Page 51 of Billionaire's Sins
I stare at him.
"You did," Weston chimes in. "You always took the side of the underdog."
"You had this sense of fair play inside you, which came to the fore when you saw any kind of injustice being done," Saint interjects.
"You were idealistic, the only one of us who wanted to make the world a better place. Yes, you were the angriest amongst all of us, but your triggers were more nuanced." Sinclair places the tips of his fingers together, "You saved your anger for when it would have the best impact."
"Or the worst outcome. As I recall, we were outnumbered that day."
"Ten to seven." Sinclair grins. "Still, we managed to hold our own."
"The fuckers didn’t get off easy."
"No," I chuckle, "we managed to whip their asses, all right."
"Though I couldn’t complain when the teachers finally separated us." Weston winces.
"And marched us all to the principal’s office." Damian smirks.
"Suspended for a week." Saint picks up the narrative.
"And came back to a hero’s welcome from the girls." Sinclair’s grin widens.
"Couldn’t have asked for a better conclusion to that episode," I agree.
"And what about the latest episode, Father?" Sinclair holds my gaze, "What kind of conclusion are you hoping for it?"
"It’s concluded," I assert.
"What do you mean?" Sinclair frowns.
"It means," I fold my arms across my chest, "there is nothing to it. I am a priest, or have you forgotten that?"
"Have you ever let us forget it?" Sinclair asks wryly.
"You going passive-aggressive on me, Sinner?" I narrow my gaze on him. "You have something to say, why don’t you come out and say it?"
"All I’m saying is, you have used the priesthood to hide from what’s important."
"Or maybe I used it to face my fears."
"Did you?" He leans forward with his palms flat on the table. "Is that what you have been doing the last few years?"
I blow out a breath. "Yes. I have been using the discipline that comes with the life of a priest to manage my anger. To channel my frustrations, my hate, my resentment at what happened into something to benefit the greater good of the world."
"Wow," Saint blinks, "you truly do believe you can make a difference to the world?"
"Something like that," I mutter. "Look, it’s no big deal. Apparently, the only way I could get past the incident was by dedicating myself to a bigger cause."
"Not that I doubt your cause for one second," Sinclair narrows his gaze on me, "but have you ever thought that maybe looking outside and helping the world was easier than searching inside for the answers?"
I stare at him. "And here I thought you were a shallow, obnoxious, a-hole of the first order with a superiority complex to end all superiority complexes."
Color smears Sinner’s cheeks. "That too," he grumbles. "Don’t deflect, Father. We are talking about you, not me."
"Yeah, don’t turn the attention away from yourself," Damian chimes in.
"We ain’t lettin’ you go without answering this time," Weston drawls.
