Lessons in Sin - Pam Godwin Page 0,5

only saw what they wanted to see—what they could gain from my family’s wealth and influence. Deep down, I knew that my closest friends only hung around to get close to my brothers.

Story of my life. My last name preceded who I was in my heart, and it wouldn’t be any different here.

But there were advantages to being my mother’s daughter. She’d bred tenacity in my veins and steel in my bones. I’d spent my entire life watching her, learning from her. While she wasn’t a nurturing person, she didn’t take shit from anyone.

To win this, I would have to take a page out of her book, no matter how vicious my opponent.

Hell is coming for me.

Not the words I expected to hear from a priest’s mouth, but to be fair, I threatened him first.

I stepped toward the classroom, placing my hands on the door. My mother’s muffled voice drifted from within, drawing my ear to the wooden barrier.

“I investigated you, Magnus. You’re well respected in the church and held in high esteem by your fellow teachers. But I’m more interested in your history before priesthood. I find it strange that you decided to become a late-vocation priest, considering that before the age of thirty-one, you led a rather excessive, self-indulgent life.”

My breath cut short, my whole body going still.

“Self-made billionaire.” Her heels clicked through the room, punctuating her words. “New York’s most eligible bachelor—”

A flurry of noise erupted overhead. I spun, crouching, and slapped a hand against my pounding chest. Dammit.

Craning my neck, I scanned the rafters along the hallway. There was something there, quiet now, but whatever it was had nearly given me a heart attack.

The ceiling crested into shadowed pockets high above the glow of the wall sconces. I strained my eyes, searching for movement.

Nothing.

If it was a critter, it must’ve scurried away.

I crept back to the door and pressed my ear to the surface, catching my mother’s voice.

“—abruptly ended. No one seems to know why you traded your expensive ties for a priest’s collar nine years ago. But I can find out. I can learn all a man’s secrets when motivated. Don’t motivate me.”

My mind spun in the silence that followed. I imagined her arrogant expression as she stared down the impassive priest. If I did the math…

He was forty. Older than I thought. But young enough to be her child. Just another pawn in her self-aggrandizing quest for control. With any luck, he would say something to piss her off, and this would all work itself out on its own.

“I wonder,” he said, his voice rumbling like a distant storm, “what kind of woman threatens a man of the cloth.”

“A smart woman. I trust no one. Not even a priest with a squeaky-clean record.”

“If you’re suggesting—”

“I’m not. You agreed to my conditions. Don’t let her leave the property. No males in her room, including yourself. Don’t allow her in your private quarters, no matter how innocent the reason. Don’t bend any of the rules I put forth without speaking to me first, or I’ll shut down this school and make sure you disappear for good.”

A swallow stuck in my throat. Was she protecting me? My mother, a mama bear? I couldn’t believe it, but man, did I feel it. It warmed me to the marrow.

Until she added, “I don’t want a scandal, Magnus. It’s that simple.”

My stomach bottomed out, and my eyes closed, hot and achy.

This had nothing to do with me. It was just another one of her power trips.

“Her tuition is paid in full,” she said. “And I signed off on the terms of the endowment—”

The clamor of sound returned to the rafters, jerking me away from the door. Just as well. I’d heard enough.

Turning my attention upward, I tracked the cacophony of rustling, flapping movements. Something small flitted about in the darkness, flying with agitation, crashing into beams, and skidding along the apex of the ceiling.

A bird?

How did it get inside? Through an open door? Oh no, that meant it was trapped. Without food or water, it wouldn’t survive. Worse, it seemed injured, or disoriented, darting unsteadily in the shadows. Never landing. Never coming close enough to let me see it.

Shit. It hit the wall.

I inched forward, gasping as it bounced across the floor and came to a stop. What a strange-looking bird. It wobbled, using its folded wings like crutches, balancing itself, and…

Was that fur?

It took flight again, swooping awkwardly, almost drunkenly through the doorway at the end of the hall.

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