Sin and Redemption

by Cora Reilly

She stared at me in confusion. “Happy? Because they’re dead?”

“Are you not? I thought that’s what...

“I wanted them to be gone so they couldn’t hurt anyone ever again. But it ...

“Oh, yes.” She glanced at the parcel. “Happy anniversary. I didn’t think we’d celebrate.”

“We have no reason to, you’re right, but I got you something. You don’t have to open it if you don’t want to.”

Inside was a tea cup from the pottery artist she liked, plus a voucher so she could buy whatever ...

“You can put it with the voucher I gave you l...

“Thank you for this, and for last night.”

Maybe I’d foolishly hoped getting revenge would wipe the slate clean, that it would mean a new start for our marriage, but Sara’s reaction made it clear that it wouldn’t.

Maybe I should stop thinking it ever would and just return to living the life I had before Sara.

between my cousin Amo and the daughter of the Camorra Capo, Greta—was looser than I’d liked.

I’d often felt exhausted in the past few weeks, too exhausted to make an effort with Maximus. I knew my lack of nutrients was the reason behind it too.

“Any bets on who’s going to cause a scandal?”

“I think there’s a lot of potential gathered here today.”

This wasn’t a marriage of convenience. This was pure love. I’d never expected a love marriage,

the marriage Maximus and I currently led was far less than I’d hoped for.

It was mostly m...

I avoided him as much as possible and never joined him when he helped out at the shelter on weekends. He even suggested we could spend time doing other things, but I’d pretended I needed to he...

Neither wa...

He eventually stoppe...

The only time we spent together was in the morning when we both had coffee and in the even...

I felt a deep longing inside me. A longing for a love of my own.

The love of a child.

My eyes sought Maximus. He was talking to Matteo. I had spent most of the wedding chatting with Isabella and Aurora.

Would Maximus agree to a baby?

Concern crossed his face. I forced a small smile to assure him I was fine.

I’d have to face those fears if I wanted to become a mother and try to see Maximus as the man I’d been attracted to again and not a memento of our past trauma.

“What’s going on?”

Our marriage had never been good, but since I’d killed our attackers, it had become disastrous.

“The way you’re looking at me is not nothing.”

“I didn’t think you’d want to be present during the torture. They got what they deserved. Your dad and I made sure of it.”

“You got your revenge. For you, it’s over. But for me, it’s not.”

“I’m here,” I growled as I stepped in her way. “You can do to me whatever you want. Fuck, I can give you an array of tools you can use to torture me and get the revenge you deserve.”

Sara’s eyes brimmed with confusion and shock. She touched her lips with her fingertips, obviously stunned into silence by my words.

“Just say the words. I’m yours. If causing me pain helps you heal, do it. Just fucking do it. Nothing’s worse than this fucki...

“I never wanted to cause you pain.”

“Why not?” I stepped in front of her, so fucking tired of tiptoeing around the elephant in the room. “I hurt you, so now you should hurt me.”

Nothing hit me harder than the sadness in my wife’s eyes.

“I’m not angry with you.”

“What a load of crap. I’m fucking mad at myself, and you have to be too.”

“Don’t tell me what I’m suppos...

“Maybe your anger is the problem, but don’t make it out to be my issue. I’m not angry with you.”

“But you can’t stand my presence either,”

“If you really want to help me heal, help me become a mother. I want nothing more than a baby.”

“You want a baby from me?”

Ahh, yes. She wanted a baby from her husband, not really me. Because I wasn’t the man she wanted at her side, just the man she had to tolerate.

I worried about what it would do to Sara if we lost another child. What if she had another miscarriage? And that was only th...

“Sara, what we have can hardly be considered a marriage. We don’t talk, and we rarely see each other. You avoid me as much as you can. Do you really ...

“Because we didn’t try to change it,”

“All I want is a baby. Will you help me?”