The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters #6) - Lucinda Riley Page 0,123

about the Twelve Steps and the fact that it’s all about God and how He will help us and save our souls and stuff. But why does He give some of us seriously crappy lives, while others get everything?’

‘Because we suffer for our sins here on earth before entering His glorious kingdom.’

‘You’re saying it’s better up there than it is down here?’

‘Yes, ma’am, I am,’ he said.

‘Then why don’t you kill yourself now and go?’

‘Oh Electra,’ Miles chuckled. ‘Because we’ve got our jobs to do down here, whatever it is that He asks of us. And if you look into your heart and pray for guidance, you’ll find out just what that is. I did.’

I turned my whole body to look at him. ‘You’re a believer?’

‘I sure am. Jesus saved me many years ago and I’m now down here doing His work. Or trying to at least.’

‘Oh.’ I sat staring into the darkness for a while, not sure what to say because I was so shocked. I’d never met a devout Christian before. To me, the whole Bible thing was on the same level as fairy tales and Greek myths.

‘Well . . .’ I cleared my throat. ‘I really would like to help if I can. I need to call my business manager anyway – he looks after all that stuff – so I’ll speak to him and see what I could offer. I guess I’m pretty rich.’

It was Miles’s turn to stare at me in shock. ‘You mean you don’t know how much you’re worth?’

‘No. I live in a very nice apartment, and I buy whatever I need, although I get given most of my clothes for free from designers. There’s not much else that I’ve wanted – other than drugs and alcohol. Though there is something I want now.’ The thought of it made me smile.

‘Excuse me for saying, Electra, but shouldn’t you know how much money you’ve got? I personally don’t trust anyone but me when it comes to my dollars.’

‘Oh, they show me the accounts once a year and tell me about my investments, but they’re just columns of figures and . . . I don’t have a clue what they actually mean,’ I confessed.

Suddenly, Miles reached out a hand to stroke the side of my face gently with his fingers. He gave a sigh as his eyes focused on mine.

‘You sure act like you’re a tigress, but you’re just an innocent cub underneath it all, aren’t you? You make me feel real old,’ he smiled. ‘Hey, and I should be getting to bed like people of my age do.’

As I watched him stand up, all of me wanted to ask him to stay and stroke my face again. But I didn’t, because I felt too shy – a first for me.

‘Goodnight, sweetheart,’ he said as he walked away into the darkness.

That night, I didn’t sleep well, even though I was physically exhausted from the horse riding. This was partly to do with Vanessa, who was having another restless night, but also because I couldn’t stop thinking about Miles. I thought I was quite good at getting a handle on guys, but I seriously couldn’t work him out. A Harvard-educated lawyer, former addict, saviour of junkies and a Christian . . .

Then I wondered if he was married, because he never talked about a wife, not that we’d talked that often. Besides, what did I care? He was way older than me and we lived in different worlds.

I woke up feeling groggy, as if I’d taken stuff. When I looked at the clock by my bed, I saw it was gone ten o’clock. Normally, the morning gong would sound at seven, giving us half an hour before we needed to gather together in the canteen for the serenity prayer, but today was a Sunday, so there was no gong and prayers were at ten.

‘You missed breakfast an’ prayers,’ said Vanessa as I sat up. ‘I got you a bowl of grits and some juice.’ She indicated my desk.

‘Oh,’ I said, touched by her thoughtfulness. ‘Thanks.’

‘’S’okay. Miles wanted to take me to church in town, but I told him I had to stay an’ look after you.’

‘Hey, I was just sleeping. You could have gone with him.’

‘You think I want to go to that place? They’re as bad as the pushers, tryin’ to get you onto all that Jesus stuff. I googled you last night,’ Vanessa continued. ‘You must be the most famous supermodel in the world