Page 107 of Sins and Virtue

“Can you give me some time— I mean to think about it?” She paused, gnawing at her bottom lip. “I can’t make a decision like this in the spur of the moment. Not only because it’s a big decision but also because I know I can’t deny my feelings for you either; however, it’s not fair to keep leading you on.”

“Alright.” Just don’t make me wait forever.

“Thank you,” she hummed, signaling me to rest on her lap again.

“Kotyonok, can I ask you something?” To gather her permission was imperative, especially with the matter of the question I was going to ask.

She nodded, the sunlight passing through her hazel eyes.

“Why are you in this convent? Why are you running away?”

She hovered in culpable silence like darkness consumed her soul. A darkness I knew all too well.

Her voice was raspy and heavy as if she spoke a forbidden secret. “I killed someone.”

Woah.

That was one thing I truly couldn’t fathom. Blair wasn’t a harmless angel. However, she wasn't a monster that would take a life without reason.

“Why did you kill them?”

Buried anger resurfaced in her pretty eyes. “Because after nearly raping me, they tried to hurt my son.”

My brain zapped as I digested the information. Inexplicable bloodthirst ran rampant through my mind; if the fucker weren’t dead already, I’d kill him again. Making him suffer every bit he made Blair.

But then a soft tendril of surprise replaced that when I recalled the second part of her statement.

“You have a son?”

She breathed out a long sigh, tears appearing to brim in her eyes as she nodded.

Shit.

“What’s his name?” I asked, needing to know every detail about the child of the woman I loved.

Her sweet face turned more lovely as she began to glow in a small blush. “Ollivander. Ollie for short.”

I softly chuckled, the name reminding me of my prison days, one of my hands rubbing my scruff. “That’s a Harry Potter reference.”

Her gaze swiftly landed on me; her lips split into a shy smile. “Yeah. Yeah, it is. No one has ever guessed that? How did you know?”

“The prison held the entire collection.” My shoulders moved up and down. “I got bored after reading all the nonfiction books, so that was the first one I read.”

“It’s been one of my favorites since I was little. So when I got pregnant, I binged all the movies, and after debating, I named my sweet boy Ollivander.” she said sweetly, her hazel eyes soft with tender affection.

“I’m surprised you didn’t name him Harry.”

She brought her knees to her chest, her arms wrapping around her legs. “That was my second choice.”

“Ah,” a grunt left my lips. “What made you choose Ollie over Harry?”

She turned her face towards the moon, appearing to reminisce as the reflection of the silver stars played in her eyes. “Well, his father thought it was ridiculous. I began to curse him out and cried for hours. He apologized and said I could pick any name besides Harry, so I opted for Ollivander.”

“He sounds like an ass. Just who is the father of the child?”

“Look, I know I don’t have the best taste in men. Most of them are criminals, but even if he was that, the father of my child has a heart of gold.” She started to defend the asshole as if predicting I’d have a bone to pick with him.

“Give me that name, Blair.”