Page 9 of A Sinner's Virtue
“You keep saying that. De Bellis. What is that?”
“Marcello’s last name. His family is… Well, they’re kind of a big deal in Melbourne’s underground.”
“He’s in the mob?” I groan.
“His family, yeah,” Lucy confirms.
Of all the people in this city…
“Oh god! Izzy and Mikhail cannot find out about this,” I tell Lucy. “Make sure Dom doesn’t tell anyone else. Please.”
“I’ve already threatened him. He won’t say anything. Dom’s not much of a talker anyway,” she says.
“What’d you threaten him with?” I ask her.
“You really don’t want to know,” Lucy says. “How about that drink? You could probably use one yourself. You know, after all that hot sex last night.” She winks at me.
“I didn’t say it was hot sex,” I groan.
“You didn’t say it wasn’t either. And it’s Marcel. Which means it was definitely hot sex.” She laughs.
“It really was,” I admit while covering my face. “But it was a onetime thing. It’s not happening again. I went out to see if I could do it. If I could actually have a one-night stand. And I did.” I smile. I’m honestly really damn happy that I didn’t crumble. I did it.
“Hell yes! You do you, girl.” Lucy follows me into the kitchen.
I set the kettle on, then turn around again. Lucy’s eyes are glued to her phone. Her face is pale. “What’s wrong?” I ask her.
“Dom just messaged me,” she says, not looking up from the screen.
“Lucy, you’re scaring me. What happened?” I cross the kitchen, closing the distance between us.
“It’s Shelli… She was murdered.”
I frown, trying to recall if I’ve ever met anyone named Shelli. I don’t think I have.
“She was Santo’s fiancée. They were getting married today. I was meant to be meeting Dom at the church in a few hours.” Lucy peers up at me. “Marcello’s future sister-in-law was murdered last night.”
I have this sudden urge to find Marcel and find out if he’s okay, but that’s stupid. He literally kicked me out of his hotel room this morning, and then there’s the fact that I don’t even know the guy. Why would he want some random chick he hooked up bothering him at a time when his family is in mourning?
“That’s awful. Is there anything I can do? Did you know her?”
“I met her a few times. I didn’t know her all that well. But she always seemed nice. What I do know is how much in love they were. This is going to destroy Santo.”
“I don’t even know what to say. I couldn’t imagine that happening on the day you’re supposed to get married.”
“I know. Me either.” Lucy types something into her phone.
“How… I mean… Do you think…” Crap, what am I even asking?
“Dom’s with Marcel now. He’s not in a good way,” Lucy says, as if reading my mind.
For some reason, I don’t like that he’s hurting. I shouldn’t care. He didn’t seem to care when he was throwing me out of his room this morning. Why the hell should I care if he’s hurting?
But I do, and I hate that I do.
Chapter Five
Two weeks later
