The Virgin

“Why would she be mad at you for drinking?” Nora asked.

Kingsley grinned broadly. “Because she can’t have alcohol again for seven more months.”

Nora almost dropped the wine bottle.

“Juliette’s pregnant?” Nora asked.

Kingsley raised his finger to his lips. “Only you two know now.”

Nora ran to Kingsley and embraced him. “You slut,” she said, planting a kiss on both cheeks.

“She wanted two,” Kingsley said. “And le prêtre doesn’t look a bit surprised.”

“I’m trying to look surprised,” Søren said with a sly smile.

“You knew?” Nora asked.

“Juliette and I were working on something together recently. She got light-headed and almost fainted. She told me why she wasn’t feeling well in exchange for me not calling an ambulance for her.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” Nora asked, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pointing at his nose. “You jerk.”

“I’m a priest. Keeping secrets is my job,” he reminded her, taking her hands off his shirt and kissing them. He looked from her to Kingsley. “I’m very happy for you. And relieved you finally said something so I could tell you that.”

“Are you happy?” Nora asked Kingsley, already knowing the answer.

“Is the pope Catholic?” Kingsley asked.

“Pope Francis is a Jesuit,” Søren said.

“And Catholic,” Kingsley said.

“Being a Jesuit takes precedence,” Søren said.

Nora sighed. “Typical. So typical.”

Søren got out of bed and stood in front of Kingsley. He grasped the back of Kingsley’s neck, bent down and kissed him. Nora went back for the wine and let them have their moment of privacy. She opened the Syrah and poured three steep glasses. She brought one to Kingsley, one to Søren and kept one for herself.

“When are you telling Nico he’s going to be a brother again?” Nora asked as she slid back onto the bed, careful not to spill any wine on the sheets. They’d already pushed their luck with fire-play and very wet sex. If she got her deposit back on this room, it would be a miracle.

“Soon,” Kingsley said. “Now that you both know, I’ll call him tomorrow. You think he’ll be happy?”

“Thrilled and relieved,” Nora said. “The more kids you have, the less pressure he feels to have them. He’s already made Céleste the legal heir to his vineyard. But don’t tell her that. She’s only three, but I can see her attempting a coup.”

“I’m relieved I won’t have to worry about being a grandfather anytime soon,” Kingsley said with a wink at her. He pushed a pillow behind his back, stretched out his legs and crossed them at the ankles. He had the legs of a professional soccer player, which the kilt displayed to marvelous affect. No wonder Juliette with her fetish and her pregnancy hormones had been all over him the past two days.

“No chance of that from me,” Nora said. “Cheers to the good Doctor Hélène Faber.” She and Kingsley clinked glasses, which was likely the first time in history two people had ever toasted to a woman’s sterilization procedure before. Then again, no two people in history had Kingsley and Nora’s history. With everything they’d put each other through, they’d had two choices—hate each other or love each other. They were so much alike, hating each other would have been like hating themselves. And both of them were rather too self-important for that sort of nonsense.

So they picked love.

“I have you to thank for my children,” Kingsley said, pointing his wineglass at her. “All two and one-third of them.”

“And why is that?”

“I would never have known about Nico if it wasn’t for you. I would never have met Juliette if you hadn’t left him.” He pointed at Søren.

“Then shouldn’t I get some credit here?” Søren asked.

“Oui, you get all the credit for being such an enormous asshole neither of us wanted to see you for a full year.”

“Thank you,” Søren said, saluting with his wineglass. “Credit where credit is due.”

“Did you know Juliette would be the mother of your children when you met her?” Nora asked.

“The opposite,” Kingsley said. “I thought she’d be a terrible mother when I saw her. In my defense, she was assaulting children. In her defense, they deserved it.”

“No wonder Juliette wouldn’t tell me about when you all met,” Nora said, pulling the sheets up around her again. She pressed close to Søren, relishing his warmth and his nearness.

“Juliette,” Kingsley began, and his voice changed subtly as he spoke. He sounded far away and Nora wondered what he was remembering and why it hurt so much. “She was in a difficult position back then. Trapped, you could say.”

“So what did you do?” Nora asked, as eager to hear Kingsley’s story of that year as they were to hear hers.

“I did what I always do when I meet a beautiful woman,” Kingsley said with a shrug. “I fucked her.”

9

2004

Haiti

KINGSLEY WOKE UP that morning and decided to fuck the first girl who’d let him. Luckily there was a girl conveniently located in his bed. Who she was he didn’t quite remember, but it didn’t really matter. She was there by his invitation and her choice. Names, dates, places—the rest was irrelevant.