Page 26 of Deadly Sins: Lust

CHAPTER 19

There was one final loose end that needed binding, and even though Maddie wasn’t keen when I suggested I handle it alone, through the years she’d come to understand what I needed. Right now I needed space. She took the car and went to see Nick, and I hopped in an Uber.

I was dropped off where Layla and James’s wedding venue would take place the following day. It was in the middle of the rainforest and far more extravagant than anything I’d ever seen, right down to a massive, square—shaped tropical floral display wall, which would serve as the backdrop of the outdoor wedding ceremony.

A woman with a white apron tied around her waist, carrying a covered metal tray, smiled at me. “How you going?”

“I’m looking for the wedding party,” I said.

“You’re early. Dress rehearsal isn’t for another forty—five minutes. You can wander around if you like, or check out the ballroom. That’s where the luncheon will be held today and the reception tomorrow. There’s a rumor the senator convinced Andrea Bocelli to sing.”

“Huh. I wonder how he knows him.”

“He’s friends with the senator’s father, from what I hear.”

The woman pointed me in the direction I needed to go and went on her way.

The ballroom was tucked away at the back of the property. It had a stage beneath a pergola strung with at least fifty strands of twinkle lights. The thought of the Italian crooner singing for an adoring audience seemed almost too good to be true. Still, I could picture it as if it were happening in front of me.

Val approached me, smelling like a combination of liquor and bug spray. She hiccupped a slurred, “Sloane? What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you,” I said.

“Me? Why?”

“You’re a bit early. Where is everyone else?”

“Layla put me in charge of the caterers. They’re working on the food right now, and they wanted to talk to me about the dietary restrictions of a few people in the wedding party. It’s stupid, really. It was a few simple questions I could have cleared up over the phone, but they insisted I taste—test what they’re making. You didn’t answer my question. Why are you looking for me?”

“I ran into Shawn after we left the coffee shop this morning.”

She crossed her arms. “I’ve been calling him to see why he didn’t drop the floral arrangements by. He wouldn’t answer.”

“He’s not coming.”

“To the rehearsal?”

“To any of it,” I said. “He’s decided not to attend the wedding tomorrow.”

“What do you mean? Why not?”

“Marissa gave you a braided hemp necklace when you two were in college. Shawn told me she made it. He said you still wear it, even after all these years. But you’re not wearing it now, and I’ve never seen it on you, even though Shawn said he was sure he saw you wearing it a few days ago. Where is it now?”

She rubbed a hand along her throat like she was feeling for it. “I ... I can’t wear it to the wedding, so I took it off. Layla bought us all matching necklaces to wear tomorrow.”

“Must be special if you kept it this long.”

She nodded. “It was.”

“How hard was it for you when she started dating Nick?”

“What do you mean? I was happy for her.”

“You were roommates when she met him, renting a house on Madison in San Diego, right?”

“I’m still there. I ended up buying the place when they got married.”

“You were a couple, weren’t you?”

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