Chapter 1~ God Has A Twisted Sense Of Humor

NIKOLAI

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Chapter 1

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PRESENT DAY

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People always say storms cleanse the soul. That’s a lie.

Storms drown out screams, wash away blood, and mask the sound of sins being committed. I should know because I’ve used enough of them to my advantage.

Tonight was no different.

I stepped into the ruined chapel, shaking rain off my coat, and lit a cigarette. The place was a disaster: shattered stained glass, overturned pews, and enough mold on the walls to give a health inspector a heart attack. My money had kept the building standing this long. Now, it barely looked worth saving.

“Don’t move!”

The tiny voice snapped through the silence like a whip.

I froze mid-drag and turned. At first, I thought I was imagining things. Maybe the storm was messing with my head. But no, there she was: a woman in a plain gray dress, clutching a rosary like it was a weapon. Her hair was tied back too tight, her face scrubbed too clean. She had remarkable grey eyes that blazed like she wanted to set me on fire.

A nun. Or something close to it. God has a twisted sense of humor.

“You’re trespassing,” she said, her voice sharp and clear, even over the rain pounding on the roof.

I blew out a stream of smoke and smiled. “This is private property.”

Her grip on the rosary tightened. “You mean your property, don’t you? The same property you neglected until it became this… this…” She gestured at the ruins, clearly searching for a word that wouldn’t make her confession list longer. “This wreck.”

I shrugged. “It has character.”

“You have no character,” she snapped.

Okay. I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting that. Most people who speak to me like that usually aren’t alive long enough to regret it. But instead of feeling insulted, I found myself… entertained.

“I take it you’re not here to thank me for the funding?” I asked, flicking ash onto the cracked floor.

She stepped closer, her expression turning from angry to furious. I’d seen men point guns at me with less conviction. “You think you can absolve yourself with bricks and mortar? Repentance isn’t bought, it’s earned.”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed. Not the polite kind, either. The real thing, loud and unapologetic. “You’re right. How much does forgiveness cost these days? A million? Two?”

“Forgiveness isn’t for sale,” she said, her voice cold enough to rival Siberia.

“Pity.” I let the cigarette dangle from my lips and looked her over, slowly. “You’re not a nun yet, are you?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I’m preparing to take my vows.”

“Interesting,” I said, leaning against the altar. “How does someone like you end up in a place like this? Bad breakup? Boring life?”

Her eyes narrowed. “How does someone like you destroy a place like this? Too much money? Too little conscience?”

Both.

“You’re not a man,” she added, her voice dripping with disdain. “You’re a wolf in a suit.”

“And you,” I said, smirking, “must be the lamb foolish enough to stand in my way.”

She looked ready to swing that rosary at my head, and a small part of me wanted to see if she’d actually do it.

“You don’t belong here,” she said finally, stepping back toward the door. “Go back to whatever pit you crawled out of. This is sacred ground.”

I glanced around at the destruction. “Sacred? Looks more like a graveyard to me.”

Her hand flew to her rosary, as if she was praying for patience—or strength to strangle me. “You can rebuild every wall in this place, but it won’t change who you are. You think money can cleanse your soul? It can’t.”

I stepped closer, just enough to see the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. “I’ll only allow my soul to be cleansed if it’s your pussy juices being used as the holy water, sweetheart.”

Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she turned and walked out, leaving me alone in the storm-ravaged chapel.

For the first time in years, I felt something other than the usual numbness.

Intrigue.

I stared at the doorway she disappeared through, rain was still slamming against the chapel roof like a goddamn funeral march. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here, much less a nun who clearly knew exactly who I was.

Those ungodly eyes, wild and accusing, weren’t something I’d forget anytime soon.

I hadn’t come back to this ruined chapel for a guilt trip, but something about her words about repentance not being bought, but earned, itched under my skin. She didn’t know the half of it.

I flicked the cigarette to the ground, grinding it under my heel, and stepped outside into the downpour.

The rain drenched me to the bone as I jogged down the cracked cobblestone path. Ahead, her figure moved swiftly, her gray dress now plastered to her body.

Although I couldn’t see anything on her face beyond those impossible to miss grey eyes, I could tell this nun would have a pretty face to go with that nice body.

She was headed toward a cluster of half-collapsed buildings that looked as broken as this entire place. I found myself wondering what it’d feel like to press this sweet little nun against one of these collapsed building and drill the fuck out of her cute little cunt.

Jesus, Nikolai! She is a nun, for God’s sake.

“Hey!”

She didn’t stop.

“Stop running!” I barked, picking up my pace.

Her head snapped around, and I saw her face twist into fury before she turned forward again. She didn’t want to talk.

Too bad.

I reached her within moments, grabbing her arm just as she stumbled on a loose stone. She whirled around, yanking herself free with surprising strength.

“Let go of me!” she screamed, her voice cracking.

I raised my hands in mock surrender. “Easy, Sister. I just want to talk.”

“Talk?”

“I'm sorry about the bad words I used earlier,” I said mockingly. “That was just the devil in my dick speaking.”

“You’re the devil.” She said accusingly. “Men like you don’t talk. You destroy, you kill, you… you ruin lives.”

I frowned. “Is this still about the… incident?”

Her eyes blazed. “Incident? Is that what you call it?” She jabbed a finger into my chest, unafraid of the fact that I could snap her in two if I wanted. “You brought your dirty business here, and you left us to pick up the pieces. Do you even know what you did?”

I didn’t answer.

“You don’t, do you?” Her voice cracked, her anger unraveling into raw pain. “You don’t care about the scared children, the injured, the ones who died. Father Andrew… He was a good man, and you—” Her voice broke. “You turned this place into a war zone. You killed him.”

“I didn’t pull the trigger,” I said quietly.

“But it was your men!” she screamed, her face contorted with grief. “Your deal. Your orders! Your fault.”

Her chest heaved as tears began streaming down her face, mixing with the rain. “Do you know what it’s like to lose everything? To have your world ripped apart because men like you don’t give a damn about human life?”

I wanted to remind her that the world wasn’t fair, and that people like me didn’t get where we were by caring about the consequences. But something about the way she looked at me made the words catch in my throat.

Suddenly, she collapsed to her knees, and following that were loud sobs.

“Shit,” I muttered, raking a hand through my wet hair. I crouched down beside her, unsure of what the hell I was supposed to do. Comforting people wasn’t exactly in my skill set.

“Get up,” I said gruffly. She didn’t move.

I sighed and reached out hesitantly, patting her on the head like a child. She didn’t push me away. Instead, she leaned into me, her body trembling as she sobbed against my chest.

“You done?”

She didn’t answer.

“Listen,” I said, my tone light. “I get it. You’re upset. But crying about it isn’t going to bring your priest back or fix this dump. My money can.”

Her hands dropped, and she glared at me with tear-filled eyes. “You’re a monster.”

I chuckled, the sound low and amused. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

She didn’t pull away. Her wet, shivering form pressed against me, and the warmth of her breath against my neck sent a jolt through me. It wasn’t the time or place, but I couldn’t stop the heat pooling in my body.

“I hate you,” she whispered.

“Join the club,” I replied, grinning.

She shoved at my chest, but it was half-hearted, her strength sapped by her tears. She slumped forward instead, her head suddenly resting against my shoulder.

“God, you’re exhausting,” I muttered, awkwardly patting her on the back.

She tilted her head up, her tear-streaked face so close to mine that I could feel her breath. For a moment, I wondered what it would feel like to kiss her, to ruin her in the way men like me always ruined good things.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

As if reading my unholy thoughts, her eyes widened, and she shoved me away suddenly, scrambling to her feet. “No,” she said, shaking her head, her voice trembling. “I—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…” She trailed off, hugging her arms around herself as if she could hold herself together.

“Shouldn’t have what?” I asked, rising slowly.

Her cheeks flushed crimson. “Nothing. I just… I need to go.” She turned away, muttering, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so stupid…”

I caught her arm, stopping her. “Wait.”

She flinched but didn’t pull away.

“Don’t apologize,” I said, surprising even myself with the softness of my voice. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

Her silver eyes met mine, filled with confusion and something else—something fragile. I released her arm and stepped back, giving her space.

“You’re right,” I said after a moment. “About all of it.”

She blinked, startled.

“But,” I added, my voice hardening, “the world doesn’t care about right and wrong, Sister. And it sure as hell doesn’t care about you or me.”

She frowned. “What are you saying?”

“Let me make it up to you.” I said very casually. “I’ve got a bunch of other buildings just like this one lying around unused in Albany. I’ll be there for the next three months, setting up a new office. While I’m at it, I could fix this place up for you, your nuns, and the kids. Make it something halfway respectable… or at least not a complete dump.”

I watched her carefully, that little spark in her eyes, the one that was equal parts annoyance and interest. It was amusing how she could pretend like I wasn’t offering her something she clearly needed.

“What I’m saying is, you could all move to one of those houses.”

Her jaw clenched, and for a moment, I thought she was going to yell at me again. But instead, she turned and walked away, her figure disappearing into the rain.

“I’ll be waiting for a response before 6PM tomorrow!” I called after her, too smug to stop myself.

She didn’t dignify that with a response.

I stood there, the cold seeping into my bones, and wondered why the hell I felt like I’d just lost a battle I didn’t even know I was fighting.

“That, Nikolai, is because you’re going to have to fuck that nun.”

And, yeah. I would.