Sinners & Saints (Sinners & Saints #1)

by Ballinger, Chelsea

  “I love you,” I whisper along with, “God, I love you.”

  Some positions you find to be more pleasurable than the rest when it comes to love making. This one is possibly it for me. The only con for it is that I can’t look him in the eyes, but his firm kisses on my cheek vouch for the fear of the less intimacy of it all. I moan louder as he sinks deeper and faster. I always find the scenes where people come together bullshit, but I swear we do. I scream his name and he groans loud and soft in my ear. His breathing blows on my face and his kisses frantically come and I giggle.

  “Oh God,” he says between breaths. “God that felt good. God, you feel so good.” Our hands are still locked into each other and he is still inside of me, but we don’t want to separate. We fear separation would lead to downfall. That’s how scared we both are of this said love. He finally pulls out of me and goes to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. I turn over on my back and wait until he comes back and lays his head on my chest. I comb my fingers through his hair as he wraps his arms around me, still breathing heavy.

  “I don’t usually make sounds during sex,” he whispers.

  “You don’t usually do a lot of things when it comes to me,” I say in confidence.

  “You’ve ruined me.”

  “You’ve ruined me too, you know.”

  He laughs a little. I feel his mouth vibrate against my chest and it tickles.

  “I’m going to take you on a date.”

  “What?” I grin.

  “I figured that’s what boyfriends do, right?” Like a schoolgirl, the term boyfriend makes my heart light up like a Christmas tree.

  “I thought we weren’t labeling it.” I want to keep my cool, but knowing him, he could feel me smiling.

  “I said fuck it.” He lifts his head and looks at me. “I might as well stake a claim on you before school starts.”

  “Worried someone better and more deserving might come along?”

  He frowns. “There will always be someone more deserving of you. I have been given your love by the sole grace of the God I’m beginning to believe in.”

  “You know, Mandrake… everyone in the world has done something more horrible than the other. No sin is greater than any other sin. You have my love because you do. You are it for me.” I cup his face. “No one is undeserving of love. Not even the wicked. The wicked can have that love, but if they do not nurture and care for that love… than they are the undeserving.”

  “I can honestly vow that this wicked will never be undeserving of your love then.”

  I smile and he does also.

  “Now… stop it with all the doubt.” I playfully glare at him and push him on his back, straddling him. “I want to spend all night making love to you and having glorious orgasms.”

  He laughs. I love it when he laughs. That sound would forever be my favorite song.

  He sits up and cups my face with his hands.

  “Juliet Spears.”

  “Hugo Mandrake.”

  I kiss his lips and fall into him.

  SCARLETT

  “This is all your fault.” Of course she is going to blame it all on me. “Hugo Mandrake is your friend. If it wasn’t for you, my daughter would never have gone through this!”

  “Mom enough!” Patrick slams his fist on the dining room table. “This is not Scarlett’s fault. He did this and only he.” He reaches across the table and grabs Rebecca’s hand. “And he will pay for it, I swear it.” He looks to Chad. “Thank you for coming forward.”

  “Uh,” Chad snorts his nose revealing how high his fucking ass is. “Yeah, of course. I’m really sorry that I wasn’t, ya know, sober to see it, but I’m telling you Hugo just gloated about it and I knew I should’ve just came to Scarlett.”

  I have never seen Patrick so angry before. It kind of makes me afraid. If that anger were ever turned towards me, it would probably be the end of me. I make sure to talk Rebecca into withholding certain information about that night. The story is that she and I were hanging out. She snuck in a drink and Hugo came and slipped her something while I fell asleep. Rebecca is really an idiot. She has her timeline all fucked up, but that’s what happens when you trust the wrong people. And when you’re an idiot.

  30

  JULIET

  “Juliet,” I hear him whisper. It feels like a dream. Everything that has something to do with Hugo and happiness will only feel like a dream for a while. I slowly open my eyes and see him, fully dressed in a black t shirt and grey pants, staring down at me like he loves me. He loves me. That still feels like a dream too.

  “Let me sleep,” I moan.

  “I have a date prepared for you today.”

  That got my attention. My eyes open wide and peer up at him. “Really?” I sit up with the sheet wrapped around me. “What are we doing?”

  “It’s a surprise,” he says quietly. “Take a shower, get dressed and come downstairs.”

  “Yes, oh great one,” I mock and he leans in and kisses me.

  I watch him leave out the room and smile to myself. Will this smile ever go away? I think not.

  I eye my phone on his dresser and grab it. I realize that now is the time to text Jess and let her know everything.

  ME:

  I know the rules. I’m never allowed to text you but you did tell me to let you know when I did something you oh so requested from me.

  I FUCKED HIS BRAINS OUT… HE FUCKED MY BRAINS OUT. I hate texting you with crude language by the way. You are such a foul mouthed girl.

  A minute passes and it’s her texting me back.

  JITTERY BIOOOTCCHH:

  WEELL DONE! BRAVO! YOU HAVE FINALLY SUCCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS! Your sins are now forgiven. I know you don’t want to tell me the other thing, but I want you to know you can. I may get jealous, but I’ll still be happy for you through all my hatred.

  I laugh out loud. I don’t know. I sometimes still feel like I shouldn’t feel I deserve to be this happy. What a hypocrite I am.

  JITTERY BIOOOTCCHH:

  STOP being a hypocrite. I know you’re doing it. Listen, no matter what the person you are, you are my friend. My ONLY friend and you deserve to be HAPPY so go ahead say it. I want to vomit.

  I laugh again before finally texting back.

  ME:

  He told me he loved me. It’s hard for him just like it’s hard for you. I love him. I love you. I’ll wait for you to say it like I waited for him to.

  JITTERY BIOOOTCCHH:

  When I’m dead Bitch. Cheerio.

  I shake my head laughing. I start to get a little sad. To think that something can happen to Jess scares the shit out of me. She knows why. It is because I love her and she deserves to stay on this earth and experience the things life has to offer. I helped her put a timer on her life. But if she heard me say that, she would say, “We all have a timer on our lives. All you can do is ride it out no matter if it’s ten seconds or twenty-four hours. You just got to ride it out. It’s a sin to dwell on the what ifs and what nots.”

  She’s a wise girl, that Jess.

  HUGO

  I sit out on the patio with my brother, Jordana, Ms. Eleanor, and Poppy. They all stare at me smiling. I’m annoyed by the amicable silence.

  “So, you guys have sappy nicknames picked out yet?” Jordana teases.

  “Muffin, my boo, bae?” Poppy asks, chiming in.

  “Funny,” I say.

  “Love is a very funny unexpected paradise, isn’t it Hugo?” Ms. Eleanor asks, her Bloody Mary in hand. “It builds us into something we never thought was possible. It can do harm and it can do good. I predict that it will serve you the latter.”

  “I have to agree with Madam Yoda on this one too,” Jordana says and Poppy giggles.

  “You all make me want to vomit.”

  Speaking of releasing fluids,” Jordana oddly states. “This one seemed to have finally released it into a real live female.” She shrugs as I turn my head towards a grinning Cody. His hair is even disheveled. He isn’t fully dresse
d like he always is in the morning; he is in a t shirt, boxers and robe.

  “Good morning everyone.” He sits down and even pats me on the back.

  “Cody, I sense that you have finally become a man,” Jordana says.

  “A man does not kiss and tell.” He stuffs a waffle into his mouth.

  “Where is Anika?” Poppy asks.

  “Still asleep,” he says proudly. I guess he thinks he wore her out. Okay, let me stop being an ass—he probably did.

  I grant him a smile and he is taken aback. “What the hell, bro?”

  “This, Cody, is a smile granted to you because you are no longer blue balls or the virgin. You are now Cody. The Conqueror.”

  He laughs at me and shakes his head, continuing with his breakfast. I stare at the people around me and I feel at peace. This is my family.

  “Well, either I’m crazy or everything is right with the world,” Cody says after a moment.

  “I must say, Nichols, I think it is.”

  “You can’t come in here!” we hear the butler yell. Two men who seem to be cops come in.

  “Hugo Mandrake?” I stand up once they say my name.

  “What is this?”

  “We have a warrant to search the premises, specifically your room.” The cop holds up a piece of fucking paper that means shit to me.

  “What the hell is this?” I snap.

  “Hugo, calm down,” Ms. Eleanor says as we follow the detectives into the living room.

  “What’s going on?” Juliet comes downstairs and Anika is not too far behind.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I ask Scarlett who is standing there pretending to be innocent and doe eyed. Patrick comes behind her and charges at me.

  “You son of a bitch!” he says trying to take a swing at me, but he is stopped by one of the police officers.

  “Mr. Townsend, we told you two to wait outside!” he tells him.

  “I want to look him in the fucking eye and dare him to fucking deny it!”

  “Deny what?!” I ask, pissed off.

  “That you raped my sister!”

  My eyes widen at Patrick and the cops surround me. I look to her. “What have you done?”

  “Go search the room,” a cop orders.

  “Hugo?” My brother tries to approach me, but a cop shoves him away. My brother panics. “Hey! Don’t touch him!” A cop holds me back as Ms. Eleanor grabs August. We wait for the cops to search my room. I shouldn’t be worried, but I am. That cold stare on Scarlett’s face says it all.

  “This is ridiculous,” Juliet protests. “Hugo would never rape anyone.”

  “Juliet,” Scarlett says softly, pretending to be a normal human fucking being. “You don’t know him like I do.”

  “Apparently not,” a police officer says, coming downstairs, holding up three packets of pills—my guess rohypnol—and unfortunately my stash of weed and the coke I had taken from Poppy.

  “That is not mine.” I look back at Scarlett. “You psychotic bitch! What did you do?!”

  “I’m doing what I should’ve done a long time ago. How could you, Hugo?” I charge after her but the police slam me to the wall.

  “Hugo Mandrake, you are under arrest for the rape of Rebecca Townsend.” The police officer reads me my rights and I watch Juliet who is in shock and for a moment, I fear, doubt. I fear she thinks I’m guilty.

  “She says she knows me, but she doesn’t,” I tell her as I get dragged out by the police. “You know me. You hear me, Juliet! You know me!”

  As I pass Scarlett, I see the timid smile on her face. Her eyes gleaming with victory. “Well played,” I say to her and never in my fucking life did I ever think it would go this far.

  SCARLETT

  Never underestimate how far one will go to destroy an enemy. I destroy her and everything she works for. I destroy him and everything he discovered he wanted. Why do I do this? Because no one challenges me.

  “I know it’s hard,” I say to Juliet, coming closer. “We always hope that real love and truth are stronger than any evil or misfortune in the world.”

  Her eyes widen at my acknowledgment of the quote she wrote on Hugo’s wall. Her jaw clenches and I don’t see her fist coming across my face. I fall back as Patrick yells at her for hitting me.

  “You people are insane,” Patrick says helping me up. I press my thumb against my bottom lip and see the blood. I flip my hair and still kept my calm smirk on her.

  “Your girlfriend is insane,” Juliet says to him.

  “Hugo would never rape anyone. Scarlett played you, like she has been playing people her whole miserable fucking life,” Jordana says.

  “Everyone is right about all of you and Hugo Mandrake is the worst of you all,” Patrick says. “That bastard is going to pay for what he did. If any of you touch or come near Scarlett again, I will have you sharing a fucking cell with him.” He grabs my hand and leads me out. “Let’s go.”

  “Scarlett.” I look back at Ms. Eleanor who is staring at me in shock. “I never wanted to see it, but you truly are a woman of poisoned virtue.”

  I let out a harsh laugh at the old pathetic woman and follow Patrick out. Once we’re in the car he gently traces my lip. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m so sorry, Patrick. This is all my fault.”

  “Hey,” he shakes his head. “This was never your fault. I love you.” He pulls me in for a hug and I smile. The sun is out and everything is right with the world.

  31

  JULIET

  “This is wrong,” Poppy says. “Hugo wouldn’t do that.”

  “Hugo has done a lot of fucked up shit, Poppy.”

  “Are you serious right now, Cody?” Jordana snaps. “You’re just gonna say fuck it and believe that nonsense?”

  Cody holds up his hand and exhales. “What I was going to say is… Hugo has done fucked up shit… but if there’s anything I do know about him, it’s that he is not the person to commit rape.”

  “Well, why would this Scarlett do this?” Anika asks looking more pissed off than the rest of them. I still have my hands folded together under my chin. My leg still shaking. My hand still bruised and swollen from punching Scarlett in the face. I want to do more to her. I can’t move though because every possible solution is circling in my head. I’m trying to figure out how to save Hugo. Ms. Eleanor says his dad won’t pay his bail. If I have to hack into my trust fund, I’ll do it. Hugo can’t be alone in this.

  “It’s what she does.” We all turn around. August rocking back on his feet. “Noel knows. Chad knows. I know. House full of sinners and saints. House full of sinners and saints. Gabriel Knows. Scarlett knows. Karlie knows.”

  I approach him. “August, it’s going to be okay.” I rub the back of his head. “I swear to you, Hugo will be okay.” August doesn’t look at me. He just shakes his head and runs away to his room. I can’t go to try and calm him down. I have to figure it out. I have to…Wait. He said Karlie. I know that name. “August is right,” I say. “Chad knows. Gabriel knows…”

  “That’s all good, but one is dead and the other is as crazy as Scarlett,” Cody says.

  “Noel knows. Noel Rochester. Anyone know where he lives?”

  “Let’s bring him to us,” Jordana says. “Poppy, where’s Ms. Eleanor?”

  “In her room crying,” Poppy sadly says.

  “Well let’s help her get her shit together,” Jordana says.

  NOEL

  I never thought I would set foot in this place again. I ring the doorbell and wait for someone to answer. Someone finally does. It’s the new girl, Juliet Spears.

  “I came as soon as Ms. Eleanor called. How is she doing?” I walk past her. She says nothing. That makes me nervous. I walk through the foyer and see everyone in the living room including Ms. Eleanor in a purple flowered robe with a tissue in her hand.

  “Ms. Eleanor, are you alright?” I go to her and place my hand on her shoulder. She sadly smiles and places her hand on mine.

  “Now is the tim
e to undo all wrongs, my dear,” she softly says to me.

  “What?”

  “Hugo is in jail.” I turn around and face the group of young kids who all stare at me with hate. Even Poppy Montgomery.

  “Why is he in jail?” I ask.

  “Apparently, Rebecca Townsend, the sister of Patrick Townsend who also happens to be Scarlett’s fiancé, said that he raped her.”

  My eyes widen.

  “From the look on your face, I can see that you find that hard to believe.”

  “You never know with the guys Scarlett molds,” I tell her.

  “Like you?” Jordana asks.

  “Yeah, well everyone isn’t as lucky as I am.”

  “Like Gabriel… he wasn’t lucky,” Juliet says and comes closer. “Let me just put it all out there. Hugo… fell in love with me. He and I fell in love and Scarlett hates that and I don’t want to believe that anyone could be that cruel, but because of Hugo’s sudden change of heart, Scarlett decided to ruin him. Now I don’t know if Rebecca was really raped or…”

  “Most likely she was,” I mumble before I can think. Flashes of the blood, the tears, everything is coming back. Don’t do this to me now. You got your whole life ahead of you.

  “How would you know, Noel?” She narrows her eyes at me.

  “Listen, this has nothing to do with me, okay?” I raise my hands and start to move past her. She steps in my way. “This has everything to do with you. This has everything to do with all of us. Now something happened back then to provoke Gabriel’s suicide. What was it and don’t feed me he was so hopelessly in love with Scarlett bullshit. If Hugo doesn’t load a gun because she is engaged, I doubt his brother did because of her. What happened?”

  “You need to let. It. Go.”

  “You don’t know me well, but I tend to not let things go so easily. I am especially not a coward like you,” she scolds me and she has every right to. I am a coward.