Page 7 of The Fall of Sin (The Sins of Saint 2)

Raphael stepped closer. “That you had your price with Saint.”

I bit my lip. There were so many lies I could tell, curses I could yell in order to get me out of this very conversation that had too much truth in it for my liking. Raphael was right; I did have my price with Saint. I did bargain with him, and in the end shook hands with the devil to finalize our deal. There was a price tag placed on our arrangement. The orphanage. That was my price, and even though it was for a noble cause, I now realized Mr. Russo was right. Everyone had a price.

Even me.

“Mila, you need to reconsider Mr. Russo’s option,” Raphael urged.

“Can’t you see that man is a snake?”

“I don’t care,” he replied, exasperated. “I honestly don’t give a fuck. I just want to sell my shares, get the money, and do what I want to do, and not something my father ordered me to do in his fucking will.”

I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and settled my hands on my hips. “Your father.Yourfather.”

He rubbed his temples, his eyes closed. “Yeah.”

“Have you noticed that ever since I got into your car you’ve been referring to our parents asyourmom andyourfather?”

“So?”

I crossed my arms. “It’sourparents, Raphael.Ourmom.Ourfather.”

“Jesus,” he muttered. “Are you serious? You literally came into my life a few hours ago, and already you expect me to make the adjustment of going from the first and only Torres child, to the second and youngest? You expect me to wrap my head around it and not feel mind-fucked even in the slightest?”

Discomfort slithered across my skin, and my gut knotted into clusters of uncertainty. “I don’t know what I expect.” Tears threatened, but I tried to swallow them. “I honestly don’t know, and the worst part? My entire life, I wished to be surrounded by my own family. And now, while I’m this close to finding them, I have never felt so alone.”

He let out a breath and leaned his head back as he glanced at the ceiling. “I’m trying to understand what you must be going through, but keep in mind this is unchartered territory for me too. I had everything planned out, my entire future.” He looked at me again. “And now it’s all hanging in the balance because of a sister I believed was dead all my life.”

I tucked my hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention—”

“I know that.” He rested his hands on my shoulders and squeezed lightly. “But just think about it. If it wasn’t for Saint, you would have gone through your entire life not knowing about this ten percent shares. It’s not like you’re losing anything by selling it. In fact, that ten percent is worth a lot of fucking money, Mila. The way I see it, by selling it, you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. Give your statement. Get your shares back and sell it.”

My gaze remained downcast. I didn’t want to look in his eyes while my thoughts raced and pulled me in a thousand different directions at once. It was clear why Raphael was so desperate for me to sell my shares. It was the only way for him to sell his. But I couldn’t explain it, this sense of ownership and responsibility I felt to my miniscule ten percent. One would think for a woman with my background, money would be the factor important enough to weigh while I considered all my options. But it wasn’t. Money was the farthest thing from my mind. It wasn’t even on the scales. It was something else, but I needed more time to figure out what it was.

I looked him in the eye and desperately tried to see him for who he was. My brother. My own flesh and blood. But I couldn’t. Raphael was still just a stranger to me, and until the day that changed, I couldn’t trust him.

“No,” I replied simply. “For now, my answer is no.” I brushed past him and headed to the bathroom to the left of the bed that hid behind the elegant room divider.

“Mila,” he called after me. “Think about this. Goddammit!”

I heard what sounded like a hard slam against the wall. Raphael was angry, and he probably had every right to be. His sister who was supposed to be dead stormed into his life after breakfast and ruined all his future plans before lunch. But I couldn’t allow myself to think of it that way, to feel sympathy toward anyone. Right now, I needed to put me first, do what I felt was the right thing for me—especially since I had no way of knowing how all this would play out from one minute to the next. I needed to protect myself because there was no one else to do it. No one else who took my best interest to heart. It was me…and me alone.

I locked the bathroom door behind me and turned to lean against it. Exhaustion had slithered its way into my body, my mind, and I wanted to run and hide from everyone just so I could get some rest. Every part of me ached, and I had never felt so confused, so scared in my life.

A tear slipped from the corner of my eye, and I quickly wiped it away. There was no time for tears, no time for a pity-party. I needed to keep my shit together if I wanted to survive the chaos that surrounded me.

I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror. The woman who stared back at me looked like shit, as if the devil himself had dragged her through hell. Dark circles framed my eyes, and my hair was a wild mess of curls that hung in disarray around my shoulders. It had only been a few hours, yet it felt like I haven’t slept in weeks.

“Mila.” Raphael knocked on the door. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose my temper.”

I closed my eyes, biting back more tears.

“This is all just too overwhelming. For both of us. I had plans. This deal with Mr. Russo is an opportunity I’ve waited for ever since Father died. My father—ourfather wasn’t what you would call supportive of me and who I am.” He paused for a moment, and a heavy silence settled. “I’m gay, Mila.”

I opened my eyes, surprised by this very personal revelation.

“I’m gay, and it’s something Father never accepted. My partner and I, we’ve been trying to start our own art gallery for the last two years. He refused to help financially, and since he had so much influence in this city, he made sure I didn’t get help from anyone else.”

“Why?” I slipped my back down the door to sit on the tiled floor. “Why did he have trouble accepting you’re gay?”

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