Page 76 of Protected By the Sinner

I toe off my shoes and settle into bed, pulling a blanket over us to keep her warm from the A/C.

I shouldn’t have pushed her to talk about the past. There’s no reason to stir things up. She’s already confused enough because of the amnesia.

Either way, I already know plenty about the cult now. Roman found the missing pieces of the puzzle.

Their mother, Estrella De León, really was a Romani. She fell in love with an American missionary who brought her to the United States: Tobias Cohen.

Unfortunately, she found out too late that he was a sick man. He’s the founder and leader of the Children of the Six Enlightened[9] cult.

These days, it has only about sixty members. Small for a group like that, though it used to have three hundred, according to the report.

I don’t care what they preach or what they tell themselves to justify their atrocities. In my mind, I’ve already judged and sentenced them. The six elders are living on borrowed time.

I can’t erase her past—but I can give her a future without fear.

That part’s already decided. Now, I need to find out what really happened between her and the Italians . . . and then end Angelo’s miserable existence once and for all. By the time our baby is born, there won’t be any loose ends left.

Chapter 34

New Orleans - Louisiana

Ever since I had that crying fit on the plane, after waking from the nightmare, Beau’s been even more gentle and attentive with me.

Okay, I wish I could erase the part where I asked whether he was proposing to me—which, judging by his reaction, he clearly wasn’t.

The driver pulls up in front of a mansion, and I catch myself smiling. “This is definitely not ahotel-house.”

He was getting out of the car but turns back. “You remembered?”

“Remembered what?”

“You used to say that all my homes around the U.S. felt like hotel rooms. Too impersonal for your taste.” It’s the firsttime he almost smiles, and if it’s even possible, he looks even more gorgeous.

“The phrase came back to me. I didn’t like your other houses?”

He shrugs casually. “Guess not. Either way, you never held back when it came to saying what you thought.”

“And did that please you?”

He pulls me against him and whispers in my ear, “Everything about you fascinated me. Still does.”

It’s not a declaration of love, but it’s the closest thing I’ve gotten since I woke up. And at this moment, I feel a real connection between us.

“I think I like everything about you too, Beau LeBlanc.”

“You don’t know enough of me yet to be saying that.”

“I’ll give you that. So let’s say that what I do see, I adore.”

He walks with me in silence and helps me up the old staircase. I don’t know whether I knew anything about architecture before the memory loss, but I’m blown away by the luxurious simplicity of the place.

“I love it here. That huge garden and the trees. My God! You picked a slice of paradise to call home.”

“You serious?”

“Yes. I can’t wait to walk around and explore everything.”

He rests his hand on the small of my back as we walk, and I shiver.