Page 53 of The Sinner and the Priest: Part 1

“I think he knows more.” Raven narrows her eyes at him.

“Do you?” I ask him.

“You’ll have to be more specific.”

“Maybe you’ll tell the truth after a full cavity search.” Raven offers a feral grin.

His eyes go huge. “Wha—what?”

Raven’s gaze drops to his waistband. “I can be thorough.”

He pulls his knees together. “Bloody hell. What’s got into you lot? I don’t keep any secrets from Thea. Not after, you know, I almost died so she could live.”

“What about what Jaz said?” I ask. “The massacre in Spain? The other Sisterhood chapters are closing because of Team Saint?”

He hesitates. “As I said, I knew about the closures … but what she said last night about the murder shocked me. I had no idea those ‘purists’ even existed. I went to the pontifical university, and still I never knew. Rome’s dirty little secrets tend to stay buried.”

After Wesley puts his spectacles back on, I take his wrists again. “Why would Jaz want to kill you on sight?”

“Don’t you think I’ve been asking the same thing all night?” Wide, haunted eyes meet mine. “Thea took a blade meant for me, and there was nothing I could do to stop her. Why would she do that?” His voice cracks. “She knows the staff won’t work on her. She could have died. Why?”

“Because she loves you, Wes,” Tawny murmurs.

“It was stupid!” he growls, and I feel the truth of it in his pulse. “She was a fool to risk her life for me.”

He looks away, but I catch the glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes.

I let go and sit back, glancing at the girls. Tawny shrugs. Raven flattens her lips.

“Huddle.” I gesture for them to join me near the door. We put our heads together and I whisper, “What do you think?”

“For a scholar, he knows nothing,” Raven mumbles.

“He’s too whipped to be our enemy,” Tawny adds. “It’s obvious.”

“Agreed.” I sigh. “Thea is irresistible. It’s definitely love.”

“And this is getting nowhere,” Raven says.

“Let’s give it one more crack,” I suggest. “Tackle this from another angle. Ideas?”

“We haven’t actually done Good Cop, Bad Cop yet.” The hope in Tawny’s eyes is too hard to resist.

“Or cavity searches.”

I stare at her. She’s serious. “Your obsession is unhealthy, Raven.”

She grins. “I’m just getting warmed up.”

I thrum my fingers on their backs, thinking. “Okay, what about what we did that time in Constantinople with the Sheik?”

Tawny raises her brows. “You mean the ‘Three-Two-One’ or the ‘Why So Serious?’”

“Why So Serious.”

Raven shrugs. “I mean, he is kind of acting constipated.”

“Let’s do it then.” My lips curve.