Sin & Salvation

Chapter 1

WARNING: This chapter contains graphic depictions of physical/psychological abuse and attempted SA. Read at your own discretion & remember, you are loved, you are safe, and you matter ♡

He stares deep into my eyes as if trying to see behind the mask I put on for everyone else. Everyone but him.

"What are you running from? What are you afraid of?" he says as he brushes his thumb across my cheek.

I look down, ashamed of the feeling that's building in my core. How can I tell him the truth when the truth will hurt him? How do I tell him that he consumes my every waking moment?

I gather the courage to look up into his icy blue eyes and say, "Robert, I'm afraid of-"

"Cora, why the fuck do I smell something burning?"

I'm snapped out of the world I was living in a second ago and back into the one I was just trying to escape. I can smell what he's talking about and immediately feel the panic creeping in. The burnt smell is the bacon on the stove and it is definitely no longer edible.

Fuck, fuck, FUCK.

My mouth is dry as I shout, "I'm not sure baby, maybe there was something on the bottom of the pan from when I cooked last night."

God, I hope that was believable.

I push my Kindle across the counter and rush to get the pan off the stove. I burn my finger on the metal handle and silently curse through the pain, grabbing a towel to wrap around it. I scrape the bacon into the trash, and cover it with some of the garbage that's already in there.

Rushing to the fridge, I take out another two pieces for him and throw them on the pan. I'm praying he won't think to look in the garbage— or check the security cameras.

The sound of him coming down the stairs causes my heart to race even more. My palms are becoming increasingly sweaty and the burn on my finger is throbbing. I'm grateful I'm wearing an oversized sweatshirt so I can hide my hand in my sleeve.

This isn't the first time my smut problem has almost gotten me into trouble. Last week, I was engrossed in a raunchy enemies-to-lovers story when I realized that I was supposed to have started dinner an hour earlier. Thankfully, I threw together a quick dinner he loves and he was none the wiser. One of the very few times I was able to save myself.

Get it together Cora, act normal, and play the fucking part you know so well.

I hear him reach the last step and I prepare to begin the performance I put on for him everyday. I plaster on my warmest smile as he rounds the corner into the kitchen.

He's freshly showered so I can smell his musky body wash and expensive cologne. His dirty-blond hair is freshly cut and styled perfectly with the pomade I bought him. The custom-fitted, navy blue suit he has on perfectly accentuates his smoldering blue eyes. Every suit he owns is tailored to his body perfectly so you can see his lean and sculpted physique underneath.

For a second I forget the monster in front of me and I nearly melt at his feet. He looks like he just jumped out of a page from one of my romance novels and it makes me want to climb him like Edward Cullen up a tree.

Fuck him for getting such good genes.

That feeling fades fast as I realize this is the suit he usually wears when he's meeting with important clients— which means he's going to be even more on edge this morning than usual.

Great.

Definitely not a good morning for me to figure out what's going to happen between Robert and Charlotte. How could I be so stupid? I know better by now that I shouldn't read while making his breakfast.