Page 17 of Sinfully His

“What?” I said, still regretting smoking so much weed before this.

Mary Quinn reached up and ran her fingers through her hair, tousling it a little bit. I then watched in horror as she picked up the riding crop, slapped her own face with it and then tore her blouse.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“You’ll see,” she said, turning on her heel and walking away.

I didn’t know how long I sat on that stable floor trying to figure out what the fuck had just happened. But that was where my father found me.

It was not unusual for Lucian Manwarring to be filled with rage. In fact, I would even be comfortable in saying that it was a pretty constant state for him to be in. But I had never seen him as angry as I did that night.

My father was a tall, massive man, built with broad shoulders and thick with muscle. He towered over most football linebackers, and intimidated men half his age on the polo field.

He stomped into that stable, his hands clenched into tight fists and his face actually bright red. He didn’t say a word. I was waiting for him to yell, to lash out at something, but he grabbed me by the scruff of my collar, pulled me to my feet and dragged me out of there.

“What happened?” I asked, praying she hadn’t gone through with it.

“You know what the fuck happened,” he said, his teeth clenched as he escorted me not to the car that was waiting, but straight to our helicopter.

“Where are we going?”

“Mary Quinn just accused you of attempted rape. She is telling everyone who will listen that she was in her stable, seeing to her horses, when you came in smelling of weed and whisky and you assaulted her. She is saying she tried to laugh it off and push you away, saying how she is a happily married woman, and you were so high out of your mind all you could do was paw at her and grope her.”

“Father, I didn’t—” He lifted his hand.

“She said you hit her with a riding crop across the face and she barely got away. She is threatening to press charges.”

“You have to believe me. I?—”

Again, he cut me off by raising his hand to stop me from speaking.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. I will not have one of my son’s reputations ruined. I will not have the stain on our name of having you in prison. This will not happen. I will not tolerate it. You’re getting on a plane tonight.”

“Where?” I asked, knowing there was no point in explaining, not when he was like this, not until he calmed down and could berational. The best thing for me to do was to get on that plane and wait for Mary Quinn to get distracted with something else before coming home and dealing with this.

“Rome.”

I nodded, having spent enough time in Italy to have learned the language and fall in love with all the decadence that the ancient city offered.

“I’ve already spoken to a few cardinals here in New York and in Rome. You’ll be going to seminary school. You will become a priest.”

“What?”

“This is not up for debate. This has to happen.”

“But I have college starting in?—”

“No, you don’t. You have seminary school, you will become a member of the Catholic Church as a priest, and you are going to stay in Rome, where you are safe from this following you.”

That was it.

In a single night, because I had no interest in fucking Mary Quinn Astrid and I was too high to realize I should feed her ego and find some excuse to get away from her, my entire life was gone.

Seven years ago,she had the upper hand and a sterling reputation. Her word in this city was law.

Now, she was no longer the pillar of the community she once was. Her reputation was far from impeccable, and it was time to start my revenge. All it would take was a few well-placed rumors and the destruction of her daughter to take her down.

I gripped my teacup hard enough it shook a little and took a careful sip before putting it back down.

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