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Chapter 1

Natalia

Sin or piety

Those are the two things I’hing on s on tears As I careen into that church, I’ an unconscious decision between Heaven or Hell, pain or pleasure But sos more hurt than pain

I’ve learnedup everything I know and love for a whole new life A life dedicated to so, someone, other than myself

The thing is, sometimes fate has other ideas

Out of all the churches in town, I pick this one This building with its vaulted ceilings and stained glass and all its secrets

This building that houses them

My five worst sins

My five most awesome pleasures

My high heels are loud, almost frantic when I hurry into the hushed quiet of Our Lady of Sorrows, clacking my way across the church’s old stone floors as I wobble my way down an aisle of empty peard the front of the room, the dais, and the crucifix … and the broad-shoulderedin front of it

Stopping within arive out and I collapse My bare knees strike the stone floor painfully, but I don’t cry out My focus is glued to the man in front of me like he’s my salvation

But thatto damn me to hell

I just don’t know it yet

"Excuse me," I whisper with a quiver inand I'm cold as hell I fled for my life in an almost indecent red cocktail dress, spattered with blood and ash, sainst the pious, muted colors of the church "I don't really knohat I' here …" I start, but that's a lie

Thirty seconds in a holy place and already, I' the rules

I wrap ers into einto pieces, bits of shattered glass that seem to cut