudly.

  “So, we have our evidence. Let’s show Kelly and get this over with,” I say.

  “No,” Scarlett shakes her head. “We need to truly break her.” She smiles to herself. “To get the full experience of the show, you should always have a front row seat. She needs to see it in action because we need to move quickly. We need to slap her in the face with it. She won’t see it coming and because of that she won’t waste time running to you.”