Page 62 of A Sinner's Virtue
“But my name’s already changed. To Petrov,” she says, sounding confused.
“Zoe, it’s going to change to De Bellis when we’re married.”
“We’re getting married?”
“One day we are. I love you, Zoe, and I’m not letting you go.”
Zoe blinks as she tries to focus on my face. “I love you too,” she says. “So much.” Her eyes glisten with unshed tears.
“What’s wrong?” I ask her.
“Do you think Eloise is really coming with the cake?”
I laugh. “You really want that cake, huh?”
Zoe nods her head eagerly. “So much,” she says.
“Okay, I’ll go get it. Hop into bed. I’ll be right back with your cake.” I pull the blankets down and wait for her to shift her body higher onto the mattress before covering her up. Then I lean forward and gently kiss her lips. “I love you so fucking much,” I tell her.
“I love you too. Please don’t break my heart, Marcel,” she whispers.
“I will protect it with my life, Zoe. I’ll keep your heart safe, always,” I say and then walk out of the room.
When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Ivan is there arguing with Santo. Not a good scenario for either of them.
“What’s going on?” I ask. Both of them turn and stare at me.
“Where is she?” Ivan grunts.
“Sleeping,” I tell him.
“I need to see her,” he says.
“Yeah, that’s not happening. She’s fucking asleep,” I reiterate. “In bed.”
“Boss’s orders.”
“I don’t give a fuck what your boss wants. She’s asleep and no one is fucking creeping around her when she is.” I already have my phone out of my pocket and am dialling as I’m telling him this.
Mikhail answers his phone. “De Bellis, where’s my daughter?”
“She’s fine. She’s asleep.”
“Then why the fuck are you calling me? Shouldn’t you be out there looking for the fucking assholes who keep shooting at you?”
“Your boy here thinks he needs to go creep on Zoe while she’s asleep. You better tell him otherwise, because I will put a bullet between his eyes before they ever see her in a fucking bed,” I hiss down the line.
“First of all, she’s not asleep. She’s in the hallway upstairs right now.”
“How do you know that?” I look back up the stairs. There’s no way he can know that. Is there?
“Doesn’t matter how. This is the second time she’s been out with you and had bullets flying at her, Marcello. There won’t be a third.”
“They’re not after me,” I say before sucking in a lungful of air. What I have to say isn’t going to go over well.
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s her. They’re after her,” I tell him.
