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"Al scares Søren," Nora continued "Only the people he loves being in danger, which is why he let Kingsley go Being with Kingsley scared even Søren The last thing he wants is for anything bad to happen to "

"How convenient, then I hope he’s terrified right now"

"I can guarantee he’s never been this scared in his life"

"Good," Marie-Laure said, laughing Kingsley closed his eyes tight His sister’s laughit hadn’t changed at all

"And he loves Kingsley Deeply More than even Kingsley realizes, sley’s eyes shot wide open

"My husband has an interesting way of showing it"

"It’s the only way he can show it After our night together, I curled up in Søren’s lap in the back of Kingsley’s Rolls Royce I asked Søren if he still loved Kingsley He said yes"

You still love hi away from us, away fromaway froet it I do Does Kingsley kno you still feel?

No It’s for the best

You don’t want hi hi to be with him? That’s a sort of sadishtI went too far

I won’t tell I’ll never tell

It’s better he and Iwe should be friends only It hurts him but it would hurt worse to tell him I love him and still keep myself from him At least this way perhaps he’ll feel free to find another

So that was it The truth The dark and beautiful truth Søren still loved him, had always loved hi irreparable harth all this time It hurt to know the truth and yet it was the sort of pain he most relished--pain inflicted by love Now he had the truth in his heart, he’d never felt so free

"You can’t iine how hard it is to be a sadist with a conscience," Nora continued "Søren worries if he’s with Kingsley he’ll hurt Kingsley He worries that if he’s with Kingsley he’ll hurtproof of that" Marie-Laure laughed, a cold hed like that when he put a bullet in her heart And he would put a bullet in her All this tied to use hiht the priest held back out of love and loyalty to his Little One Kingsley never considered Søren didn’t touch hi him beyond what even he could take

He couldn’t quite believe it and yet he knew Nora didn’t lie She had no reason to lie and every reason to tell the truth